Your Secret's Safe With Me: A HSMTMTS AU

Chapter 25: Trust Issues

E.J's POV:

It's been too long.

Ok, maybe it's been only a few weeks since Ri went missing but I miss him a lot and need to find him.

I swear I have so many trust issues now.

My dad and I don't get along, and Jet and Maddox don't trust me.

They won't even talk to me.

Gi and Nini are on their own journey.

And I keep pestering Miss Jenn about looking for Ricky but she is too busy working on restoring the EHS Drama Department.

WE CANNOT HAVE A MUSICAL WITHOUT RICKY!

Everyone's got trust issues since the storm happened and I don't know what to do.

"Seb, do you trust me?" I look at my friend helping me plant flowers in Miss Jenn's garden.

I volunteered to help her fix up her home post-Hurricane Angela.

I know it's weird going over to a teacher's house but I need to watch the door in case Ricky comes back.

What if someone found him and carries him in as Miss Jenn did to Ni?

And besides Seb volunteered to help out, so it's nice to have company.

"Of course, I do, E.J. What's up? You have been quiet lately." I watch Seb pat some flowers into the soil as if he's done it before.

 "I'm going to go out into the ocean on my parent's boat to find Ricky. I need you to promise me that you won't tell anyone where I am going," I bend down to whisper to him while watching Miss Jenn mess with a potion in the kitchen.

I'm so used to seeing all the merpeople's magic now.

Ri introduced me to most of it in our past time.

"The tide is still high. E.J., it's dangerous out there. At least let someone go with you, maybe Kourt, Ash, or me. E.J., do you even know where to look?"

I look at Seb and realize that he's right.

I don't even know where to start.

Mako Island is hours from here.

"To be honest, no. I just want to find Ricky." I state that I have no idea what my plan is yet.

"We all want to see Ricky again. Even Carlos and Kourtney miss him. He makes us smile, even though he's unique. He belongs on stage and as Miss Jenn says 'The Show Must Go On'," I listen to Seb talk.

"Not all of us want to see Ricky again, Seb. Maddox and Jet won't even talk about Ri, Nini, and Gina. They seem so distant. I don't even think Miss Jenn seems concerned. And my cousin, Ashlyn seems like she's more concerned about Maddox than anyone else in the world. It's so annoying now that they are dating," I ramble to Seb, and seem like I am just complaining about Ricky not being here again.

I don't trust Jet or Maddox anymore.

"I don't trust Jet," I hear Seb whisper softly while looking over at Miss Jenn's window to see if anyone's watching.

See, I'm not the only one. 

"Why don't you trust him?" I ask while bending down to fix a patch of soil.

"He's taken a few of my personal belongings, he's trying to get Ricky out of the musical so he can be the star male role, I see him sneak out at night and go to the harbor when I bike home from Carlos' house, Carlos thinks that he's a runaway fugitive or adopted. I don't know. I think that he has secrets and is trying to fool us into treating him like everyone else. He's been acting weird since the hurricane happened, as if nothing ever happened. No one dissabpeared, no trash, no destruction. He acts so normal sometimes and sometimes he acts like a fugtitive," I listen to Seb and remember that he doesn't know about the merpeople pods or how Jet and Maddox found Mako Island.

"I thought that he was a good friend," I watch Seb frown and end his statement after putting his gardening tools on the ground.

I thought that he was too.

All of a sudden, my phone starts ringing. The caller ID says that it's Ashlyn.

I haven't talked to her since I accidentally shoved Maddox at Salt Lake Slices during the Hurricane Cleanup.

"One sec, I gotta take this. It's my cousin," I leave Seb in the garden and step over towards the kitchen where the door is to the house.

"E.J., I need help. I need water. Actually, nevermind, I need the keys to Uncle H's boat now! I don't know what to do," I hear her scream in my ear and can tell that she's having an anxiety attack.

Stress and anxiety run in the family.

"Ash, what's wrong? Take a breath. Tell me what you need without yelling in my ear," I put the phone away from my ear in case she screams and panics again.

"Mads is gone. Does she not love me anymore? Was I too pushy or clingy? Was I as bad girlfriend? We barely dated for a few months," I hear my cousin cry over the phone.

"What do you mean, she's gone?"

"We were cuddling in her bedroom and listening to indie music, then all of a sudden she heard a sound from Jet's room, I heard them fight about something behind his door,  I went down to take a look and there was a note saying that she wouldn't be back for a long time. I don't know how long a while is. Did I do something wrong?" Ashlyn says over the phone and I can tell that she's biting her nails.

Another significant other is missing from East High.

Maybe I should tell someone about Ri's secret.

"Is Jet gone too?" I ask hesitantly, even though I don't like him.

"No, he was still in the kitchen when I left on my bike. The note was just laying there and Jet wouldn't say anything. E.J., I need Uncle's boat keys. I think I know where she went."

"If you're going to where I think you are going. I am coming with you. If the boat gets destroyed, it's both of our faults," I state since I am protective over her.

If my cousin's significant other is missing, than I'm gonna help her find her too.