Shadows of The Past

Chapter 20

"Feels good to be out of the house." Alec commented from beside me. "All though, I very much prefer not to be in school."

"You have escaped this torment for pretty long now, suck it up, your suffering continues from today." I replied, smiling while my parents chuckled from the front.

"Have a good day, kids." My mum turned around from the passenger's seat to look at us with a genuine grin. Now I know why dad was always obsessed with mum's smile, it was angelic.

"Same to you both." I smiled back before I leaned in to peck both my mum and dad on the cheek. Alec said his goodbye and we both got out of the car.

I took out my phone from my back pocket and scanned my lock screen for new notifications. "Has Heather texted you in the past three days?" I asked Alec as we walked through the gates of hell.

"No, why?"

"I haven't seen or spoken to her in three days, which is weird considering the fact that she likes to spam my phone whenever she has the chance." I replied with a slight frown. Something was definitely wrong and I needed to see Heather right away.

"Maybe she fell sick like me." Alec shrugged. "You should go find her just in case." He urged and I nodded in agreement. Just as Alec and I walked up the steps of the school building, I spotted Heather's car near the cafeteria block.

"Hey, go ahead, I will catch up with you." I informed Alec without looking at him.

Alec mumbled an "okay" before walking into school while I diverted and walked towards the cafeteria.

Heather wasn't in her car and she wasn't anywhere near the cafeteria either. I scanned the whole area and even went in to check the cafeteria before I walked out to her car again. I pulled out my phone and texted her and asked where she was. I continued searching the whole area and eventually ended up at the back of the school.

And that's where I spotted her blonde hair.

"Heather?" I brisk walked to the blonde sitting on the floor with her arms wrapped around her knees and knelt down next to her.

"Hey, what's wrong?" I whispered as I sat down next to Heather. She didn't look at me or even acknowledge my presence. "Hey, look at me."

Heather slowly lifted her head to face me and I gasped. "Why are you crying?" I asked.

Heather didn't reply me with words, instead she started to whimper and fresh new tears started to stream down her face. I pulled her against me and held her close as she continued sobbing.

"Is it your parents? Did they scold you or hit you?" I whispered and Heather faintly shook her head. Students started to walk in our direction and Heather buried her head deeper in my chest, avoiding any eye contact with anyone walking by.

"All right, let's go to the toilet. We can talk in there." I muttered. I stood up first and pulled Heather up to her feet, slowly leading her to the nearest toilet. Thankfully, not many people used the toilets in this building so it worked out well for us as I guided Heather through the doors.

"Al? Heather?" I heard someone behind us. I turned around while Heather kept her head down.

I breathed a sigh of relief as I realized it was Leighton.

"Hey." I murmured before I looked back down at the fragile Heather in my arms. Leighton gave me a look mixed with curiosity and confusion as she eyed Heather and me. I jerked my head to motion her to follow us and we entered the girls' toilet.

Leighton locked the door after us and Heather eventually detached herself from me as she staggered to the sink. We watched her turn on the tap and slap her face with handfuls of cold water. Leighton handed her a couple of tissue papers while I leant against the wall. Suddenly, my phone buzzed in my pocket and I looked down to check the new message.