Chapter 15; The Officer

*Unedited*

Enjoy the chapter!

*

I had one heck of a nightmare.

I dreamt about being back in my previous private school and Mrs. Crone, my ex-biology teacher, made me kiss a frog. I woke up immediately afterwards by my aunt opening my door and yelling at me for sleeping in.

"Sorry, I stayed up until late yesterday." I told her as I sat down at the kitchen table, trying to master a guilty look.

My aunt sighed, "Just when I thought you finally became responsible about your studies, you start with the usual routine." She stated, walking around Belle-our cooker- with a cup of coffee in her hand until she stood in front of me.

Reaching out, she took the donut I was about to eat out of my hand. I exclaimed, looking at her in shock. "Enough with all of this sugar first thing in the morning, you're not a kid anymore." I gave my aunt a look. "Now I understand why Peter pan didn't want to grow up," I told them dramatically, putting a hand above my heart.

"Just get up and go to school, and come back straight after you hear me?" I scowled. "What about my club?" I asked.

Since I didn't want to tell her I was getting detentions, I had to make up something reliable enough. She thought the club idea was good for me, with all of that people interaction BS.

"Right after that, come straight home. You're out more than you're in it this days." I quirked a brow at her, standing up and collecting my bag from the floor. "Weren't you the one who told me the get out of the house more often?" Instead of replying, she rolled her eyes and put on her sunglasses, pulling her bag's trap on her shoulder and walking towards the door.

"Don't forget to take your glasses, it's going to be a very sunny day!"

*

I walked into the school when it was already after the second period, between the third one on the fifteen minutes break.

"Rhi!" I heard my name being called as I started navigating through the hallways. I had my sun relief glasses on since the sun was too unbearable for me today. In wasn't hot or anything, since we were almost at January, but the sunlight was too blinding for me.

"Hey, I woke up late." I explained to Caleb as he reached me. He frowned, like he was realizing that only now. "Oh, were you? Sorry, we didn't have our shared classes yet so I didn't notice." I scoffed.

"But anyway, you won't believe what happened!" I raised my eyebrows. "You seems so enthusiastic about it I might as well listen.

"well, there's been a couple of cops around the campus, asking people some questions!" He whisper-yelled, turning me away from everyone as if he was telling me a secret. "Is that so?" I let out in curiosity. "What do you think it's about?" Caleb shrugged. "I don't know, but some students started to say they might've found out about the fights on Fridays. They said someone must've told off and now the school called the police about it." He suggested, telling me while pulling me a bit forward to catch up with him as we started walking.

"You think Thomas' brother know something?" Caleb shrugged again, as if to say he had know idea.

In that moment, a cop walked around the corner. When his eyes fell on me, his constructed into a look of confusion. "Oh-oh," I mumbled as he started to walk towards us. Caleb looked at him. "Was he not told about you?" He asked quietly, tensing up as the officer came closer. Just as reached us, my uncle came around the corner and spotted us.

He hurried to reach us and said, "Officer Jason, that's the girl we told you about, she's here for us to see if we should open our school to female students as well." The cop nodded as he looked at me.

"Where were you this morning when we looked around the classes?" He asked him, making me give him a guilty smile. "Oh, I woke up a bit late." Uncle Bart glared at me beside the officer, and I wondered if Caleb -who stood behind me- noticed.

"Well make sure not to, we might need to question you." He said, looking at me with a serious facial expression. I saluted, "Yes sir!" he looked quite unimpressed, if I might say so myself. I think I offended him. Or maybe he felt his dignity was being crushed by having to work around us teenagers.

Officer Jason looked at his watch, nodded in my uncle direction and walked away. My uncle gave me a look before he did the same.

"Well, let's go get some donuts," I offered Caleb, waking him from his shocked state. He gave me a look, "It's ten thirty in the morning, is it really the time for your sugar high?" I scowled in return.

"There is always a time for being on sugar high."

*

On my forth class, I got called into the principal office. I had history, so I was more than happy to get out of it.

Skipping trough the halls, I knocked first on my uncle's door before going in.

"Yo, what's up with all the cop-" I stopped quickly as I realized that the officer from earlier sat in front of Uncle Bart. I couldn't remember his name, but then again names were never my strong side. I cleared my throat awkwardly. "Should I bow or something?" I blurted out, a little wary from the power radiating from the police officer. The same one that came of Grey.

My uncle sighed, "As I told you, she has a bit of a... what will you call it?" I stepped in for him, "I like to think of it as a unique personality," I smiled boldly. Uncle Bart sighed again. "Just sit down, Rhi."

The officer looked to be in his late twenties, though he could be older since he looked quite young. He had dark brown eyes that said he meant business, and probably was very respectable in his station.

The cop stood up from the chair just as I sat down, putting his hat on top his brown hair. "I'll be in contact," he said to my uncle, nodding towards him and exited the room.

I turned around to look at the door, then back to my uncle as I pointed at the door.

"That guy lacks more sociality than me," I told him, chuckling. Uncle Bart didn't look a bit amused. I cleared my throat again.

"So, what did you want to talk about?" I asked, leaning back and flexing my arms.

"Well," He started, "as you noticed there going to be cops around here for a while. Now," Uncle Bart stood up and went to his books' shelf behind him. "What I'm about to tell you can't get out of this room. Understood?" I nodded firmly, looking at him as he sat back down after putting a book back on the shelf.

"There has been... disappearances of students in our school." I blinked, not expecting him to say that. "What do you mean... disappearances?" I asked in a cautious voice.

"Exactly what you think. Now, Officer Jason Wood is the best cop for this job, and we share some history together. I also told him about you being my niece and it being a secret." I took a moment for the information to sink in before asking, "And what does all of this have to do with me?"

Uncle Bart leaned back on his chair, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I need you to trust him and tell him anything that might have to do with this case. Can you think of something?"

My mind immediately went to the fights on Fridays. The texts that went along with them. I wasn't someone you could call naïve, but surely it didn't have anything to do with them, right?

I wasn't sure. I understood that they didn't discover those fights yet, so could I really tell them? Betray the students' trust?

It might be for nothing, and the fight weren't actually connected to the case.

So maybe it will be better not to say anything. For now.

"No, nothing that comes to mind." I lied, shaking my head. My uncle sighed, "Well if anything comes to mind, text or call to this number," he gave me a card with a phone number and Officer Jason name on it. "I know that eventually you'll find something. After all, your middle name is 'Curiosity.'"

He was right. I was Curiosity. And if I had to find out myself more about the fights, then I would gladly do it.

Even if I might break a bone or two. Nothing that didn't happened before on my foolish adventures.

*

Near the end of the day I found myself hiding behind bushes at the backyard, looking at a group of boys in suspicion. If they were the one planning Fridays' fights, I was going to find out.

"What are you doing?" I jumped, looking behind me only to find Reagan standing behind me. I pulled him down, hushing him. "Be quiet! You're going to get me caught!" he gave me a strange look, gazing at the boys.

"One of them for sure has something to do with the Fridays' fights," I mumbled. "That great and all, but don't you have detention?" at first, I wasn't really listening to his words. But then, I realized what he just told me.

"Sh*t," I cursed, backing around on my knees and moving quickly.

The detention room was empty, luckily. Did that mean I was safe?

I went to sit at the back just as the door behind me opened.

"Well well, it's good you decided to arrive Ms. Martins." I bit my lip' turning around to face the teacher. "Sorry, I was at the library-" "Save your excuses to the vice principle. If I was you, I'd make sure not to run into him on your way out."

I sighed, sitting down and taping my fingers on the table in a nervous habit. I would definitely take her advice. In fact, I didn't need her to tell me that as I was already planning to not run into him.

I took my sunglasses from my bag, putting it on the table to play with it.

The hour went by fast, and I found myself running out of the classroom and the building as fast as possible.

It was only when the first ray of sun hit my face and made me reach for my glasses that I realized I must've forgot them in class.

"SH*T!" I yelled, messing my hair.

I was about to turn back when I caught the sight oh Mr. Hobson.

Well, I knew that if I went back he would see me. So, I was left with only one option.

And with that thought, I started to zoom towards the gates, running blindly with my eyes throbbing painfully.

And of course I had to trip and fall.

I groaned, putting a hand on my face to shield my eyes, helping me to see a tree with a shadow under it. I walked towards it, looking around and sighing in relief when I didn't see the vice principal.

"Ms. Martins," I froze, blinking. Well that's not good. Turning around slowly, I saw Mr. Hobson making his way in my direction. I almost saluted him out of fear.

"Yes Mr. Hobson?" I asked, trying to look more confident than I actually felt.

"You do know that when you do a bad thing, you need to pay for it, right?" I nodded quickly, before he even finished his question.

I didn't like this, how it was only him and I. And it was too damn quiet, like everyone went home already.

"Then can you please tell me why where you late for detention?" He asked, raising his voice. I had to cross my hands around my body to stop myself from flinching.

I could take this guy in one punch, I knew that, but for some reason I just couldn't think straight. All of my instincts told me to run.

"Sorry, I was making my homework and didn't notice the time-" "Didn't notice the time?!" Mr. Hobson took a few step towards me, making me step backwards automaticity. But I walked back so much that the tree wasn't covering me from the sun. I flinched, covering me eyes. "Is that the excuse you came out with this time?!" I heard his footsteps closing on me so I kept walking backward blindly.

I had photophobia, and a pretty bad one. It meant the light was my worst enemy, and being too exposed to it made my eyes hurt so badly. A head pain was nothing in comparison to eyes pain.

"Answer me!" in that moment, I took a wrong step back and fell on my butt, trying to look up at the vice principal form closing on me. Was I supposed to shield my self from the sun, or him?

I felt vulnerable, not being able to see, and it only made me more scared.

And in that moment I heard it. A car going trough the gates being me, pulling over and stopping. I tried to pick a glance and saw it was a police car.

The door opened, and I heard a familiar voice calling Mr. Hobson.

"Officer Jason," Mr. Hobson greeted and him, and I got up quickly and tried running away. "I'm not done with you, Ms. Martins!" I froze, scowling and keeping my back to them as it blocked the sun a little.

"Is there a problem?" The cop asked in flat voice. I wasn't sure if he asked me, but the vice principal answered. "There is no problem, aside from the face this young lady has been giving us trouble from day one," He sighed, then to me his said, "Come on, Ms. Martins, to my office." I felt myself go rigid. I might not be half blind in his office, but I knew there was no way I'll step foot inside. No way.

I turned around, shielding my face as I looked at him and the officer. Could I try and deliver him a massage to get me the hell out of this situation?

No. He didn't owe me a thing, why would he? I debated on what to do so long that Mr. Hobson lost his patience. He came closer, and I tried to hold myself from moving away again. "Didn't you hear me? I said let's go, Ms. Martins!" the vice principle caught my arm and pulled my forward. I wasn't sure what was normal and right anymore. Was he allowed to do that? Was it my fault as I didn't obey him right away?

But then suddenly, I was answered instead.

"Mr. Hobson," Officer Jason called, moving towards us and giving him a look without looking at me even once. "I'm afraid you'll have to move this talk to another day, as I have questions for this young lady." And with that, he put a hand on my shoulder and pulled my away from Mr. Hobson's hand. He, on the other hand, wasn't very pleased with that.

"Fine, maybe it is for the better for to look into her involvement in other cases," he told him, stepping back.

He was hinting on me having a part in whatever incident the police was checking, I realized. That didn't matter. I preferred to be alone with this officer the with this creep.

"Have a nice day," Mr. Hobson said, turning around. I wasn't sure if he glared at me before walking away, as I could still barely see.

"Go home, girl, you have school tomorrow." I nodded in what direction I thought he stood. There was a pause. Was he considering whether or not to take me in the police station? Maybe my vice principal was telling the truth, and I was really big troubles. Maybe I even burn houses for my enjoyment.

"Did you forget your sunglasses?" he suddenly asked. I was definitely not expecting him to ask that. "Your uncle said you have a problem. Did you forget them?" I nodded, not brave enough to answer. The normal Rhi was still not back.

I hated being without my sunglasses, especially when it means I won't be able to see without them. He quieted again before saying, "Get in, I'll give you a ride home." I stopped breathing for a second to make sure I wasn't hearing stuff.

Then, I tried to think if I should accept his offer. Was if afraid of taking it? He wasn't exactly a stranger, my uncle pretty much approved of him.

And it kind of felt like I wanted him to be like a big brother to me. Was that weird? I never had any friends, and my only blood related family weren't in my age or even close to it.

In the end, thought, why the hell not?

"Thanks," I told him after agreeing. He helped me get into his car and I was at home in no time. He didn't talk to me, and I didn't talk to him.

It wasn't awkward, but I wasn't the most comfortable.

And then at night, I realized something.

If my uncle told Officer Jason about my disability, how much more did he know? How far did my uncle go?

I wasn't sure.

But what I was sure about, is that uncle Bart hid something that had to do with this certain police officer.

~*~

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