Chapter 55

The next day there were more questions. More people wondering where Austin was. A number of the teachers literally told us to come forward if we had any information concerning his whereabouts since his family was greatly worried. And while they were telling us all this, my phone kept blowing up with texts from him. They were mostly just silly things he sent in an attempt to ensure he was the only one on my mind. And I felt guilty even though I didn't really know where he was. Three days absent was a lot. To me especially,and I wasn't only saying that because I missed him an obnoxious amount. I knew he didn't really care much for school, but I didn't want him to tarnish his entire education because he let his feelings get the best of him. Sometimes he went a little too far when he was upset, but I had never really expected him to go that far. And what if he planned on being away for more than a week? 

Although none of those thoughts stopped me from texting him back. I needed to keep the communication constant if I cared about my mental health. Him texting meant that he was okay wherever he was, which was what I needed to know. 

I had been seated at the bleachers, as was my custom whenever I wasn't with Max and Kira. I was intentionally trying to ignore them ever since Kira saw me consistently smiling at my phone and texting someone back that morning. She was smart when it came to such things and I was sure she already suspected that it was Austin, so if I dared to go near her she was going to find a way to force the truth out of me, I wouldn't budge, but somehow she would still he able to tell. 

I went to the bleachers because I wanted some peace and quiet to complete a project I had been working on, but then I saw Jenna approaching. 

She was a grade below ours. Sassy, mission driven and awfully persistent. She was nowhere close to being as persistent as Austin, but she ranked somewhere close. 

And she had not so long ago revealed she had a crush on me, but I had thought we were done after we went on that one date and it turned out to be a complete fail. I just didn't like her like that and she definitely knew. And I had been proud of myself for successfully ignoring her till then. We had passed by each other countless times and she had never bothered to stop me or say hi, so I assumed she was over me and had decided to move on. 

I didn't have time for teenage girl crushes. 

I didn't have time for anyone that wasn't Austin O'Grady. 

" Hi Kyle, " she cheerfully greeted me, sitting down next to me on the bleachers and placing her books on her laps. Despite what most believed, she was actually quite smart. I knew she always got good grades and was the model student.

" Hey there, "

I turned to her, waited to hear what she wanted to say because there was no way she had approached me just to say hi. She was somehow a booky girl, but she also knew how to balance the other aspects of herself. She could be fun and wild if she wanted to and when required, she could be calm and reserved. I had observed that about her and it made me weary because I didn't know which aspect was actually her. I mean, I knew that people often times had the ability to mold themselves into any character so that they could fit into any type of environment, but with her it felt as if most of it wasn't genuine. 

She reached up to fix the sparkly silver pin on the side of her head which kept her brown hair in place, then she looked at me in the eye and smiled. 

" How have you been? We're in the same school but is feels like ages since I saw you. "

That was an outright lie. We had seen each other that morning in the library, she had literally looked me in the eye before smiling and going about her business. 

" I'm okay, and you? "

" A little tensed but otherwise fine, "

She had only said that because she wanted me to ask her why she was tensed, I could have ignored it and pretended I didn't care, but that wasn't like me. So I asked her what had her tensed and she said something about a trivia she had enrolled in. I knew of it, I had participated the previous year and won. My teachers had naturally assumed I'd enroll that year as well but I didn't think I had the time to do so. Between work, school and taking care of my mom, I hardly had enough time to prepare for it. 

" That's nothing to wory about, I'm sure you'll nail it. "

" You think so?" 

" Definitely, you're good at this kinda stuff. "

She smiled and nodded, thanking me afterwards. Then she smoothed out the fabric of the purple floral dress she had on. She was a typical girlish girl, always opted to go for the pretty dresses and matching cardigans, or just a simple pair of jeans and a cute top or t-shirt. The opposite of Kira who despite her feminine nature, often dressed as if she had grown up with wife older brothers who were into hard sports. 

" I'd like it if you could help me study sometime, " 

The last thing I wanted was to turn her down and hurt her feelings for the second time, but I couldn't say yes knowing that I wouldn't be able to actually help her. 

" I'm actually really busy these days, sorry. "

" That's okay. You still work at the record store?" 

I nodded. I had never actually told her which store it was and where it was located because I preferred it if she knew as little about me as possible. 

" It's my cousin's birthday this Sunday and I was wondering what to gift her, then I recalled she's really into music albums. The classics and all that, think you could help me out?" 

" Umm, yeah sure. "

" Cool, you can just text me the address and I'll pass by there this week. "

I wasn't sure whether she was being honest, but if I refused to tell her and it turned out she was telling the truth, then I'd seem like a total jerk. And if she actually did want to buy something, it would be good for the store. I couldn't turn down customers. 

" Oh, I noticed that your friend hasn't been around lately. Is he okay?" 

Both her and the rest of the school population had made that observation. But I hadn't actually been expecting her to bring it up. God! What if she actually had a crush on Austin as well and had only approached me because she wanted to see whether I knew anything? 

" I don't know, I haven't talked to him in a while. " She pursed her lips and nodded once more. Then she tapped her fingertips on the hardcover of the book in her lap before looking away. I had a feeling there was something more she wanted to say but she was finding it hard to do so. Which was so unlike her, normally she just said whatever the hell was on her mind. 

The bell rang,and I didn't even wait for it to stop before I stood up. No offense to her but the entire situation was making me uncomfortable. 

" It was nice talking to you," she said, remaining put even when I made it obvious I was leaving. 

" You too, see you around. " 

There was something fishy about that entire encounter hut I didn't know what. She was acting a little strange, not at all like herself. Plus the fact that she had even approached me in the first place was just odd. Of course there were chances I was overthinking and all she wanted was the album, but still. 

I chose to not ponder too much on it, but then after classes, I was walking with Max and Kira when she approached us once more. 

" Incoming!" Max mumbled under his breath in warning as he had been doing over the part weeks. But there was no way for me to turn around since Jenna and I had already made eye contact and she was clearly walking over to us. 

" Jeez! Don't tell me she's still into you?" Kira joked, her voice not as low as it ought to have been. We stood and waited for her to get to us, and when she did, Max was the first one to say hi. A broad and deceitful smile on his face. He had been the one to convince me to go out with the girl in the first place, if it weren't for him I wouldn't have to worry about the her.

" Hi guys!" she slightly waved at us, returning Max's smile with a bright one of her own. I would never understand why she liked me, I wasn't interesting, not compared to some of the other guys at school. But Max had told me that she and I seemed like the ideal couple for some reason. Perhaps because we were both committed to our studies because that was the only similarity she and I had. Nothing else. According to Max, I seemed like the guy that was into cute,funny and book loving girls. 

If only he knew. 

" Jenna! What a wonderful surprise, it's been so long!" Kira said with hidden sarcasm and exaggeration.One thing I knew was that she was not a fan of Jenna. Called her an entitled two faced bitch. 

" Too long!" Jenna replied, then she went ahead to ask how the guys had been and stuff like that. And afterwards, she looked at me and pegged me with a serious stare. I wondered what was up, but not for long because soon after, she reached into her white leather backpack with the numerous diamond like embellishments and took out something. 

" Actually, I have something for you guys, " she stretched out her hand to Max and offered him whatever was in it. He went silent for a while, then he gasped as he took whatever it was from her. 

" Holy shit! " He cursed with unhidden enthusiasm, his eyes on his palms. Then he turned to face Kira and showed her whatever he held before doing the same to me. And I immediately understood his reaction.