"Okay," Steph answered with a heavy heart as the two parted ways. She knew insisting wouldn't help as Amy would never skip or get late to class if she could avoid it.
"S*it! So much bad news. One after the other. I hope it's not that bad," Steph said to herself as she walked slowly toward class. Hearing the voices from class made her heart start to beat faster. It didn't take a genius to figure out what the conversations were about.
"Oh my goodness!" She mumbled to herself as she shut her eyes and inhaled and exhaled severally.
"Ms. Lee?" She heard a voice behind her say, and she almost jumped out of her skin in shock.
"Congratulations!" Mr. Kyle Riley said as he extended his hand for a handshake.
"I… for what?" Steph asked as she extended her hand for a firm handshake that lasted longer than it should have. She saw the look of astonishment on Mr. Riley's face and knew he must be wondering if she had lost her mind.
"Did…my scholarship application gets accepted?" She asked in a low voice, and Mr. Riley smiled before saying, "You should be the one telling me that, right? I meant congratulation on your and Jackson's relationship. You two make an awesome pair but hard task you have there,"
With those words, he left Steph with her mouth wide open and her eyes almost bulging out of their sockets.
A few meters away from her, he turned back to look at her and said, "Did you also forget you were to come to my class?"
Halfway through the class, during a presentation, Steph received a message alert from her mom.
Her eyes flashed wide and bright in excitement, and the butterflies and tension she had felt a few while ago evaporated.
With the assumption that it was a message indicating that she could talk to Max, Steph excused herself from class and walked out of the class along the corridors to a quiet spot near the washrooms.
She unlocked her phone, feeling upbeat, but as soon as she read Victoria's message, the expression on her face changed from joy to confusion to dread.
She rubbed her eyes and looked at the message again, hoping against hope that she was dreaming. Instantly, she started trembling with fear.
"We have no idea where Travis is," read the message. "The police aren't helping much. I'm losing my mind."
Steph suddenly took on a pale look as though she had been painted with whitewash. She felt like her innards were being replaced by some black hole.
Nausea slowly crept from her abdomen to her head, and as she struggled to move to the edge of the room to lean on the wall, she crumpled like a puppet abruptly released of its strings.
Xxx
Dylan ran from the basketball pitch, sweat dripping down him, to the edge of the court amid boos from his fellow players. Holding his waist using both hands, he looked at Amy in compassion.
"I can't wait. I'm going," Amy said in an impatient tone.
"Did you talk to her?" Dylan asked with a lot of expectations, and Amy vehemently shook her head and bitterly asked, "What should I tell her? Plus, she is currently under medical supervision. She wasn't feeling well."
Running his hands through his hair, Dylan said, "I really can't tolerate you like this. You need to get it off your chest. You're ranting at me, yet I am not the enemy here."
"I know. I'm sorry," Amy said in defeat. "I skipped class today, all my classes," she added, and Dylan moved closer to her and held her hands in assurance.
"I was thinking of asking you to move in with me for a while, at least until I get over this," Amy added.
Dylan hesitated a bit, so Amy continued talking, "I don't want to ask Mabel to come."
"Amy, I understand this is hard for you. You know I love you, but I can't move in with you." Dylan said gently in hesitation.
Amy sniffled and said, "Yeah. Sorry for asking."
**
Steph slowly opened her eyes to find herself surrounded by blue all around and various hospital equipment to realize that she was in the hospital. Her gaze fell on Ivan and Raquel who were by her side.
" How are you feeling?" Raquel asked as she touched Steph's forehead to feel her temperature and Steph nodded before saying she felt okay.
She then adjusted herself to sit on the bed.
"Why am I here?" She asked, confusion all over her face. Raquel and Ivan looked at each other in shock before Ivan walked to sit on the chair beside the bed.
He held her in his hands,and kissed them before assuring her that he was there for her.
"Where are my parents? Do they know I am here? "Steph asked in a distant, flat, quiet, and lifeless voice.