WHO AM I

THE WAITING GAME

The next morning, everything felt different. The air was thick with unanswered questions, and the tension between the group was almost palpable. No one had heard from Renzo since he’d sped off the day before, and it was driving Lila crazy. Her thoughts had spiraled all night, coming up with worst-case scenarios that left her restless.

When she arrived at school, Noah was already waiting by her locker, leaning against the wall with his arms crossed. The look on his face told her everything.

“Still nothing?” Lila asked, slamming her locker shut.

Noah shook his head. “Radio silence. He’s avoiding us.”

Lila sighed, frustrated. “What if something happened? What if he’s in trouble?”

“He’s always in trouble,” Jasper chimed in from behind them, clearly trying to lighten the mood again. “Trouble is like Renzo’s shadow. It just follows him wherever he goes.”

“Well, that shadow might be bigger than we thought,” Noah muttered. “We need a plan.”

Zara appeared around the corner, phone in hand. “I’ve been trying to get more info from my cousin, but everything’s locked up tighter than Fort Knox. She says this is way bigger than we thought.”

“How big?” Cathy asked, appearing next to her.

“Like…people don’t come back from this kind of big.”

Lila’s heart sank. “What does that mean?”

“I don’t know exactly,” Zara admitted, “but it’s not good. Renzo is way over his head.”

Noah’s jaw clenched. “We need to find him before he gets himself killed.”

---

The group spent the rest of the day searching for Renzo. They asked around, checked every spot he usually hung out at, and even tried calling his family. But no one knew where he was, or if they did, they weren’t telling.

By the time the last bell rang, Lila was exhausted and no closer to answers. She headed toward the parking lot with Noah, who had been unusually quiet all day.

“You okay?” she asked.

Noah glanced at her, his expression unreadable. “I’m fine. Just…worried about Renzo.”

“Me too,” Lila admitted. “I keep thinking about what he said—that he can’t get out of whatever he’s into. What if we’re too late?”

Noah was quiet for a moment before he finally spoke. “We won’t be too late. We can’t be.”

They walked in silence for a while before Lila broke it with a half-hearted laugh. “You know, Jasper said something yesterday that stuck with me.”

“What?”

“He said that if Renzo turned out to be a part of some underground superhero league, I’d owe him a coffee.”

Noah raised an eyebrow, a small smile playing on his lips. “And what did you say?”

“I told him it was only 5% likely, but now I’m not so sure,” Lila chuckled. “At this point, I wouldn’t be surprised if Renzo was leading a double life as a secret agent.”

“Well, if he is, I hope he has some cool gadgets we can borrow,” Noah joked, his mood lightening just a bit.

Lila smiled, grateful for the momentary distraction. But even as they laughed, the weight of the situation still hung over them. Renzo was out there somewhere, and they had no idea what kind of danger he was in.

---

The next day, Lila’s phone buzzed with a text from an unknown number.

Unknown: Meet me at the docks. Don’t tell anyone. —R

Her heart skipped a beat. She quickly showed the message to Noah, who frowned.

“This could be a trap,” he said.

“I don’t care,” Lila replied. “We need to go. He’s reaching out.”

Without another word, they grabbed Jasper, Cathy, and Zara, and headed to the docks after school. The air was cold and salty, the perfect backdrop for the eerie quiet that greeted them as they arrived.

“Are you sure this is the right place?” Cathy asked nervously.

Lila nodded, scanning the area. “This is where he said to meet.”

Suddenly, a shadow emerged from behind a shipping container. Renzo stepped forward, looking haggard and worn, but alive. Relief flooded through Lila, but it quickly evaporated when she saw the fear in his eyes.

“You shouldn’t have come,” Renzo said, his voice low.

“What do you mean?” Noah demanded. “We came to help you!”

“There’s no helping me,” Renzo replied, shaking his head. “It’s too late. I got in too deep, and now there’s no way out.”

“Renzo, we can figure this out,” Lila pleaded. “We can go to the police—”

“No!” Renzo snapped. “You don’t understand. If they find out I’ve talked to you, you’re all dead.”

The group froze, the gravity of his words hitting them like a ton of bricks. Lila’s heart pounded in her chest. What had Renzo gotten himself into?