Via came up behind Percy and was now walking next to him. She must have seen his face, because she asked, "Hey, do you know what's going on with Derek? He's seemed kind of off the past couple of days,"
"I think something's wrong. Did you know Finn freshman year?"
"No, he only joined Basketball when he was a sophomore and I was a Freshman. Now that I think about it I don't think he even went to this school Freshman year,"
"Yeah, I don't think Derek went here either. He got in when we were sophomores. We only knew each other because his dad is my dad's boss. After having to go to a lot of meetings, we sort of bonded,"
"Huh, do you think it has something to do with Finn?"
"He said they were dating Freshman year, but for some reason never told me,"
"But, don't you guys tell each other everything? There had to be something keeping him from sharing,"
"I'm worried that it wasn't a very good relationship. And that Finn is unburying it now, for whatever reason,"
"Should we do something? Or tell somebody? This is worrying me," Percy thought about it. Derek seemed barely able to tell Percy. And they were basically brothers. There had to be something big that Derek didn't want to happen.
"No I think we need to wait," he said.
"Okay...but update me okay? I care about him," Via said. Percy nodded, and they kept walking around.
"Hey, so I know you probably won't want to now, but Finn is holding this Halloween party in a few weeks, and I was wondering if you'd want to come. Supposedly he's like stupid rich. It could be our second date," Via said finally. This was a tough one. Percy was incredibly worried about Derek and if he's okay. And Derek said he wanted to protect Percy from Finn, making him sound dangerous. But Via seemed like she genuinely liked Percy, and wanted to hang out with him. Not out of pity or as a joke. That didn't happen very often.
"S-sure I'll go. Sounds like fun," He managed to spit out.
"Cool. It's a date,"
___________________________________________________________
A little later Finn came back without Derek. He said something about Derek needing to leave early. Then he excused himself and left. Percy thought he should walk Via home, seeing as it was getting late. They were silent the entire way there, thinking their own private thoughts. He watched her unlock the door, and wave a final goodbye. Then she went inside. Her house wasn't very close to his, but it was okay. He could make it back. He got on his bike and started to roll away.
When he was about halfway home, a shiny sports car drove up next to him. He couldn't make out the driver, but it slowed as it passed him. Then when it had distanced itself further, it sped away. That was freaky. Like really freaky. The rest of the way home Percy kept hearing things behind him, and when he turned around to look he almost ran into the curb, cars, and bushes. After what seemed like forever, he got home and locked the door behind him.
