•Chapter 22•
"Simmons!"
"Huh?" I say, squeezing my eyes together and looking at Mrs. Bennett, who is glaring at me with immense hate.
"Are you even listing to me? You seem like you're off in la la land." Mrs. Bennett states, giving me a stern look while crossing her arms over her chest.
"Um... No, I'm just having trouble concentrating." I say, nodding my head in assurance.
"Well, you better snap out of it and pay attention," Mrs. Bennett rudely snaps, and I simply roll my eyes. "I'm teaching information that you need for the test on Friday."
"Okay, yeah, whatever..." I say, waving off the situation and sliding down in my chair.
So... It's been two weeks since the dinner at Ryder's house... and Ryder hasn't shown up for school or work ever since then.
For the first week, it really didn't bother me, because Ryder always skips school... but he's never skipped this much; and the fact that he isn't showing up for work either makes it even weirder. I'm actually starting to get a little worried, which is why I haven't been focusing in my classes. I've just been wondering where the hell he could be. I could try stopping by his house, but I don't think that's the best idea given the situation that went down at dinner. But... It's just unusual for him to not have shown up to school or work in over two weeks.
The whole thing is quite frankly wracking my brain right about now and I've had enough, so, I need to at least get a little information on why the hell Ryder has gone completely M.I.A for two freaking weeks. So, since stopping by his house and asking his mom is out of the question, I guess I only have one option left. I have to ask the FFF Squad if they have any idea as to where Ryder is.
Geez, I can't believe I'm choosing to talk to the FFF Squad for Ryder... What has life come to?
The bell then rings, pulling me from my thoughts. As soon as the bell rings, I jump from my seat, grab my textbook and walk out of the classroom. As soon as I step out into the hallway, I instantly start looking around for one of the members of the FFF Squad. I start to walk down the hallway and with every step I took, I make sure to look carefully throughout the crowded hallways.
I was actually walking around the hallways looking looking like an idiot for quite a while, but I didn't want to late to my class, so after about ten minutes of searching, I decide to go to my locker and just look for them later.
With that, I turn on my heel and begin making my way to my locker. Once I approach my locker, I plan to go to it, put in the combination and grab the books that I need for my next class, but I can't due to the couple that was sucking face right in front of my locker... again.
Yup, you guessed it; Ethan and his annoying ass girlfriend Regan are making out in front of my locker for about the fifth time this year.
I let out a small sigh before opening my mouth to speak. "Why the hell do you two always make out in front of my locker?" I ask, raising my eyebrows as I wait for them to separate from each other and answer my question (which took them about ten unnecessary seconds.)
"This is your locker?" Ethan asks with a completely dumbfounded face expression.
I simply give Ethan a blank stare and just ignore him before turning towards Regan. "Um, Regan, can you leave? Ethan and I need to talk."
"What do we need to talk about?" Ethan asks, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.
"I'm just gonna go," Regan says before quickly turning around and skipping off into another part of the hallway.
Once she's gone, I turn back towards Ethan and he looks down at me, waiting to hear what I have to say. "Okay," I begin. "Um, do you happen to knew why Ryder hasn't shown up to school in two weeks?" I ask, crossing my arms over my chest as I wait for an answer.
Ethan shakes his head in response. "It's kind of weird. He never skips school this much."
"Well, have you talked to him recently?" I curiously ask.
"I texted him last week and two days ago, but he never replied to any of the texts." Ethan informed, taking out his phone and clicking it on. He looks at his phone screen for a couple seconds before looking back up at me. "Yeah, no reply."
Well that was no help at all.
I throw my head back and let out a small groan of annoyance. "Okay, thanks I guess," I mumble to Ethan before walking up to my locker and entering the combination.
"What's going on between you and Ryder these days?" Ethan curiously asks before he walks up and leans against the locker beside mine.
"Nothing," I mumble, opening my locker and grabbing the textbook that I needed for my next class.
"Oh, stop bullshitting, Riley. I know you two have something going on. You two have been hanging out, he works at your parents ice cream shop, and sometimes he even talks about you at lunch." Ethan informs, causing me to raise my eyebrows in astonishment.
"H–he talks about me at lunch? What does he say?" I ask curiously before closing my locker, turning towards Ethan and giving him my full attention.
"Oh, just random shit like 'I gotta meet up with Riley after school', or 'I can't hang out tonight, Riley's coming over', or 'Riley has soccer practice today' and blah blah blah."
This information was very shocking for me. I didn't know Ryder talked about me to his friends at lunch. I thought lunch was his only time to get away from me and have nothing to do with me... but little did I know, Ryder uses his free time from me... to talk about me...
My life is getting weirder and weirder with every passing second.
"Oh... Well, okay..." I awkwardly trail before Ethan nods his head and walks away.
I stand there and think about the whole lunch situation for a few more seconds before shaking my head and pushing the thought to the back of my mind. After that, the bell rang and everyone instantly fled the halls. As everyone walked to their next classes, I quickly pulled my phone out from my pocket. I sighed before unlocking up and opening up my messages. I clicked on Ryder's name and sent him a quick text.
Me: If you don't show up to school tomorrow you're fired...
I'm not actually going fire him if he doesn't show up, but he needs to come to school. I've been sitting around for fourteen days wondering where the hell Ryder is and why he won't show up for school or work; and the fact that he's not even replying to Ethan's text messages makes this situation even more sketchy. So, he needs to show up tomorrow; and if he doesn't... I guess I'll just have to look for him.
_
I'd just like to say I am SO SORRY for the super long update! I honestly had the biggest writers block and I was feeling really uninspired. But now I'm back in action and yeahhhh.
Hope you guys enjoyed this chapter! Don't forget to VOTE & COMMENT! Love you guys!