The Time Capsule (COMPLETED)

Chapter Nineteen

A week had passed since Seth had found out about his dad, a whole week of silence. He hadn't even bothered to attend school, I had attempted to pry information out of Issac but he had insisted that no one had been able to get hold of Seth, there was simply nothing else for it, I was going to have to go to his house and seek him out, he couldn't allow his education to suffer so close to graduation, it could jeopardise his whole future. That and I needed to go and put my mind at ease, I'd struggled to eat and sleep all week, it felt like my body was having withdrawals.

Kevin had returned to school the Monday after the fight looking worse for wear and telling anyone who had ears that it had been Seth's fault, manipulating people into believing he'd been attack unprovoked. Seth's absence didn't help to put these rumours to rest. Kevin would shoot me daggers whenever he happened to catch my eye and I was starting to wish Seth had hit him a little harder.

"Hey." Ryan waved and walked towards me, he'd been by my side everyday at school ensuring I was never alone long enough to wallow. "What do you think of this?" He flipped open a sketch book and revealed a school based comic strip, you could make out a few of the characters as some of the teachers. I squealed with excitement.

"It's so good Ryan!" I can't wait to put it out in the next issue." He looked pleased and closed his sketchbook so we could both head to the cafeteria for lunch.

"I have a confession." Ryan announced as we walked through the cafeteria doors, I threw him a confused glance before he nodded in the direction of the table we'd recently become accustomed to, Carla sat at the table, her head down as she nervously chewed her nails. "I can't stand seeing the both of you so miserable." Carla's eyes flicked up and met mine, she quickly looked away and grabbed Ben's hand for support. "Come on, it's like ripping off a bandaid, the quicker the better." Ryan nudged me towards the table, he was right, and I had missed Carla so much, especially over the last few days.

"Ben, Carla." I greeted them with a stiff nod as I approached the table.

"Ryan, Frankie." Carla mimicked my greeting. Ben sat behind Carla trying to keep a straight face, I looked to my left to find Ryan struggling to hold back the laughter, Carla had noticed too and spun around slapping Ben's arm. "What's so funny?" She asked sternly, Ben gave up trying to maintain his straight face and let out a laugh which Ryan quickly echoed.

"You two!" Ben exclaimed. "Both so stubborn." He shook his head.

"This has been a very hard time for me." Carla confessed sadly with tears beginning to pool in her eyes.

"For me too." I choked out. "I've missed you."

"I've missed you so much." Carla flew from her seat and flung her arms around my neck, we both began to giggle as she wiped her eyes furiously.

"I'm so sorry." I hugged her tightly. "I should've never called you a child and told you to grow up, you're my best friend and I love you."

"No, I'm sorry, I was being selfish and I should never of told you to drop dead, it was too far." We began to giggle again. "Oh god, why didn't we do this weeks ago?"

"I know." I shook my head and sat down with her at the table."I've wanted to talk to you so many times."

"Same! There's only so much I can't discuss with Ben." She jerked her thumb back to where Ben is sat. "Let's catch up after school."

"I've got to do something after school." I said a little sadly. "How about tomorrow?"

"Absolutely." She pulled me in for another hug. "So what really happened between Seth and Kevin?" She asked as we sat down next to each other. I leaned in close and told her the whole story from the very beginning. She listened intently, wided eyes as I explained what I had discovered during the process of a simple school project.