Gifted

Chapter 9: A Dark Invitation

"Hey Dez, where's Landen at? Usually, he's with you, and he doesn't normally miss our training sessions," said Carter, coming by Dez as Kayla and him walked through the halls, noticing Dez walking toward them.

"Yeah. It isn't like Landen to be skipping out on our training sessions like this. Especially when we're close to graduating," said Kayla.

"Your boyfriend is more than likely at home right now. I haven't seen him in hours, so I assume he got suspended for getting into a fight with Zach earlier," said Dez. "Speaking of Zach, I haven't seen him since earlier."

"Landen is not my boyfriend," Kayla said adamantly. "You said he got into a fight with Zach? Is he okay?"

"An even better question: How did Landen even get dragged into a fight with Zach? Were you pressuring him into skipping class with you again, Dez?" asked Carter, crossing his arms together.

"Wow, Carter, you know, that's a lot of questions you're asking me right now. I'm surprised you don't ask Mr. Riley nearly as many in class."

"Don't be an ass, Dez. We both know that you come into class late half the time and Landen sticks up for you and your excuses saving you from getting into trouble with Riley. You're his best friend, and we know you're good at coaxing him to do stuff he wouldn't ordinarily do."

"I just took him to the cafeteria real quick after class to grab me a quick bite to eat, that's all. Zach happened to be in the lunchroom with his two goon friends earlier today, looking mean and ugly as hell as always, trying to pick a fight with Landen about what happened with Abbie and Kenzie at Blackwell.

Dude charged at Landen and punched him in the face twice. Then he started kicking him really hard in his stomach before Landen managed to stop him just as the cafeteria monitors came in and broke it up. The monitors took Landen and Zach to the principal's office."

"That's bad, I feel sorry for him. You didn't try helping him, Dez?"

"I did try and help him. I tried to calm the situation by telling Zach that Landen wasn't looking for trouble, but you know how he is. Then I got swept up into the crowd as they came rushing to see Zach go at it with Landen. What was I supposed to do, Carter?"

"Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to come off like that. It's just weird not having Landen here with us. That's all I'm trying to say."

"I wonder how long he's out. Do you think he's going to come back?" asked Kayla.

"I hope so. Our classes won't feel the same without him," said Dez.

Dez, Carter, and Kayla continued on their day despite the emptiness in the group from not having Landen around; each class they had together felt incomplete without him, each conversation they had appeared different.

Dez got the idea to travel over Landen's house after school. His plan was to check and see if everything was as bad as he wondered. As soon as the last bell rang at school, he took to his hoverboard and sped over to Landen's house.

Dez walked up to the porch and proceeded to gently knock on the Washington door. A moment passed before JAX answered the door, meeting eyes with Dez before he could say a word.

"Dez! What a pleasure to see you here. What brings you over today? Are you looking for Master Landen?"

"Hey, JAX. Yeah, I'm here to see him."

"Very good. Master Landen is here. He's upstairs in his room."

"Thank you, JAX," said Dez, entering into the house, passing by JAX.