We All Fall Together

-thirty-

The weekend went by so fast. Monday came around and instead of using my Mom's car like I sometimes do, I walked. Walking around our community is quite relaxing, but sometimes loitering can also bring danger. Oh who cares? School wasn't that far for me, so why not walk?

While walking, I noticed that someone is following. I know this is cliche, but it's kind of bothering me. I tensed when it didn't stop following me. I have two options: run or look back. If I run, the driver can catch up and if I looked back, the person can easily get me. I'm really curious on who's behind the wheel.

Instead of running like what other people do, I turned around and looked straight at the driver. There sat Ron driving his car. Relief washes over me as I realize that it wasn't a kidnapper. He kept following me even though I know he's behind me. The car stopped beside me when I stopped walking. Ron went out of the car and walked his way to me. I looked down and continued walking. I could hear his footsteps.

This is getting annoying.

I turned around to see him so close to me. He grabbed my hand and held it in his, and said, "Look, sorry if I kept on following you. S-so I was wondering if you want to r-ride?" He must have been nervous asking me that's why he was just tailing.

'Yes, because I want to get there early, and no, because I don't want to ride with you.' I thought. Although, I can't ignore or avoid him forever. I'm gonna see him everywhere. Thinking twice, I told myself that this won't be that bad of a ride, so why not? It may be awkward but... whatever.

"Sure." I finally agreed.

"You want to grab a drink?" He asked. I shook my head, not feeling like grabbing any snack.

" Sandwhich?"

"No."

"Chocolate?"

"No."

 "Chips?"

"No."

 "Any snack?"

"No."

I declined all his offers of buying me a snack. I know what he's trying to do. I feel bad for saying no when he's trying to be nice. "Can we just speed up 'cause we're almost late? You keep stopping at every gas station to buy something."

"I only stopped twice," he defended. "First, I bought food in case you're hungry. Second, I had to use the toilet." He sighed and sped up a bit.

Okay, now I pissed him off.

We parked a few spaces away from the entrance. I quickly said thank you and left. Once I step foot in the building, I ran up the stairs to the second floor. I ran to homeroom and when I reached the door, I heard Ron calling me. "Emmie!"

I turned around to see him panting. He pushed the snack bag to me and said, "Take it. I really bought that for you." I accepted it and with that, he left. Where is he going? We're having homeroom in the same classroom. Anyway, I entered the room and everyone looked up.

"Good morning, Fatima Sommers."

"Good morning Mrs. Goodman. Please call me Emmie. I'm sorry I'm late because-"

"I'll excuse you for today Ms. Sommers. I'm giving lecture to your classmates especially the two boys at the back," She said as she slowly faced the two boys. "Take the empty seat between them."

I walked my way to the empty seat she was talking about. It took me a while to realize that Tyler's on my left and another kid is on my right. A new kid to be specific, and it's shocking because Tyler had punched a new kid straight in the eye. He's new here, so what has he done to him? I nudged Tyler and pointed at the new kid.

"Nothing," he said. "He's trying to get in my nerves."

He obviously didn't want to talk about it so I dropped it. As Mrs. Goodman gives the class a lecture, I zoned out.

***

"You don't know how hot this new kid in our batch is. And his sister in Grade 10, she's damn pretty. People said they came from California."

Now, Molly's talking about this new student from my homeroom. She's been telling me how amazing is the sister and sizzling hot is the new guy from our batch. Do I even look like I care about him? Not that I'm being mean or anything. I have other problems to attend to. Well, just my problem with Ron. I haven't seen him since this morning.

I was about to ask Molly if she had seen Ron when out of nowhere, the guy showed up. He gave a closed smile and was about to speak when Molly beat him to it, "Let's go- Ron! Join us." I guess Molly still doesn't know.

I looked at Ron straight in the eye and gave him the same smile he did. We head to where we usually sit and sat down with the rest. It was quiet at first. No one spoke, not even a word until the 4 not-so-amazing boys, Cole, Jorge, Vester and Jordan came.

"Hey guys!" Jordan, being the smiley friend, greeted us happily. Then all of the boys sat down. "It feels kind of awkward here. What's up?"

"Nothing." I said, but I knew I implied the opposite of it.

"Come on, guys. Even I could sense the awkwardness here." Vester added. I looked deep in Ron's eyes, and I already knew he won't speak about it. We had this weird communication throught the eyes, and I could tell he wanted to talk separately with me.

I looked away because I knew it won't be too good if I just stared at him. The boys realized that none of us were gonna speak up, so they dropped the issue and fell to their own conversations. "Where's Wesley and Beth?" Molly asked.

"They're eating outside with their group mates in Chemistry." Ron answered. Then all of a sudden, the blaring ringtone of Cole started, making me jump a little. "Excuse me," he said and stood up, walking quite fat from our table.

I observed Cole for a while. I noticed that he was irritated. Actually, more like angry at whoever is on the phone. His hand movements were wild that he hit a Sophomore's tray. He apologized to that Sophomore and continued talking. He turned to the table, and he caught me off guard. So instead of just staring, I smiled at him. He smiled back, but I knew that his smile was filled with weary and worry.

Soon, he returned to the table, and I knew I have to back off. I just can't help but be curious about it. So I asked like a stupid curious cat, "Who was that? You looked so mad."

Cole looked kind of pale and afraid. He looked like he's never felt so scared before, not until now. He slid his hand through his hair and looked down at the phone like the phone call was the most tragic thing that's ever happened in his life. If there's anything going on right now, I knew that it'll affect us all because by the time I blinked, Cole had a tear rolling down his cheek.

"Dude, what's wrong?" Ron asked him this time. The conversation between Jorge, Vester and Jordan died. Even Molly stopped saying stuff about the new guy and girl when she noticed that tear rolling down Cole's cheek.

"They got them," Cole began. "It's my fault. They got 3 of them."

"Who?" I asked. "Cole, focus! Tell us who!" I was right. My instincts were right, and I knew that this is where the battle begins.

"Wesley, Beth and Ramona."

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

OMG GUYS! I'M BACK AFTER A FEW MONTHS! :D

I decided to finish this book instead because I know that the story is at it's peak. The new story I'm writing is already on Chapter 17, and I haven't posted it yet since I want to finish this story first. I felt off for almost a year now, but I guess it's time to get back on track. I hope you all enjoyed Chapter 30.

"and I knew that this is where the battle begins."

~Emmie Sommers

-Bri :)