Classified ☑

[ chapter 17 ]

The next morning I walked downstairs to find Thomas at the kitchen table eating breakfast. He looked up at me and ever so slightly shook his head. "You look exhausted."

I slumped into the chair across from him, placing the paper with the chain logo and random numbers on the back onto the table. "No luck finding out what any of this means. Not even the logo."

Thomas' shoulders seemed to sag in relief, like he was glad I couldn't figure anything out. "Maybe you should let it go. I don't think this is healthy for you, especially for someone your age."

His words went in one ear and out the other as I leaned towards him with an idea that popped into mind. I didn't mean to ignore him, but I also had too many questions swirling in my head. "Do you think those people that broke into the house were looking for this?"

Thomas blinked slowly before taking another bite of his eggs. "Maybe?" He shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal even though it definitely was. "Who knows what they were looking for."

I blinked slowly at him, confused by his mood swing. Last night he seemed interested in this and then this morning, it seemed like he wanted nothing to do with hit. "Okay," I muttered, not knowing what else to say to Thomas.

*****

Snow flurries started to come down faster by the time my Uncle and I got to his gym. The weather lady was right, we'd been hit with a storm last night around three a.m. What they hadn't predicted was the snow that came along with the ice.

Since they had called off school today, I was hanging out with Thomas.The ground was icy as I walked up to my Uncle's gym. My foot slipped and my legs flew out from underneath me as my butt was about to smack the ground, but someone caught me from behind.

"You trying to hurt yourself, kid?"

I smiled, knowing exactly who it was. "Thanks Joseph."

He helped me up to stand, letting me hang on his arm for stability. "Let's get some salt and we'll put it on the curb, walkway, and parking lot so people don't fall like you did."

Huffing, I stuck my tongue out at him, grateful for his relaxed attitude. After this morning, things had felt stiff with Thomas. It was like one part of him wanted to find out what happened to my dad and then another part didn't want to find out, too scared for the truth. I wasn't entirely sure what my Uncle wanted more, the truth or to let all of it go.

Thomas walked up after us, being the one that had driven me here. "Salt is a good idea, but I doubt we'll have very many people showing up in this weather."

"Better safe than sorry," Joseph said, his eyes trailing Thomas as he passed us to head inside. He looked at me once Thomas was out of earshot. "What's his deal?"

I shrugged my shoulders, walking slowly towards the building. "I'm not sure. Last night he seemed really into everything we found out, but this morning he barely talked about it. He made it seem like your run of the mill conversation."

"Are you ninety years old?" Joseph asked, grinning at me.

"It's a normal saying," I fired back, rolling my eyes at him.

"An old saying."

I moved to punch Joseph's arm, but my legs gave out again, causing me to fall towards the ground. Thankfully Joseph was still there and kept me from falling. Again.

"Come on, let's head inside before you wipe out and smack your head," he dramatized.

Once Joseph and I were inside, we set down our workout bags to head to the storage closet. Inside were a couple of salt bags that we grabbed to layer the parking lot.

By the time we were almost done, my cheeks were red and raw. Joseph nodded his head at the building, signaling that we should go in. Just as we opened the door, a few cars pulled into the parking lot.

"You weren't kidding about people still showing up."

Joseph chuckled, carrying the empty salt bags as he headed towards the back of the building. He tossed the bags into an empty trashcan, one people rarely put trash into since it was towards the back in a quieter area. "People will do anything to get their workout in."

Before he could walk away, I grabbed his arm. "I have to show you something." He nodded his head and I pulled out my phone, showing him a picture of the logo and numbers on the piece of paper I'd found in Thomas' extra parts box. "Do you know what any of this could possibly mean?"

Something flashed in Joseph's eyes when they met the logo, but if he knew anything about it, he didn't share the knowledge. "Those numbers could be anything. A locker combination, a zip code, you name it. Have you tried calling the phone number yet?" he asked, referring to the number we found on the instructions page in the washer.

"Not yet."

He gulped before walking away. "Maybe you should."

There seemed to be an underlying meaning behind his words, but he walked away before I could ask him. Joseph seemed to have mood shifts just like Thomas, probably a result from the two of them hanging out so much.

I couldn't dwell on it much longer because Cole, Liam, and Mark walked into the building. Cole spotted me first out of the three and waved, making his way towards me while Liam and Mark walked over to the equipment.

Cole glanced around to see if Thomas was near by before giving me a hug. "Hey," he breathed.

"Hey," I said back, enjoying his comfort.

"How are you doing today?"

"I'm alright," I answered truthfully.

"Good, I wanted to ask you something."

I looked up at Cole expectantly. Maybe he'd ask me to go on a date now.

"The boys and I, plus some others from school, are headed to a campsite this weekend. They have small buildings that are like cabins for us to stay in so we don't freeze to death too. The roads won't be as icy, so it'll be a little safer to drive on if you want to go?" His eyes pleaded with mine, almost like his existence depended on me going.

I couldn't help but feel a little disappointed in the fact that Cole hadn't asked me to go on a date. I mean, he had kissed me out of the blue last night and we'd been through more than most people go through already. But at the same time Cole's a guy so I couldn't expect much. "I'll have to ask Thomas, but I don't see why he'd say no besides weather conditions."

Cole's shoulders sagged as he released a breath of pent up air. "Good, it'll be a lot of fun. We could even get Shelly to go if you want."

I smiled at him. "Yeah, that'd be fun. When do y'all leave?"

"Tomorrow morning."

"Cool, I'll ask my Uncle tonight and let you know."

Besides, what could go wrong.

A/N: It has been awhile since I've updated...hoping to update a few times a week now after this. Hope you enjoyed and if you did, please vote. :)