The Vanishing

Chapter 19

The next day we went to school as normal. My first class was theatre and I was dying to see Owen. I got ready as fast as I could and grabbed a quick breakfast from the dining hall before practically running to class. I was even a little out of breath when I got there.

"Montgomery on time again! I'm so proud." Mr. Rhett said dramatically as he gave a small sigh and smiled like a proud dad.

"Only for you, Mr. Rhett." I said semi-sarcastically as I sat down.

He chuckled and went back to rifling through papers at his desk.

Jordan and Owen walked in separately, which struck me as odd.

Owen shifted uncomfortably in his seat under my watchful gaze.

"So how was your long weekend, Owen?" I asked, referring to his absence.

"It was fine, how was yours? Jordan told me she had no one to work with on Friday." He sneered.

I shot Jordan an apologetic glance and shrugged. "Family emergency. You understand." I sneered back. I wasn't really lying, I did choose to confront Henry on Friday instead of going to class. Owen looked away.

"Interesting that you both had family emergencies on the same day." Jordan grumbled.

"Sorry about leaving you to work by yourself." I said.

Jordan sighed heavily and ran a hand through her dark hair.

"No worries, but you owe me." Jordan said with a satisfied grin.

"Deal." I grinned back as we briefly shook hands.

We went about our project as normal for the remainder of class time, but I found it hard to focus. Owen doesn't seem any different other than the fact that he's been a huge downer the entire class. There has to be some way to find out what he knows.

The rest of the school day was a blur, all I could think about was Owen. What is the Artemis Group doing by stealing powers of supernaturals? How did they do it? Why did they do it? These questions were rattling around in my head as I searched unsuccessfully for Patrick at lunch and after class. Luckily, Wyatt turned the corner ahead and was headed in my direction.

"Hey, Arden. Where are you headed?" He asked and I smiled as he locked step with me.

"Hey, Wyatt. The library." I said.

"Perfect, me too. I'm supposed to meet up with Nina and this other girl from our class to study for the English test." He said.

We have an English test?!

He saw my panic and added, "don't worry, I don't think your class' test is until next week."

Well, I'm glad he knows more about my own schedule than I do.

I exhaled deeply and tried to get my mind off of tests.

"So, theatre with Owen was weird, yet uneventful." I said.

He laughed. "What did you expect? For him to tell you all his secrets in the form of a Shakespearean monologue?"

I laughed and said, "No, but that would be helpful! Seriously though, I thought I'd get some kind of vibe from him."

He furrowed his brows. "What do you mean?"

"I mean Nina has some memory of what happened to her, and was completely traumatized when they took some of her powers." I explained.

He nodded. "Maybe he doesn't remember."

"Well, it's not like we could ask." I said.

"True, I also don't know anyone who knows him very well." He said.