Chapter Two
Christopher White had been Missing again. But this was nothing out of the ordinary. Christopher went Missing a lot, especially within the last Segment. He had already missed school once in the past Seven Day and was bound to be gone again. He always came back the next, however, only Missing for twenty-four hours. But, sooner or later, They were going to run out of patience and Christopher was going to go Missing for good.
Alexander Hawke sat back in his seat, eyes trained on the still computer screen before him. A list running along the left side of the screen held Christopher’s name with a red dot resting at the end. Alexander watched it, waiting. If his calculations were correct, the red dot should begin flashing green within the next thirty minutes. Another name, however, began flashing, and Alexander turned his attention to that of Chelsea Whitman. He hesitated before clicking the link. A window popped up on the computer screen and revealed Chelsea’s bright, brown eyes.
Alexander hesitated before greeting his classmate. Chelsea glanced down at the book in front of her before returning her attention to Alexander.
“Hey,” she greeted, a small smile playing across her lips as she pushed a stray lock of smooth, dark hair behind her ear. “I was having trouble with History’s homework,” she said as she glanced over the homework, finding the question she had circled. Alexander watched her, lost in the way her thin fingers ran beneath the lines as she read the question aloud. Finishing, she glanced up at Alexander.
“Did you get the answer?” she asked, blinking her large eyes. Alexander shook himself back to reality and glanced down at the paper sitting before him. He read the question over again, before shaking his head, a frown ceasing his brow.
“No, sorry…”
Chelsea frowned, leaning forward so her face nearly filled the screen.
“Oh, I had figured you would have gotten the answer from Christopher already. Is he not back yet?” she asked.
“How would I know?” Alexander retorted, leaning back in his seat.
“Well,” Chelsea answered, taken back by Alexander’s immediate defense. “I just figured, ‘cause you guys are friends—“
Alexander’s frown deepened as the red dot next to Christopher’s name began to flash green. He glanced over at it, but returned his attention to Chelsea, ignoring it.
“Oh, well…” Alexander hesitated, and then found his words. “I could see why you would think that. I mean, he always follows me around, doesn’t he? Gets pretty annoying, but I feel bad for the kid. He can’t seem to make his own friends with all those questions he’s always asking…but, anyway, no…we’re not actually friends…”
Chelsea frowned, eyes staring into Alexander’s, making him uncomfortable.
“Oh…okay,” Chelsea replied, leaning back. “Well, I guess I’ll just ask Jeremy, then.”
“Alright,” Alexander replied. “Sorry I couldn’t be of any help.”
“No problem. See you tomorrow.” With that, the window disappeared with Chelsea, and Alexander was left alone. He closed his eyes, shaking his head.
“Stupid,” he hissed under his breath, before lifting his head and catching sight of the flashing, green light. He sighed, a sick nausea coming to his stomach. Alexander hesitated, but finally clicked on Christopher’s name and another window popped up, revealing Christopher.
“Finally,” Christopher sighed, obviously exasperated. “I thought you were never going to reply.”
“Christopher, what happened? What did you do this time?” Alexander questioned, leaning forward, elbows resting upon his desk. Christopher shook his head, waving his hand before the screen.
“That’s not important,” he replied, excitement taking hold of his face. “You’ll never guess what I overheard!”
Alexander sighed, leaning back. Christopher always came back from these Missings with something new. Last time it was some conspiracy he had concocted against Them. No doubt, that was why he had gone Missing this time. Alexander, like everyone else in Utopia, was getting tired of these new findings, but whether or not Alexander wanted to hear what Christopher had to say, Christopher was going to say it anyway. Alexander had no choice but to sit back and listen.
“Well, last night, after we talked, I snuck out—“
“That was past curfew, Christopher,” Alexander scolded, though he was not surprised. Christopher ignored the interruption and continued on.
”I was on my way back Upstairs when I met up with my cousin,” Christopher continued.
“Jonathan?” Alexander questioned, remembering Christopher speak of his cousin before.
“Yes. He gave me this letter,” here Christopher flicked the white envelope in and out of the shot as he continued on. “And filled me in on a few other things he’d heard about Them.”
Alexander rolled his eyes, already guessing where this was going. But, that was when Christopher said something he did not expect.
“I can’t tell you the details here. It’s not secure.” Christopher glanced nervously over at something out of the shot before continuing, his voice rather distant, his eyes never fully meeting Alexander’s. “I’ll tell you tomorrow. After Seventeen.”
“What is it?” Alexander demanded, suspicions rising, but before he was able to get an answer, Christopher’s father stepped into the shot and Alexander was left with a blank screen. Alexander sighed, dropping his head to his desk momentarily, blinking his eyes down at the smooth, silver material that made up the desktop. Finally, he sat back up in his seat and glanced over at the green dot besides Christopher’s name. It shone of his presence back in Utopia, but did not blink with the same urgency it generally did. Something was up with the kid, and Alexander was not too sure he wanted to find out what.
