✔️The Greaser and the Skirtchaser [18+]

31. That Time Vin Cheddar-Slapped the Quarterback

No one noticed at first. There was nothing out of the ordinary in the first week of Spring except for some trouble a couple of teenagers got into with some fireworks. Later, Jennifer Hayesworth moved to NYC all of a sudden. There was such a buzz around the sudden departure of one of Northfield's richest girls that no one had noticed Blake Coleman up and disappeared.

Except for Vance.

He stared blankly at the chalkboard, not knowing a thing of what was going on in class. Not that anything was really different. Really, Vance was still doing the same old things. He walked around school looking at stone walls that were working as intended, trellises that only held ivy, and windows that stayed shut. Lately, Vance had just been out of it and swapping between silent resentment to spacey depressions.

At least the time passed quickly like this. The bell rang without Vance having any clue of what his math teacher was trying to tell him.

"Jesus, how many detentions is he gonna stick me with?"

"Guys, I've got another date with Jess on Friday!"

"Hell yeah! Let's go to the mall and deck you out!"

His cousins were already excited and mobbing towards the school's front doors, but Vance was looking at the back of a shorter Sophomore with a crew cut who was opening his locker. Usually, Vance would barely notice anyone he didn't know, but he'd caught glances of this kid in the halls or in town about a dozen times ever since Blake's disappearance. He was also the kid that got in trouble with the fireworks—got arrested for it and all.

Petey Willis. If anyone knew where Blake was, it might be this kid.

"Hey, you coming?" Danny asked quietly.

"Yeah," Vance said without thinking. Why bother? He didn't want to see Blake after the crap he said to him. "Sure."

He followed along behind Danny and sat on that hot, consuming feeling. He kept telling himself that Blake was just a coward skipping school to avoid Vance, but the more days that drifted by, Vance only got more and more uneasy. Blake said he was only leaving next month, not the next few days. He would have told Vance sooner if it was that close.

Right?

Vance was already turning around before he knew it, set on finding that kid, but Danny tugged him back. "Hey, where are you going?"

"Gotta take a leak. Just go without me." After all the sneaking around, Vance had figured out some better excuses than Jenny. He stalked back in the direction of math class, but he didn't hear Danny start walking away until he turned the corner. The guy could really breathe down Vance's neck sometimes.

Vance had to pass his last period before he finally spotted the kid walking down the hall by himself. "Hey!"

Petey turned with this wide-eyed look like Vance was some kind of monster, and he stumbled before trying to run. Vance called after him again, but obviously Petey just scrambled around another corner. He ran after him expecting the kid to have a mile head start from how much time Vance spent trying to get him to stop, but the kid was... slow. Vance wasn't exactly a lean type, but it was way too easy to catch up and grab Petey's arm.

"Hey! Wait, I don't want any trouble!" The kid was already putting his hands over his head and face. Did this kid think Vance was going to hit him?

"I'm not here for trouble. I have questions for you." Vance let him go.

Petey immediately tried to run again, but it was pathetically easy to catch him again. "Oh, come on, man!"

"Just answer, and I'll let you go!" Vance held him by both arms. "Where is Blake?"