*Eve's P.O.V*
.
It's been three days since Audrey came to school, the teachers say they haven't even been able to contact his family yet and that really makes me worried...
which is why I held this meeting.
Myself, Terry, Bruce, Conner, Kevin and my other friends Pamela and Stacy all sat together at a table in the cafeteria. The cafeteria was filled with all sorts of noises and voices, from chair screeching to loud yelling... however, nothing was distracting enough to take our attention away from this subject of our meeting.
"Do you think he's alright? It's not like him to intentionally miss school" Bruce said looking down and playing with his thumbs, a genuinely worried look on his face. I pouted at him.
"Price has a perfect attendance, it's asif he just disappeared! He could have at least told us before he'd do something like that!" Conner whined, a worried but still angry look on his face.
"Price is badass but he's still a kid like the rest of us, he might actually be in real trouble, I mean the driver and the school can't contact him" Kevin added and crossed his arms.
Terry just looked absent minded, but I could tell it was Audrey he was thinking about by his annoyed facial expressions, the girls seemed deep in thought. I sighed.
"Alright then, let's all go to Audrey's house, if he isn't there, we could take something of his to the police and have their dogs sniff him out" I suggested, they all looked at me skeptically.
" it might work..." Pamela murmured.
"But how do we actually get in?" Stacy asked giving me a pointed stare.
"Audrey lives in an apartment complex with his sister, none of us even knows his apartment number so that can't work" Terry said calmly, we all whined. He was right, none of us have ever been inside Audrey's house before.
"But we can't exactly do nothing about this! just thinking about what could have happened is making me really really angry here! what if he's really in trouble and toughing out? how long can he hold out? the bloody school should try harder!" Conner whined, he was clearly frustrated.
I sighed and looked around the table. Each one of us cares a lot about Audrey Price... but ... there's only one person Audrey openly cares about, His Sister!
" Guys, what if Audrey's fine and his Sister's... I don't know.... sick?" I asked the group.
Terry stared at me surprised for a moment, then smiled " I think she's right, Price only gets all stubborn like this when he's worried about his sister! like that last time she caught a cold, he couldn't even focus in class when it started raining again-"
"Yeahs" and "Ohhs" travelled across the table.
"- so that should mean, Price is at home, that way he'd take care of her himself and also not let any calls disturb her recovery, that should be why the school can't reach them" Terry finished.
Everyone released a sigh of relief.
Finally, we have an idea where to look, God I'm so relieved! When I find him I'll squeeze him in my arms so tight he'll turn pink!
Suddenly, Stacy cleared her throat , gaining everyone's attention.
"If his sister really is sick, shouldn't we get them some kind of get well soon package? maybe healthy food, drugs, cards, flowers?" she suggested.
We all leaned back in our chairs, thinking about it.
"I don't know really, Audrey's kinda special, he'll probably not accept any food or drugs from us. flowers?... We should just go with artificial ones, if he even thinks it smells weird, he'd toss it and not in a nice way either" Kevin said while staring at his fingernails.
Bruce suddenly let out a tired yawn "Let's just stick with artificial flowers and cards, open cards to be precise, and we could just help around the house... that's if he let's us in" he said, his voice quiet at the last part. He placed his head of the table and stared at us sleepily. Pamela sat closest to him, she quietly stroked his hair gently, causing his shoulders relax more.
"Eve?"
I kinda wish that was me and Audrey.
"Eve, are you with us?"
it would have been nice, I'll just make all his worries melt away.
"Yo Watson, what's wrong with you?"
Maybe when he comes back, we could do this in class, oh my gosh! A lot of girls would get jealous right?
Something snapped in front of my eyes, bringing my attention back to the table.
They all looked at me worriedly, I shot them an awkward smile and apologized for spacing out.
"What do we do if he doesn't let us in?" Pamela asked. The table went quiet after that.
Audrey is stubborn and his no means no. Trying to convince him when he's concerned with something else is just disaster waiting to happen.
I smiled at everyone. "If we get to see him at all, that should be fine, at least we'll know he's safe and If he doesn't want to talk, we can just annoy it out of him".
Everyone murmured words in agreement, shortly after, the bell rang and we all got up to head to our next class.
*******************************************
Classes went by in a daze, probably because I wasn't paying attention most of the time. I can't help being excited at the thought of seeing Audrey again, that handsome gumdrop owes us a serious explanation... depending on his mood that is... still, there's a small chance he might actually be missing... just thinking it makes my chest hurt.
We agreed to not to inform the bus driver and board a taxi instead, Bruce told the driver the destination. Pamela and Stacy couldn't join us because they had some club practices they needed to be at, so it was just me and the boys.
i stared out the taxi's window, just watching people moving about, crossing the roads, walking into buildings, walking on the sidewalks... i guess if I'm being honest, I'm hoping i'd see him somewhere, and scream for the driver to stop so i'd go meet him. My eyes scanned the people outside the taxi, the wind hitting my eyes causing tears to start to form.
the taxi stopped just near an apartment complex.
the boys handled the cab fare and led us towards the apartment complex.
~so this is where Audrey lives~
"We just know he lives in there, but which room he actually lives in is still a mystery" Bruce said staring at the apartment complex tiredly.
we all walked a closer to the building when we suddenly, someone with a short black head of hair, fair and with an all so familiar scowl on his face walked out of the building.
"Au-Audr-"
the guys held me back and covered my mouth before I could say anything or run to him.
"Mh-hmm-Mhm-Mhmm!"
"Listen Eve, we still don't know what's keeping him, and if you go there right now, it could turn into a big scene, we don't know how he'll react so just cool down already"
"Let's follow him"
Reluctantly, I complied with them and decided to follow Audrey quietly, joining the boys to hide behind the bushes anytime he got very close.
Audrey walked into a small nearby pharmacy, it only had one entry and exit so we couldn't exactly follow him in. we decided to wait behind a tree close to the pharmacy, our eyes locked on the pharmacy's entry so we'd spot him once he's out.
We waited for five minutes, but he didn't come out. though I did start to have this weird feeling that we were being watched. though, I guess it's expected, we aren't exactly inconspicuous.
"What's taking so long? the store wasn't even crowded!" I whined,
"Maybe they're still searching for what he asked for? ... Audrey's special so he's probably getting held up with questions or something, so let's just give him more time" Terry said, not taking his eyes off the store.
"So It really is Me you're all waiting for"
a familiar voice, not among ours, suddenly said, making us flinched turn around.
Audrey Price!
I jumped on him and hugged him so tightly, I never ever ever want to let go. I buried my face in chest, I could hear his heart pounding fast and smiled to myself.
I felt the others gather around him and forcefully hug him too. I tuned out of whatever they were saying once I noticed Audrey's hands patting my head and his other arm holding me in place.
Peace, that's what I felt.
Audrey was fine, he's perfectly alright!
Thank God.