Monsters and Men ~ Rosenwalker & Richpez

Chapter 32

"I swear to god I don't know where else to look," Joey said desperately after leaving the bathroom near his trigonometry class. "Did they fucking kidnap him?" He ran a hand through his hair. "Listen to me, I sound insane."

"You don't," Lauren answered honestly. "Zoey's a fucking sociopath. I wouldn't put anything past her."

Joey sighed, checking his watch. "The bell's going to ring soon. I'm going to keep looking for him, but I don't want to make you miss your class."

"Joey, please," Lauren said as they ran up the stairs to go check the second floor. "Brian's my friend too. Also I can't leave you like this. I'm not going anywhere until we find him."

Joey smiled at her gratefully. "I'm gonna try calling him again." He reached into his pocket, only to find that his phone wasn't there. "Fuck, I left my phone back in the choir room."

"How about I go and get it?" Lauren offered. "Is it in your backpack? I can go ahead and grab my backpack too while I'm at it."

"Are you sure you don't mind?" Joey asked, opening the door and peering into another empty bathroom.

"Not at all. Where should I meet you?"

Joey shrugged as they walked back down the stairs. "I guess maybe I'll go and check the locker room since Brian and I have gym next period, on the off chance that he's okay and just decided to skip Glee."

"That's a good idea. I'll meet you there in ten?" Lauren asked him as the bell rang. "If he's not there maybe we can swing by his house and check?"

If Joey's anxiety over Brian missing wasn't so horrifically through the roof, he would've been super excited about another chance to ride in Lauren's car. Instead, all he gave her was a swift thumbs up as they walked out of the building and headed in opposite directions.

Lauren half walked half jogged back over to the theatre building, a million questions racing through her mind. Was Brian okay? Was Joe leaving Zoey? Had Zoey ordered an attack on Brian because Joe was leaving her? Did she truly find Joey cute?

She shook her head at the last thought. She needed to stop letting thoughts like that cross her mind. She wasn't interested in starting anything with anyone. In seven months she'd be graduating and off to college to pursue a career in acting. She couldn't let any boy get in the way of that. No distractions. No attachments.

She ran towards the door that went directly from the outside of the theatre building to the choir room since it was closer from where she was coming from. She grabbed the handle, finding the door to be locked. Sighing, she reached into her backpack to pull out her key. Times like now it was nice to be the theatre president.

She ran in to find the room empty. Closing and locking the door behind her, she quickly grabbed Joey and Brian's backpacks. As she was grabbing hers, she jumped at the sound of yelling coming from the hallway. The voices were slightly muffled from the closed door, but she could hear the sound of two people screaming at each other. Running over, she put her ear to the door so that she could hear.

"Lauren's been right about you all along. Our relationship is completely toxic. You're toxic."

"You don't think I know that?"

Lauren slammed her hand over her mouth to muffle her scream of delight. Finally, fucking finally, Joe was coming to his goddamn senses. She pressed her ear back against the door, hungry for more information. Was he going to break up with her right now? God, Lauren hoped that Zoey cried like a motherfucker.

She pulled her head away from the door. Would Joe want her to be hearing this? She sighed miserably to herself, know that he probably wouldn't want anyone to be listening in on their conversation. She stood up, walking back towards the other door. She pulled out her phone as she walked to text Joey letting him know that she was going to stick around the building to be there for Joe once he was done with Zoey, whether he wanted to join her or keep looking for Brian was fine with her.