Chapter 16
"Why exactly do you need to be dropped off here?" Joe asked me and he seemed a bit pissed which was probably due to the fact that Browning is with one of the McQueens.
We had arrived outside the McQueens and I was pretty reluctant to get out but I knew that if anyone knew where Joel was then it would be Theresa but I still had no idea what I was going to say. I had been pretty quiet the rest of the journey because I had been thinking things over which had earned me quite a few looks from Freddie who looked concerned but never actually asked me about it.
"I need to talk to Mr McQueen about my essay and he said that I could stop by." I told him with a shrug and got out of the car, "I'll see you later."
They all raised their hands as a goodbye gesture and then the car pulled away from the house and left me stood there debating whether to knock or not.
I did what I needed to do and knocked on the door but unfortunately I came face to face with Browning.
"Hey Paul, is Theresa in?" I asked him cheerfully and he looked like he was holding himself back from hitting me.
"What the hell are you doing here?" He hissed at me.
"Don't worry I'm not here to see you. I actually came to see Theresa so…" I thought that he would take my hint and go and get. Luckily he did but he shut the door in my face and left me stood on the doorstep looking like an idiot.
I was only stood there for a few minutes before a blonde girl appeared at the door holding a kid.
"Theresa?" I asked her and she nodded her head at me, "I'm a friend of Joel's and I was wondering if you could help me?"
She stepped out of the house and shut the door behind her, "What do you want from me?"
"I was hoping you might be able to tell me where he is." She studied me for a minute and I had a feeling that she wasn't going to tell me anything.
"If you're such a good friend of his then why wouldn't he tell you where he is?" She asked me.
"Because he didn't want to tell many people but I guessed that because you was his girlfriend then he might've told you." I emphasised the word girlfriend and she thought about it for a minute before answering me.
"I wish he did but he went off with our Bart and I haven't heard from either of them since." Well there goes that plan out of the window, I was back to square one.
"Oh. Okay then, thanks anyway." I turned to leave but she stopped me.
"You're staying with the Roscoes right?" I nodded my head, "If I hear anything then you'll be one of the first to know."
"Thanks." I smiled at her and then left to go back to the house.
I was pretty deflated because I kind of hoped that she would've been able to give me a little bit of hope. However I did have one final person that I could turn to for help. Jim.
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"Hey Jim." I sat down across from him in college coffee and he looked up at me startled.
"Why does it look like you've been dragged through a hedge?" He asked me jokingly but I then realised that I probably looked a mess from our paintballing trip.
"I got rugby tackled by Freddie." I told him and he laughed.
"I'm sure there are plenty of people in the village that would love to have that happen to them, not me of course I have my lovely Carmel." He started blabbering and I gave him a bored look, "So what exactly can I do for you today?"
