Promises - Joel Pimentel

Chapter 23

I didn't know what to do; Maya was out there alone and I couldn't just sit here knowing she could be in danger. The sirens had now stopped, I didn't want to open the doors just yet. I thought I'd give it some time before heading out to look for her.

"Screw this, I'm going" I opened the door and ran downstairs to the girl's main bathroom.

The grounds were still empty and quiet.

"Maya?" my voice echoed through the bathroom as I entered.

"Maya, where are you?" I checked each and every stall.

Still no sign of her.

"Oh my gosh, she's gone" my heart was racing as I was panicking.

I didn't know what to do. I ran back up to my room, hoping she would be there but she wasn't. I then made my way towards the head professors office as I knocked. My body shaking and my heart still racing.

"Come in" said the voice.

"Mr Vasquez, it's Maya. She went to the girl's bathroom before the siren rang and she never came back!" my voice was now shaking too.

"Ok Miss Rose, please stay calm. Take a seat while I make a phone call to the head office and ask security to look all over campus for her" he says.

I nod my head as I began fidgeting with my fingers. The tapping of the phone buttons was all that was being heard around the room.

"Yes, we have a missing student. Her name is Maya Francis. I believe she was last seen in the girl's bathroom right before the sirens rang" he says into the phone.

"Yes. Thank you. That would be much appreciated" Mr Vasquez hangs up before taking a deep sigh.

"The security is on it. They will be looking all over campus for her and they will also be checking security cameras. If they hear or see anything they will report right back to us. Please Bailey, go back to your dorm room to be safe and have some rest. I assure you Maya will be fine" he finishes.

I nod my head before standing up and going back to my room. From that whole day onwards, no one had left their room. Especially after the announcement was made of a missing student over the P.A system.

Joel's POV

"But Joel, you can't be serious" Amber cries as she was walking behind me.

"Believe it or not, I am serious. How could you manipulate me like that? I'm giving you two options Amber; leave me and Maya alone, delete that video and I won't tell the police or don't leave us alone, don't delete that video and I will tell the police" I kept on walking forward while fixing my earpiece and microphone.

"You're a jerk! Ugh" she stopped in her tracks before sobbing away as I continued to walk.

"Sorry about that man" Zabdiel places his hand on my shoulder as he had just seen what went down between Amber and I.

"Don't be. It doesn't mean I've given up on Maya though"

"Go get her tiger" he smiles, playfully hitting my back as a smile formed on my lips.

The boys and I were standing side stage, ready to go out and perform. The noise of screaming fans was hyping us up. This is what I've dreamt of all my life and I finally get to make my dreams a reality.

An hour had passed and we were still out here performing one song after another, hyping up the crowd. We then stopped the music as the fans continued to chant our name.

"It's time to slow things down a bit and bring a special fan up here" Chris breaths into his microphone as he was running out of breath.

There was a chair being pulled out and placed in the centre of the stage for the fan to come up and sit on. Just then, a girl with wavy black hair and dark brown eyes came out to the stage while being lead to the chair. Her hand was placed over her mouth as she was overwhelmed from just being up here.

"Hi there, what's your name?" Erick puts his arm around the girl.

"Jenny" she manages to say without freaking out too much.

The plan was to start performing Tu Luz while serenading the girl. First up was Zabdiel when the song had begun. He was looking into Jenny's eyes, making her feel special. When the first part of the chorus had begun, it was my cue to go to her and sing to her.

However, when I looked into her eyes, I saw someone else. I saw a bit of Maya in her. It sounds silly in my head but she had exactly the same eyes as Maya. I stopped my chorus halfway before heading back.

"Joel what are you doing? You still have to sing to her" Richard tries to tell me, keeping the microphone away from his mouth.

"Can you?" I plead.

He had my back and continued the chorus that was originally meant to be coming from me. A couple more hours had passed and we finished our last song before ending the show and going back.

"Joel what the hell was that? You're lucky Richard had your back. What the hell were you thinking?" Renato says to me.

"I'm sorry, I lost focus. Won't happen again" I softly reply back.

Everyone's eyes were on me. Renato had nothing else left to say before everyone had went back to their business.

"Man, you good?" Chris comes up to me.

"Yeah, I'm fine man thanks" I pull up a smile.

Heading back to our dressing room, I realise that Amber wasn't there anymore. Even though she always is here after every show.

"Hey, where's Amber?" I ask one of the backstage helpers.

"Oh, she went home. I thought she might have told you" the lady replies, collecting all our microphones.

After we were finally in our comfortable clothes, we sat on the sofa's backstage. Everyone was busy on their phones while my mind was in complete confusion. Who is this Jenny girl and why did she look so familiar? Why did I see Maya in her? Although, I could just be imagining things. My mind has been on Maya all day, that's probably why I'm seeing things now. There was a knock on the door which Renato had opened as he was the closest.

"Good evening, are you Mr Francis?" two police men were asking.

"Yes, that's me" he replies.

By now, the whole room was dead quiet and eyes were glued to the door, seeing what was going on.

"And Mr Francis, do you know this girl?" the police officer lifted up a photo of Maya, showing Renato.

"Yes, that's my daughter Maya. What's going on?" he asks.

"Mr Francis, we are here to inform you that your daughter has been reported missing for forty-eight hours".