Kidnapped

Chapter 34: Paparaazi

Karl POV

I was stressed to say the least, George was clearly on edge and the thought of going home to my father was scary.

George wasn't very talkative after our conversation, instead he just focused on his art although his mind was clearly elsewhere.

Luckily when the bell went we knew we had 15 minutes to just chill for a moment.

We handed in our work and headed out of the class, once we headed down the stairs neither of us were ready for crowds of people.

"George! You're back"
"What happened?"
"Is it true you and Mr.Schlatt had an affair?"
"Aren't you supposed to be dead?"
"George?"

George pushed his way through the groups of people as I struggled to keep up with him.

Escaping one group only led us to flashing lights and big cameras with people with microphones who seemed to have caught their eyes on George.

People swarmed from every direction, crowding around in a big circle leaving us hardly any room.

I hated big crowds so I definitely wasn't the best person to leave George with at a time like this.

George POV

I was suffocating, the air around me hardly being able to fill my lungs.

Too many people. Flashing lights. Noise.

"Is it true you were kidnapped?"
"How did you escape?"
"What happened the night you went missing?"
"Could you tell us what it was like?"
"How are you coping with being back?"

Breathe in and out.

I looked in every direction but I couldn't see a way to escape but I saw something better.

Phil.

"Hey! Get off school property you should knew better than to come here with your questions, now leave before I call the police" he snaps, standing in front of me.

"The rest of you get to class" he turns back to the other students who disperse into different directions.

"I am so sorry about that, come into my office, you too Karl" he says, walking us both back to his office.

He takes out a piece of paper and begins scribbling something onto it.

"Karl take that to your next class, let your teacher know that George will be with me for this period" he says, handing the paper to Karl who nods.

"See you at our usual lunch spot yeah?" He smiles and I nod, watching him leave the room.

"I'll get some police to protect the area from paparazzi, that shouldn't have happened" he says, noting down that he needs to contact the police later.

I decide to change the topic since my heart was already beating faster than it should've.

"Wilbur told me you finally adopted Tommy congrats, when did you finally decide to do it?" I ask and he smiles.

"A couple months after you went missing, you were the one that always told me I should so I did, and I'm so glad that I did" I watch the smile on his face grow.

"He's a remarkable kid, a handful at times but you know he means well, what about Tubbo? What's that about?" He asks and I decide to take a seat and put my bag down.

"Schlatt's ex girlfriend Puffy died due to health problems and she was the one looking after Tubbo, so Schlatt then became responsible of him so he stayed with us" I explain, fiddling with my bag straps.

"I had already been with Schlatt 6 months by the time Tubbo came to stay, I protected him as much as I could so now..my mums like his legal guardian, signed the papers and everything" I say and Phil leans forward more.

"So he's not adopted he's just in your mothers care?" He asks and I nod.

"Yeah, I mean he lost his mum and now his dad is in jail, I don't think he would want a new family like that..I told him to make friends with Tommy though" I mention and Phil smiles.

"That's a good idea, I think those two would get along great, Tommy might help him come out of his shell a bit more" I nod and bring my knees up to my chest.

"So how are you coping with everything? Are you alright?" I stop myself from rolling my eyes at that dreaded question.

"I'm fine honestly, just weird being back" I say, hugging my knees tighter.

Phil gave me a look of disbelief and sighed.

"I won't make you talk but please talk to someone, anyone really, it'll really help" He suggests and for a moment I ponder at the thought.

Callahan is the perfect person to talk to, he can't talk to anyone even if I do tell him somethings.

Maybe I'll message Callahan at some point.

I carry on my conversation with Phil, he distracted me with some family stories and how things had been at the school.

He also told me about his troubles to find a new football coach which I told him I'd help him with.

He looked through his computer as I looked on my phone, emailing people who we thought was a possibility,

This time doing a proper background check.

I had gotten a response from someone who was interested and forwarded their email to Phil, allowing him to do the rest.

It was 5 minutes into lunch already so I said my goodbyes to Phil who thanked me for my help.

I then made the lonely walk into the cafeteria.