Chapter 18; The countdown

*Unedited*

Enjoy the chapter!

*

By the next day, rumors started to go around.

The end of the Fridays' fights were forgotten, as was what occurred to me.

Everyone were talking about the missing boys.

To make everything clear, my uncle called the whole school to the auditorium. And so, I found myself sitting quietly besides Caleb and Klay and the rest of the guys, but with Reagan and Oliver nowhere to be found.

I glanced at Thomas as some teachers tried to silence everyone. "Where's Reagan?" I asked him, trying to raise my voice enough for him to hear me over the noise around us.

He looked at me and shrugged, telling me he had no idea were he was.

I hoped he wasn't doing anything stupid.

When I said that what happened to me was forgotten, it wasn't very accurate.

Thomas, Clay and Caleb kept glancing at me, as if any second I'll pass out. They didn't know how many times I was this badly injured from a fight.

And Reagan... Well, he didn't stop scowling at me. I wasn't sure if whether or not it was because he was annoyed with me for getting injured like an idiot.

Then again, I could never really tell what the hell he was thinking.

Just as everyone finally quiet down, I spotted Reagan and Oliver making their way towards us.

Oliver sat next to Thomas, and Reagan stood for a second before sitting down next to Elliot- meaning he was the farthest away from me.

I felt a weird pang in my chest, making me rub it in annoyance. Lately, I started to think I may have a small crush on Reagan. I wanted to kick myself for that, and thought it might actually be better if he stayed away from me until it passed.

How long did it take to crushes to fade away? I might have to google that.

My uncle voice made me snap out of my stupid thoughts as soon as he started talking.

"Good morning everyone, I know you may be wondering why I called you all here. Recently, we found out about those arranged fights that took place on every Friday, and we made sure those who started them will be held accountable.

Unfortunately, it is not the only reason you are here today- yes, it is about the missing boys." Almost immediately, talking started all over the place, making it difficult to hear anything farther from my uncle.

"Now now, if you will all keep quiet, I would be able to tell you more details." I looked around, leaning forward in anticipation.

From the corner of my eyes, I notice Reagan looking at me and then our eyes met.

It felt as if he was telling that whatever was going on, I better not think of getting into any sort of trouble.

Then, I glanced away, trying hard not to smirk. If someone really was going on, I knew for sure I'll try and do something dumb. I did, after all, came here to make sure the school was safe for girls.

"We don't know too much about the disappearances, and if anyone knows even the smallest thing it would be a great help.

Also, we ask that you try and stay away from dark places, especially alone." My uncle finished off. "That includes you, Ms. Troubles," Klay gave me a pointed look.

Lately, he was annoying the hell out of me a lot less. Or maybe I was finally getting use to him.

When we made our way up, Reagan came to stand besides me, and without looking at me he said, "Those guys won't try to bother you again." I blinked, a bit baffled and asked, "What?" looking as he met my gaze.

"What?" He repeated, looking at me with those dark eyes.

How do you breath again?

I cleared my throat and glance away, feeling his arm bumping into me as we moved through the exit.

Even though it was wearing a hoodie, I swear I could feel the warmth of his skin, even though he wore a jacket as well.

As soon as we were out, I made sure the was at least a few good meters distance between us, and I could finally breath normally. I didn't even realize I was holding my breath.

"Thomas' house today?" Oliver asked, leaning on the wall behind him.

Elliot glance towards the source of his voice, "I thought we were going to yours?" he asked him, waving his hand for a bit until he touched the spot on the wall next to Oliver, and then leaned on it.

Oliver looked at me, and it felt like he didn't won't them to come to his house because of me. "I can't, my house is all messy, I don't feel like hearing Thomas' lectures about hygiene and stuff." But he was still looking at me.

Thomas shook his head, "Grey said the water pipes broke, and so our house got flooded." Klay frowned, looking at his friend. "Last time it happened we came to help." And then it felt like we weren't going to his house because of me. Again.

Reagan looked at Oliver, who was still looking at me, and then he looked at me too.

"We can come to my house." Everyone immediately looked at him in surprise. "Won't your mom mind?" Thomas asked in concern. It felt like there was a deeper meaning, but I couldn't grasp it.

Should I just say I'm busy and not come?

Just as I opened my mouth, Reagan answered, "No worries." But I was more then worried.

"Cool, let's go then." It was the end of the day, and I didn't have anymore detentions. Even if I did have, I would've told my uncle about it and the reason it was given to me, and then it would've been okay.

I wondered if Officer Jason told my uncle about my incident with his vice president. I haven't seen the creep since then, and the Officer since the time he assured me my attackers will be charged for what they did to me.

"Should I not come along?" I whispered to Caleb as the boys were far enough to not hear.

I still had those thoughts about being friends with the boys. Were they really my friends? Half of them barely spoke to me.

Caleb gave me a confused look, "Why wouldn't you come?" he asked, puzzled. I looked at him for a bit, then shook my head. "Never mind," I said, and he seemed to shrug it off.

From the front, I saw Reagan give me a glance, before looking away.

What the hell was up to him lately?

I mean, I wasn't one hundred percent me recently as well, but seeing it in someone else makes me feel weird.

Reagan's home was smaller the Thomas', as it was an apartment in a not to big of a building.

I caught Oliver looking at Reagan then at me, as if he didn't believe I was invited. What was his deal with me? I hadn't seen him doing the same to Caleb, so I figured it was either because I was a girl, or he really had something personal against me.

When we entered the apartment, the first thing I had in mind was 'warm'. It was a family-like feeling.

I took off my sunglasses, that I had to start to pull on more often as it was getting warmer, and looked around.

"Is that you, Rea?" A female voice called out from the kitchen.

Rea? That nickname sound a lot like...

"Rhi," Caleb voice shook me out of my thoughts. "Yeah?" I asked, blinking. He shook his head and I shrugged.

"Are you in the kitchen again?" Reagan asked, dropping his bag on the floor and going into one of the rooms, and I assumed it was the kitchen.

The other guys followed him in, and I was right behind them.

"Hey Ms. Ross," Thomas greeted the woman and the other repeated as well. She had no hair, was the first thing I saw. The second was her beautiful, shining eyes, then I looked at her dirty apron.

"Oh Caleb, it's nice to see you again," I raised a brow. When did he came to Reagan's home?

"Dear oh dear, is that a girl?" Her words made the attention to fall on me. I found myself smiling big, "Hey, I'm Rhiannon, but you can call me Rhi." The woman laughed as she saw my outstretched hand and shook it.

"I'm Liah, Reagan's mother. Now, which one of them is your boyfriend?" I blinked at her sudden question.

"That's enough, mom, you need to go to bed anyways." Reagan told her, making her slap his harm playfully.

"Don't you go order me around, I want to me your first ever girl friend!" I coughed, trying to hold in my laughter. "She's not my girlfriend, or any of us for that matter." I gave him a glance, for some reason not liking his words. Stupid crush.

"Well, she's a girl and your friend, so that makes her your girl friend sweetie." Reagan only rolled his eyes and pulled her with him to one of the rooms.

"It was very nice to meet you dear, and if any of this boys give you trouble come straight to me, understand?" I nodded quickly, smiling.

"I'll be right back, go to the living room for now." He told us.

I decided I like Reagan's home. It had sort of a peaceful feeling around, and warmth. I wondered if he had any siblings. I wondered if the other boys had siblings.

I knew close to nothing about them, even Caleb. I wanted to know more, like where were Thomas' parents, and why did he live with his older brother?

To be a better friend, I gave myself a mission to get to know them better.

*

"So what do you think about the disappearances?" Klay asked when all of us- including Reagan- sat in the living room trying to pick a movie.

Reagan glared at his platinum blond hair friend, and he in return ignored him.

"I wonder when it happened," I said, and now Reagan was glaring at me. "Enough about that." He said.

I took my phone out, remembering I had to text my aunt about going to town or some other lie, when I saw an unfamiliar number. One that texted me from the moment I stepped a foot in this school.

They boys were loud, fighting over what movie to pick when I tried to get their attention. "Hey, you guys..." I mumbled, going over the texts.

No one heard me, of course, and I raised my head to scowl at them. "Guys," I said louder, but they still wouldn't listen. Caleb, who sat next to me, looked at me in question.

"Shut up!" I yelled, and they finally looked at me. Oliver blinked at me, and Elliot looked at me weirdly.

"What is it? You wanna pick the movie?" Klay asked me, raising a brow. I frowned at him, "What? No, what? Wait, shut up! None of you say a single word," I looked at my phone again, thinking hard.

What if...

"The text massages," I finally said, making them more confused. "What? What texts?" Thomas asked me, trying to figure out what I was talking about.

"Those texts, about the Fridays' fights, with the dots thingy!" I put my phone in front of their faces.

Oliver nodded, "Yeah, I remember when we first started to get them when the fights started. The dots marked the days to come until the fights... but what about them?" I nodded, "Exactly! In simple English, it's called a countdown," Klay put the TV remote on the table, still frowning. "A countdown? Countdown to fights?" Oliver nodded, "It always counted down to Friday," he said, but I shook my head. "But everyone knew the fights were on Friday. It was always on Friday." Thomas caught up before the others, widening his eyes a bit.

"Why notify us about the Fridays' fights..." "-If we already knew about them?" I finished his sentence.

Elliot tilted his head, "What does it matter? Maybe they wanted to make sure everyone knew it wasn't cancelled. Besides, the Fridays' fights are over." He told us, passing a hand through his curls.

I looked at my phone. "If the Fridays' fights are over," I said, scrolling down the texts.

"then why do I still get the countdowns' texts?"

~*~

Tam tam taaam *dramatic music playing in the background*...

What do you think about this countdown thing? What's it about? And do you think Rhi's crush on Reagan is going anywhere *winky face*?

Before I go, I want to apologies for taking so long to update again. I had a lot to do lately, and even when I had the time to write I found it a bit difficult. Hopefully the next update won't take me like a month (so sorry about that)...

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