Odd One Out

CHAPTER 4

Naya
Monday, September 22

Francisco's disappearance was the news of the day. It went by so fast and distracted so many students that during the last class of the day, our principal set up an assembly to gather us up in the school theater.

One by one, students filed in and sprinkled around the seats, chattering and chirping the entire way through.

Some people had mentioned that maybe he ran away, trying to fulfill his dream of becoming a huge and attention-craving star. Others said that maybe he was just going to be gone a couple days and that he'd come back, that maybe he'd just decided to be a little more spontaneous or that he was still hungover somewhere. Others were still in denial.

"Good afternoon, students," Principal Wes greeted by the podium, his booming voice signaling us to hush down.

"I have been informed just as you all have, that one of your classmates, Francisco Salazar, was reported as missing."

Instantly, the chatter initiated again as if this were the first time we were hearing this.

"This is so stupid," Laney muttered beside me, his wood-brown curls hidden beneath a gray beanie that matched his hooded eyes. His arms crossed out of boredom as Principal Wes looked around the room, eyes worried and curious.

A few seats behind me, I heard snickering and turned around to find Ellis and his friends chuckling at something one of them had said. He and I briefly made eye contact before I quickly turned back around to face the front, feeling my cheeks warm up a bit.

"Yeah," I told Laney who was now typing away at his phone. "This is stupid."

Principal Wes waited once more for the chatter to die down before continuing.

"I can promise you all that there is no harm to worry about. Our school and the city police are working together to figure this case out. We care about every single one of our students and their safety, and we will not give up until we find answers to what has happened.

"In the mean time, I advise you all to stay as alert as possible without losing sight of your academic focus. If anyone has any information about the night of Francisco's disappearance, please stop by my office. If you feel like you don't want to expose yourself, you may leave an anonymous note with the information you have."

He looked around the room, his stare deep and somber-looking. No matter how hard he tried to hide it from us, I could tell he was becoming more and more worried by the second.

"It is crucial that anyone who was with him these last few days confesses to anything they might have seen. Anything."

As he finished off his sentence, he looked towards the back of the theater, his gaze fixed on someone. I turned around to see Viktor Henderson sitting by himself in the last row, arms crossed against his broad chest, staring at the podium onstage with an expression that proved he couldn't be bothered by Mr. Wes's speech.

"Hey," someone whispered out loudly, and I lowered my gaze only to be met with Ellis's curious stare.

"What do you want?" I stated more than asked, showing my sincere annoyance.

"You okay?"

This caught me off guard. After a few seconds, I nodded and opened my mouth to ask him the same thing before Laney turned to me.

"We should ditch this thing and go to the mall or something. This shit is so cliché I actually feel bad for him."

"For who? Francisco or Principal Wes?"

"For Wes." He snorted before saying, "No one feels bad for Francisco's disappearance. In fact, I don't think anyone cares about his absence in the way you'd think."