What About Us?

Chapter 25

Jacob

Things were more or less going back to normal.

Charlie was still in the infirmary. Mostly because he would not sit still. From what Teddy was telling me, Charlie was not obeying the bed rest orders which was slowing down the healing process.

He was starting to drive Victoria crazy, and Teddy.

The two of them practically begged me watch him while Teddy was in classes.

<*>

When I walked into the infirmary Victoria was already yelling at Charlie to get back into bed. She shot me a look that said, 'If he gets out of bed I'm going to murder him.'

I walked into his room and saw him start to get back up.

"DOWN!" I yelled "Do you want to be stuck in here longer."

"No. I'm just bored!" He explained

"Read."

"I have! I ran out of things to read."

"Then stay here and rest."

"I get bored."

"Get back in that bed. I brought cards."

"Fine."

<*>

We played for hours. I managed to keep Charlie in bed all day. This worked great because Teddy had a horrible day and the last he needed was to deal with Charlie.

The two of us continued our game while Teddy "decompressed."

" . . . And then she just went on and on and on for the rest of the class period about some dumb dead guy! Then after class she pulls me aside and she told me that I wasn't doing well because my papers were too dry. DRY! IT'S A PUBLIC SPEAKING CLASS NOT ONE ON HOW TO WRITE A PAPER! THE ONLY REASON I AM PUTTING UP WITH THIS CLASS IS BECAUSE I NEED THE EXTRA CREDIT! I CAN PUBLIC SPEAK JUST FINE!"

"What does she mean by dry?" Charlie asked winning again

"They're not attention grabbing or some shit."

Charlie took the cards and started shuffling them. "Maybe you should write about something you are passionate about."

Teddy stopped pacing and looked over at us.

"Wait . . . That's a fantastic idea! Thank you! Got to go!" He kissed Charlie's forehead and left

Charlie dealt out the cards.

<*>

We found out what that topic was the next day.

"Teddy, this is incredible!" Charlie exclaimed

"You've really done your research. This will definitely get an A!"

Teddy's paper was on Gay rights. It was fantastically written. Compared to his others, and they were extensive, this one was the best.

<*>

On Friday Charlie and I were playing Uno when Teddy stomped in and threw his bag down.

"Hey Teddy. How did it go?" Charlie asked cautiously

"Well let's see. I'm standing in front of the class reading my paper. I get halfway through the first paragraph when my teacher stops me. And says that the topic I chose was to inappropriate for class. Other classmates in my class come to my aid and I am allowed to finish reading my paper. After class this lady calls me up to her desk and tells me that she has to give me an F because the topic was to controversial and inappropriate!!"

"That's . . ."

"I KNOW! THIS ISN'T EVEN A CLASS ON WRITING IT'S SIMPLY ON PRESENTATION! THIS IS HORRIFICALLY UNFAIR!" Teddy yells.

Charlie was just about to say something when Melisa ran in.

"Jacob, I need to talk to you. And Charlie." She panted

"What's wrong?" I asked. Teddy sat down next to Charlie momentarily forgotten.

"I was scrolling through some photos when I saw one that caught my eye. When the guy grabbed me, I accidentally took a picture of him. Does this guy look familiar?" She held up the phone for us to see.

The man in the picture had bright green eyes just like Jackson's and the same light hair. I would have mistaken it for him if he wasn't missing Jackson's carefree smile and had a nasty scar on his right cheek.

"That's the same guy I saw hiding in the bushes and chased me! That's Jackson's dad!" Charlie exclaimed

"That's the guy I saw walk onto campus before the shooting." Teddy added

"I don't remember seeing him, but that would make sense because he was in jail when I was kidnapped." I said

"I talked to Angela and she confirmed it was one of the men that took her. So now we know who's doing the kidnapping we just don't know why." Melisa explained

"Hang on. I over heard some conversations while I was there." Teddy broke in. "I know it was a while ago, but I heard some chatter about getting close to some guy they called Jack. Do you think they could have been talking about Jackson?"

"Maybe. I heard similar conversation. They kept talking about getting close to him." Charlie added

I thought for a moment. When I was pulled in they grilled me on information about where someone was going. They said I knew who he was. If Jackson's dad was somehow watching the campus and found out we were friends then he would have told his comrades, so they could continue the Jackson hunt. That would explain why they wanted to know where he was so bad.

"Guys. I've got some bad news."

<*>

Melisa and I were racing down the street to Angela and Jackson's place.

"Are you sure they're still here?" Melisa asked taking a puff from her inhaler

"I hope so."

I banged on the door and Angela answered.

"What's wrong?" She asked

"Please tell us Jackson is still here." I exclaimed

"No. He went out to grab Chinese food. What's going on."

"Then men responsible for the kidnappings are working for Jackson's dad. We put all the clues together and his dad is looking for him. We don't know why, but we have proof it's him." Melisa pulled out her phone and showed Angela

"Oh my god."

"We think they are going to try and get him tonight!"

"Oh my god." Angela puled out her phone and called him." He won't pick up!"