Hunted

Chapter Eleven: Ben's Promise

Principal Whitney stood less than fifty meters away from me, yelling into his cellphone.

"I understand, Warren!" he snapped. "Look, I'll find him, alright? Honestly, you're not doing so well with your plan of squeezing tiny bits of information out of the girl either."

There was a long pause, and Principal Whitney looked over at me.

"I'll call you back." he said, and hung up, tilting his head to the side. "Miss Lewis, can I help you?"

"Yes, actually, I forgot my cellphone at home and I need to let my parents know that I'll be staying overnight at a friends. Is it alright if I use yours?" I asked.

Principal Whitney nodded. "Of course." he said, handing over his phone.

I took his phone and clicked the recent calls. Sure enough, the contact was put in as Warren Whitney, and there was a picture of two blonde boys standing with Principal Whitney. I clicked to the keypad, and punched in the first number that I could think of: Ben's.

"Hello?" he answered on the third ring.

"Hey, mom, I was just calling to tell you that I'm staying overnight at Jessamine's." I said.

"Olivia? Is this you? What the hell?" Ben asked, confused.

"Yeah, mom, I'll be home before dinner tomorrow." I huffed. "Of course I'll pick up a carton of milk on my way home."

"Olivia, you're being extremely weird. What's going on?" Ben muttered.

"Okay, love you too, bye." I said, and hung up. "Thank you, Principal Whitney, it's a huge help."

As soon as Principal Whitney took the phone from my hand, I smiled, rolled up my window, and drove away.

Principal Whitney was Warren's father. He had said something about "finding him" and "getting information from the girl". I had already been suspicious of Warren, but now... I had a sinking feeling that there was more to this mystery than I had assumed.

When I got to my house, I knew how much trouble I was in before I even pulled into the driveway. Ben's car was parked in the driveway, and he was standing on my doorstep, talking to my parents.

I cursed under my breath, and pulled into the driveway. Ben turned around the second I closed my door, and walked across the lawn toward me.

"Olivia, what's going on? Who's phone were you calling me from?" he asked, but before I could say anything, my mom pulled him away from me and grabbed my shoulders.

"That's the second night in a row that you've snuck out, Olivia. I just called Jessamine, and you weren't there last night, so would you mind telling me where the hell you were?" she demanded, glaring at me.

"Get off me." I snapped.

"Where were you last night?" she repeated, her grip tightening.

"Mom, you're hurting me." I said. She wasn't really hurting me. I just wanted her to let me go.

She released me, and shook her head. "Are you doing drugs? Are you part of a gang? Please, enlighten me to why you've been lying to us about your whereabouts." she huffed.

"She was with me." Ben cut in, putting his hand on my mother's shoulder.

My mom looked at Ben, then at me, then back at Ben. "And tonight?" she asked.

Ben looked at me, clearly looking for me to step in.

"It was a prank call. A dare from Jessamine. Call Ben and talk to him like he's your mother. It was funny at the time, but now I see that it was unfair to Ben and completely immature." I lied.

My mom nodded, and stepped back. "I'm sorry I reacted like that. I just worry about you with all of this stuff going on." she said, and turned to Ben. "You'd better be safe with my daughter."

Ben turned bright red. "Um, it wasn't like that, Mrs. Lewis..." he protested, and then looked at me dad, who shook his head, smiled, and walked inside with my mother.

I turned to Ben and smiled gratefully, but it faded instantly as he gave me a look.

"You have some explaining to do." he said firmly, and put his hand on my shoulder.

I sighed. "I know." I huffed.

"Start with this- where were you last night, when the building burned down?" he asked.

"About two blocks away from the building." I admitted.

Ben looked at me with wide eyes, but didn't stop. "And you had an accident, with Danielle and her boyfriend?" he pressed.

"Stop asking me things you already know the answer to." I huffed.

"Okay, fine. Olivia, what's going on?" he asked.

"Sam's alive." I said, voice shaking.

There was a long pause, and then Ben looked me in the eye. "What kind of sicko told you this?" he demanded.

"Sam was in my room tonight. He told me to stop looking for him." I told him.

"Olivia..."

"No, Ben, someone is trying to kill my best friend. I have no feelings for Sam whatsoever, but I can't let him die." I blurted, shaking my head.

Ben was quiet for a moment, then he took a deep breath. "Then let me help you."

"Ben, I can't let you put yourself in danger." I whispered.

"No, you don't have to let me do anything. I'm doing this because I love you, and even if we help him, and you leave me, you'll be happy. That's one thing you have not been lately, babe. I said I would make you happy someday, and I will. That's a promise."