I Love You More Than Science (Mr Young Fanfic)

Ch 11 Where's Mr Young?

"Why are we yelling?" A distant voice behind me asks.

"Oh hey." I say as Derby catches up to me.

"How was detention?"

"Pretty good!"

"Really?" I raise an eyebrow.

"Oh right, forgot you made friends with Grumpy the Dwarf." All that rage I was feeling for the new student after he hit Slab comes back.

"How can you befriend him?! After what he did to Slab?!"

"First of all, Slab bullies ME." Derby began.

"Second of all, it was self-defense. No offense Val, but knowing Slab, I know he's probably not lying."

I try to come up with a rebuttal to that but I can't.

But as Slab's sister I was obviously not going to take sides with new kid.

I look down at a plate Derby was holding. It had a slice of cake.

"Okay, where'd you get that? Cus I know damn well those gross lunch ladies would never bake as something as good as that."

"The new student gave it to me."

You mean he actually eats?

"Apparently he has a thing for a red velvet."

Derby's take large and quick bites of his slice.

"Chillax Derby, nobody is stealing your cake." I joke.

Derby lets out a happy sigh.

"I love making new friends." He says as he's staring at his cake as if he were looking at the love of his life.

Okay mood.

"So, why were you talking to that car?"

"Now that I think about it... That car looked an awful lot like Ivy's car."

I facepalm.

I wonder if I should tell Derby what I overheard.

"Hey Derp- Derby."

He's busy licking off the crumbs off the styrofoam plate to pay attention to me calling his name.

"Derby!" My voice startles him.

"Huh?"

"You NEED to tell him!" Derby says after I'm done telling him everything I heard in the restroom.

"I knew things were a little rocky, but what couple doesn't have rocky relationships. Rocky...Rocky road." He gets distracted as an ice cream truck stops by, a bunch of teenagers running to the truck to make some orders.

"Derby." I snap his thoughts back into the conversation.

"Right. You have to tell Adam."

I shrug.

"I tried to, but he didn't believe me."

"Well try again."

"Heck no! I'm not about to be treated like a liar again!"

"Okay, if you don't, I will. Adam's my best friend."

As he's about to walk away, I pick him up before placing him back in his original spot.

"Woah, you're strong!"

I sigh as I think about what Derby said.

"I'll go with you."

Derby nods.

Welp. Here goes nothing. AGAIN.

A woman answers the door.

I'm guessing it's Adam's mom.

"Hey, Derby. Hello..." She trails off.

"Valerie." I stick out my hand. She smiles warmly as she shakes it.

"I'm guessing you two are looking for Adam. He left the house a few minutes ago."

Oh great.

"Oh, okay, thanks." I smile weakly at her.

As we leave Adam's house, I shake my head.

"Now what?"

"We'll tell him tomorrow."

~

The next day, I wait for Derby by the school gates. When he's finally here, I lock arms with him.

"Woah. I knew you wanted me but not that much." Derby waggles his eyebrows.

I roll my eyes. "We were going to tell Adam about what I heard, remember?"

"Oh right."

"But that still doesn't take away from the fact that- woahh!"

Derby's feet are basically flying mid air as I rush towards the entrance, our arms still locked.

As we step inside our class, I walk towards the board.

"Hey, Mr. Young. I know yesterday you didn't believe me, but I really think we really need to talk about it-"

I look up at the guy and realize it wasn't Mr. Young. More like Mr. Old.

"Uhhh.." The old man scratches his balding head.

"Mr. Young called in sick. I'm Mr. Old, your substitute for today."

No way.

I look down at Derby, who's in a laughing fit after hearing the teacher's name.

I give him a nudge on the stomach before we sit down in our seats.

"Is it a Finnegan thing for teachers to name themselves after adjectives that describe them?"

Derby shrugs.

When I'm about to write, Derby suddenly snatches my sparkly pen out of my hands, startling me.

"What the heck Derby?"

"Don't you realize? Adam can't be sick! He's never called in sick!"

I cross my arms.

"Uh, no I did not. Probably cus I met him yester-"

Derby interrupts me. "Even when he is sick, he never misses a single day!"

He looks at the ceiling, as if falling into a flashback.

"You know I can't read your mind right?" I say.

"Oh. I was thinking about a time he came to school..."

I nod for him to continue.

"With a cast."

"What?!"

"I know! He fell out of my special treehouse and he STILL came to school the next day."

Before I could say anything, the door opens.

Echo.

She's talking to a much taller dude.

As the two walk by us Derby grabs her sleeve to get her attention.

"Echo. Hutch. Have you guys seen Adam?"

The guy named Hutch shakes his head.

"No."
He looks towards Echo."Echo, didn't you say you-"

Echo gives him a look that tells him to shut up, which he quickly complies.

"That she what?" I raise an eyebrow.

Echo sighs frustrated.

"That Adam and I broke up. Happy?"

Derby and I exchange glances.

Oh no.

If according to Derby, he's never been absent.. then where is he?