Chapter 4

Andrew recieved the duplicated files from the photocopier.

They all walked back inside the class.

"Alright, here," He passed each copy around and kept the original copy to himself.

"Thanks," Ashley nodded politely as she got hers.

Andrew looked away.

"I don't like people bugging me when I'm reading, I ought not to have ignored you like that," he said and looked down at his paper. "Not that I care anyway," he added.

"Um...okay," Ashley looked unsure. "So that means you're sorry, right?" she asked him.

His blue eyes flickered to her brown ones briefly before returning back to the document.

"Interpret it anyhow you like," he shrugged nonchalantly.

"Was that an apology?" Ashley leaned over to ask Suzanne in a whisper.

Suzanne gave her a low chuckle as she shrugged. "I suppose," she muttered.

Andrew cleared his throat. "Alright, down to business," he started.

They all looked at him.

"This is our first mission as E-rank, and no matter how lowly it seems, we must not take it for granted. The documents you're all holding states that Patches is a Golden Retriever, brown coated, with a pink bow and a similar color of collar," Andrew said as he switched on his laptop. He got pictures of how Patches looked like from the various pictures Mrs Paulina had posted online.

"Patches was last seen at the Green hill park, where she was being walked by her owner, Mrs Paulina. They stopped briefly for a rest beside the fountain, where the black currant shrubs grew. Mrs Paulina had sighted an old friend of hers and they began a conversation. When she turned around, Patches was nowhere to be found and her leash had been unhooked from around her neck," Andrew continued, reading from the copy of the document he held. "Now the question is," He walked up to the board and began writing. "Where is Patches?"

"She was decleared missing just this morning at around 9:44am," Ryan said.

"That's when she went missing? It's too early to declare anything missing; It's just 11:56am," Ashley told them as she looked down at her wrist watch.

Andrew nodded. "Exactly what the police told Mrs Paulina when she went to them," he said.

"So that's why she came to the Hero League for help?" Suzanne asked.

"Of course," Ashley replied with a smile.

"Man, you guys are making it sound like some cool mystery! It's just a lost puppy! Let's just find some dog snacks and pour 'em all over the ground, I bet Patches herself will run out of wherever she's hiding," Ethan said with a slight scoff.

"That's why you're such an airhead. Which kind of idea is that?" Ryan said coldly.

"Airhead! How dare you call--" Ethan started, walking towards Ryan, annoyed but Suzanne knocked him off course with a punch.

He flew and hit the nearby wall.

"Oww...," he groaned as he lay on the floor.

"Ethan!" Ashley exclaimed with wide eyes. She quickly rushed over to where he laid to assist him back on his feet.

Suzanne kept both hands on her hip as she faced Ethan. "Do shut up, Ethan! That's a stupid plan!"

"Settle down you guys," Andrew put the marker down with a little force.

"Suzanne! That was mean!" Ashley looked at her, horrified.

Suzanne waved her off impatiently as she retorted, "Oh please! He'll be fine! He's always saying stupid things at times; a punch always helps to clear his head."

"That's not true," Ethan protested feebly.

"I can see you still have the strength for one more hit!" Suzanne glared at him in a threatening way.

He looked away, annoyed.

If not because Suzanne has super strength, she wouldn't have gotten away with any of this. He thought.

"Get used to it, Ashley: Ethan and Suzanne are both stupid in unimaginable ways like that," Ryan said with a malicious snicker aimed at Ethan.

Suzanne frowned but only for a while.

She looked away and sat down.

"Let's get back to the mission at hand, shall we?" Andrew said boredly.

Ashley helped Ethan to his seat. "You shouldn't bother about him," Ryan insisted in a sacarstic tone.

It was fun for him, watching Ethan get hit, but if Ashley was going to interfere every time that Suzanne bashed Ethan, then it was going to turn into a bore.

"Are you okay?" Ashley asked Ethan with a concerned look.

"Un...un...," he stammered, he noticed for the first time that Ashley had big brown eyes. They were dark and whirly like chocolate.

What's wrong with me?! Ethan thought as he noticed his sweaty palms.

"The mission. "Andrew's firm tone made Ashley tear her eyes away from Ethan's.

Ethan sighed in relief as she went back to her seat. He lowered his head, feeling a little flushed.

Andrew turned back to continue writing on the board.

"So here are the facts we know," he said as he wrote. "But one thing's for certain," He turned back to look at them. "Patches didn't stray off, she was taken."

Suzanne gasped.

Ryan looked skeptical. "How'd you know that?" he asked Andrew.

"Mrs Paulina was walking her, was she not?" Andrew queried.

"So?" Ethan asked, not quite getting Andrew's drift.

Andrew sighed and faced them fully, mainly looking at Ethan. "When you walk a dog, it has to be on a leash. And pets don't have hands to unhook the leash from their collars, which means only one thing; when Mrs Paulina turned to chat, someone took Patches away," Andrew stated. "So...," he brought out his marker again. "The main question is, who took Patches?" Andrew wrote the question on the board and circled it.

"Let's find evidence at the scene of the crime!" Ashley suggested.

Ethan nodded, "Alright! Let's do it!"

Andrew packed up his laptop in its bag and slung the bag over his shoulder. "Sure," he said in a nonchalant tone.

"I'll walk next to Ryan!" Suzanne announced.

"Shut up," Ryan snapped at her backing away from her.

"Don't tell her to shut up! You shut up!" Ethan said rather aggressively.

Though Suzanne felt a little hurt at Ryan's rude remark, Ethan's support made her feel better.

She shot him a small, grateful smile.

Ashley marched up to Ryan. She looked at him sternly. "Ryan! That's not nice!" she told him.

Ryan scoffed and walked past her. "Like I care what you think," he told her coldly.

Ashley grabbed his arm unexpectedly and started yanking him outside.

"Hey! What--what are you doing?!" Ryan asked extremely startled.

"I'm going to teach you how to be nice! Come along now!" Ashley giggled as she pulled him roughly out of the classroom.

"Let's go," Andrew told Ethan and Suzanne in a bored tone as he also walked out of the room.

Suzanne and Ethan both looked at each other.

"Ashley is kinda--" Suzanne started.

"Wierd?" Ethan completed her statement for her.

"Yeah, sorta," she nodded grimly.

Andrew returned to the room a bit impatiently. "Don't take all day," he told them and went out again.

They sheepishly followed him outside.