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𝐀𝐟𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐞𝐩𝐥𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐫𝐚𝐜𝐤𝐞𝐭and being scolded by Steve's gym teacher again, Lily made her way back through the school. She dragged the new racket behind her, running it along the lockers to create an unnecessarily loud noise. It wasn't until Miss Click came out of her classroom to tell her to stop, that she ceased.
On her way past the science labs, she came to a halt outside Cindy's class and peered through the small window in the door. She hadn't yet seen her friend since their fight at the party, and she was curious to see what her reaction would be to seeing her at the window.
However, Cindy's chair was empty and there were no books on the desk. "That's weird" Lily muttered, stepping back from the door. It was unlike Cindy to skip class. In all their years of friendship, Lily had only known her to miss two days of class, when she had pneumonia.
Just then, the teacher, Mr Taylor, saw her and frowned. He moved away from the blackboard and opened the door a fraction, "Care to explain why you're lurking in the corridor, Andrews? Shouldn't you be in your own class?"
Lily nodded, "Yeah, I'm meant to be in gym-" She began, slowly, "But I noticed Cindy's missing. Where is she?"
"I don't know, the school hasn't received a call from her".
Lily's stomach dropped, "What do you mean they haven't had a call? Has she not phoned in sick or anything?"
Mr Taylor shook his head, "Apparently not" He said, "Now, if that's all you wanted to ask me, can I trust you to go back to gym withoutstopping again on the way?"
Usually Lily would have replied with some sort of sarcastic comment, however this time she simply nodded, "Thanks" She muttered, then she continued to walk down the corridor. She made straight for her locker and grabbed the handful of lose change she kept in there.
No longer caring whether she returned to class or not, she headed for the telephones outside the school's entrance, and shoved a quarter into the first coin slot she reached. With her hands shaking, she dialled Cindy's number and held the receiver up to her ear, "Please pick up" She mumbled, waiting for the line to connect.
Cindy didn't pick up and the dial tone continued until it went to voicemail. Lily tried phoning twice more, but gave up after being unsuccessful both times. She rested her forehead against the phone box with a sigh, confused as to why Cindy wasn't at school orpicking up.
"There's no way the fight last night was so bad she skipped school because of it" Lily thought to herself. But, as it was the only plausible reason for Cindy's absence, she had no choice but to believe it for the time being.
