Where is Louise Bauman? + Original, Book 1 ✔

30

- Painkiller; Ruel - 

"What if she doesn't show up?" Jade asked nervously, tapping her foot on the ground repeatedly. She glanced over at the others, locking eyes with Trystan who had a mixture of sadness and concern filled in his face. "Like, what if she was being serious and she's done with this?"

"This is Charlie we're talking about. She'll show, right?" Kiya asked, looking over at Tyler with a look of uncertainty on her face. He let out a sigh, glancing at Mikey who looked just as unsure as he did.

"I don't know, guys. Charlie seemed pretty serious about quitting." He sat back in his spot on the couch in his living room, touching his fingertips to his lips as he got lost in thought.

"But as Kiya said, this is Charlie we're talking about. She wouldn't just leave us," Mikey spoke with a shake of his head. "She cares about us all too much. And she wouldn't let us down like that."

"She was humiliated in front of the entire school, Michael. That would be enough to make anyone run away, friends, or not." Tyler glanced over at the blond boy, "Sorry to say but I'm not popular. Something like that happened to me and I think I'd leave town."

"Hell, I'm popular and I think I'd leave." Kiya let out a dry laugh, shaking her head. "Just the sound of what happened to her is embarrassing, and it wasn't even the worst thing that could've possibly happened. Just imagine if nobody knew the two liked each other."

"That'd be ten times worse," Tyler said. "But we shouldn't talk about it anymore. We gave her the option to show. If she shows, she shows. If she doesn't, she doesn't."

It was silent after that, all of them knowing that he was right. Of course, deep down they all knew it was more than just 'if Charlie doesn't show up, it's whatever', but nobody felt like saying anything due to not wanting to make matters worse. Well, nobody except for Trystan, who hadn't spoken hardly at all the moment he'd shown up to Tyler's due to feeling slightly awkward.

"So - that's it?" He asked, clearing his throat slightly as he caught everyone's attention.

"What's it?" Mikey asked, staring at him with a confused expression.

"You guys are just going to move on with everything if Ren and Charlie don't walk through that door?" He asked, motioning to the front door before back to the group. "Charlie didn't give up on anyone else, right?"

"What do you know, Thompson? You've been back in the group for what, ten minutes?" Jade asked bitterly, rolling her eyes.

"And what if I have? I realized my mistake, and I'm getting past that." He shrugged, not bothered by Jade's attitude. "But the point is, isn't Charlie the reason all of us are in this room right now? I mean, obviously today it wasn't her idea to meet here, but she's the reason all of this started, right?"

Nobody said anything, as nobody had expected Trystan out of everyone to be the person to say anything. "I'm just saying, if you guys are just going to continue on and act like everything's fine if Charlie doesn't walk through that door with Renfrow, then you're out of your mind. She's the reason we're all here in the first place." He added, pointing to the door as he leaned back against the ledge of a counter.

"Okay, and what makes things different for you?" Mikey asked, suspicion written over his features. "Why are you so suddenly against Charlie giving up?"

Trystan sighed, shaking his head slightly. "Ren's my best friend. I fucked things up with him. Charlie and him, they're something special. And clearly, whatever happened to Louise, it's bothering her. And if you all forget, I had something with her. And if Charlie gives up, Ren gives up, we all give up."