It's Cold - Chuck Steinberg x OC

Missing

The horrendous beep of my alarm reminded me of the hellscape that awaited me: School.

A loud sigh escaped my lips as I slapped the snooze button. Memories of the previous night flooded my mind. I groaned loudly peeling the covers from my skin before rushing to get ready.

Despite me hating mornings, I can actually pull myself together quite fast. My record is five minutes. I through on a pair of loose jeans, a black t-shirt with a drawing of Iron Man I scribbled on when I was 14, and of course: my usual green hoodie. Throwing on some comfortable socks and my usual pair of converse, I slung mh backpack behind on and took off towards the front door. I hopped on my bike and rode to school.

Will I rode my bike, I realized that I let Stella keep that Ramon guy in her house last night. I ended up booking it to school at the thought of something happening to one of my only friends.

When I got to school, it didn't take me long to find Stella. She looked as if something was off, she played with the sleeves of her sweater. We made eye contact and she immeadiately rushed to me.

"Oh there you are. We need to talk in the auditorium. The guys are already there." She said rather quickly before grabbing my hand to drag me away.

"Hey, what's going on are you okay? Did that Ramon dude drug you or something?" I asked concerned.

"No, I just... I'll explain later." She said then turning in the direction of the auditorium.

I mean, I didn't really have a choice of whether or not I wanted to follow her. I really hope everything's okay.

--CHUCK'S POV--

Auggie and I sat in the auditorium waiting for Stella to come back with Vee. I couldn't help but be worried about her and what happened last night.

"Hey, did you eat this morning?" Auggie asked me.

"No, didn't have time." I answered staring at the stage.

"Well, here." Auggie said tossing me an apple. "My mom left me some breakfast this morning before taking off with Jeff. I don't want it to go to waste. I have another apple for Vee. Knowing her, she probably didn't eat either."

I glanced at the green fruit before speaking.

"Hey, uh speaking of Vee, can I tell you something?"

"Are you about to confess to me your undying love for her? If so I already kno-"

"What?No, I just wanted to say I'm worried about her. After you went into your house last night, I asked Vee to bike with me to my house. Just for the bike ride and then she could go home. She said yes, of course, it's Vee. And we were talking and I asked if she was okay, and..." I trailed off for a moment.

"And what?" Auggie asked, starting to get concerned as well.

"And she started crying. She said her parents left again. In the 5 or 6 years I've known her, I have never seen her cry. Or show any negative emotion for that matter..." I said thinking about the situation more deeply.

Auggie turned to look at the entrance for a second.

"Vee'd kill me if she knew I told you this, but you deserve to know." Auggie started.

"What are you-" I was cut off.

"Her parents never really came back after summer."

"What? I-... oh."

"She kept telling people, and herself, that they'd be back next week. Next turned to next month. Next month will probably turn into another month. She told me about it because I came over to her house to celebrate the last day of summer: the day they were supposed to come back. And you know how Vee is. She hates showing people 'weaknesses' as she calls it. She doesn't like feeling vulnerable so-" Auggie explained.