Versus Amends

Chapter Two: He's Back!

"Now the whole thing is getting to him and I'm the one who caused it."

Dane watched him flop on the chair.

"Look man, don't beat yourself up. Sure, it's messed up what you did. Well, actually it was kinda dumb what you did. I mean, if I knew something like that, I would've-"

"How is this helping?" Mark asked.

Collin shut his mouth.

"You were just trying to protect him." Sean reassured.

"But I didn't." Mark replied.

"Look, I know the secret was bad. And that you keeping this from him was even worse. But, why is he so mad?" Dane asked.

"Dude, it's Seth Harper." Sean replied.

"Yeah I get that. Is he mad at the secret or just mad that you kept it from him?" Dane clarified.

Mark shrugged.

"I don't know. Either way, he's still-"

"Wait, when did he find out?" Collin asked.

"This morning." Mark responded.

"When did you find out?" Jalen asked.

"Like...a month ago." Mark replied.

"Dang bro. Why'd you wait so late?" Sean questioned.

Jalen and Dane gave him a look and smacked the back of his head.

"Ow!" Sean whimpered.

"You don't listen man." Jalen said while shaking his head.

"Look, just wait it out. He's like in what...middle school?" Collin questioned.

"Oh my gosh, he's fifteen dude." Dane told him.

"Well, I don't know him. I forgot you even had a brother." Collin said.

Jalen sighed.

"The point is, he'll probably get over this in like two weeks. Three at the most." Sean stated.

Mark nodded.

"And why does he care? Isn't Seth dead?" Collin asked.

"Don't you watch the news bro?" Jalen questioned in returned.

"Yes I do." Collin retorted.

Jalen crossed his arms.

"When's the last time you watched?" He quizzed.

"October 2." Collin answered.

Jalen rolled his eyes.

"Bro, we got dumb friends." He said to Mark.

The sixteen year old laughed.

"Got that right." A voice called out.

The five of them turned around and saw who was at the door.

"What up Greg?" Sean greeted.

"Oh geez." Dane commented.

"Sup guys. What up little cuz?" Greg replied.

Dane threw him a nod.

"What y'all talking about?" Greg asked.

"Ryan." Collin answered.

"Little Walker? Yo, I saw him like ten minutes ago." Greg informed.

"You talked to him?" Sean asked.

"No. I had to go upstairs to give Mr. Castone-"

"Castone? Bro, I love him! He was subsituting for my class and I was passed late. He didn't write me up." Jalen cut him off.

"Lucky. I was in the hallway just rough housing with Scott. He acted like I was fighting him. I got detention in a heartbeat." Sean told them.

Collin began to laugh.

"Yeah I remember that. He got you good!" He said.

"Wait, your the kid he made take his pants off?" Mark asked.

Sean nodded in embarrassment.

"And then he had to put the mascot's head on and stand on top of his car." Jalen continued.

"And sing the national anthem!" Mark and Greg said simultaneously.

All the boys were cracking up. Sean rubbed his forehead.

"Oh man, that's still trending." Collin said.

"Uh huh, thank you. Thank you, reliving that was a hoot." Sean said sarcastically.

"But yeah, I saw your brother walking with this chic. She's hot. You think you could get him to hook me up?" Greg asked Mark.

"What'd she look like?" Jalen asked.

"Dirty blonde hair, blue eyes, wears glasses. Oh! And she had a green top on." Greg described.

The former jock raised an eyebrow.

"You like Veracity?" Mark questioned a bit surprised.

"That's her name?! Yo, that's fire. Is she new here?" Dane asked.

"Dane, she went to our old school. We just didn't say hi." Mark replied.

"Oh." Dane commented.

"And why should I watch the news? It's boring." Collin complained.

Sean sat up straighter.

"It's not boring when they said there was a Seth Harper spotting." He informed.

The others quickly put their attention on Sean.

"Are you serious?" Mark questioned.

"No lie." Sean answered.

"Where?" Jalen wondered.

"They said he was near the bay. That was the last time they caught anything." Sean told him.

"So the dude that made monsters to kill us all is BACK?!" Collin panicked.

"Bro, calm down. It's not like he'll get you in your sleep." Dane stated.

"He could if he wanted to." Sean disagreed with a smirk.

Collin became frightened.

"Wait, how do they know it's even him? That could've been a body shaped like him." Greg spoke.

"Nope. They had a hidden face cam. It was him." Sean confirmed.

Mark's eyes widened. Seth was spotted back in Bay City. The last they ever saw him was in the robot. He could be anywhere at this point. He had to let the others know. He checked the time. He sighed as he glanced at everyone. He didn't realize he did it so loudly. It caused the others to look at him.

"What?" Jalen asked.

Mark showed them the time. That's when they all got up and bolted. Mark laughed as they did. The sixteen year old had his class two doors down. He didn't scramble to be on time as he casually picked up his bag and walked out the room. He closed the door and headed to class.