Missing in Action

Chapter 004

Never before had Ryan experienced actually having to thoroughly debate with himself what clothes he should wear. The school uniform wasn't a good idea, obviously. But he still didn't like the clothes Tobias had made him buy and Brendon had made it quite clear that he didn't either. But at the same time it would look strange if he turned up in something that was completely different from what he'd been wearing the previous night. He finally, with a sigh, took one of the ridiculous t-shirts, but allowed himself a pair of relatively loose jeans and a quite plain hoodie. It still felt weird to wear sneakers, but those were strangely comfortable and didn't really bother him.

After combing his hair and grudgingly adding the frame of black eyeliner around his eyes, inwardly cursing Tobe as he did, he found a jacket, pulled it on and walked out the door, making sure to lock it behind him. He looked down at his watch only to realize that if he didn't hurry up, he was going to be late, all over an issue as stupid as clothes. And thus he sped up, jogging down the halls (and nearly getting lost, again, due to not taking the time to consider his turns and what stairs to use) but stopping in one of the small, cozy common rooms, the one belonging to the tenth-graders if he was correct.

His phone, the one he'd been given for the assignment, was ringing, and not answering could cause an alarm and several other things that may not be that good. With a slight groan he tugged the cell phone out of his pocket and took the call. "Yeah?"

"Ry," a cheerful voice said. "It's Tobe. Get there all right?"

"I got here fine," Ryan answered, biting back another groan. "Any reason why you called me?"

"You didn't answer my email," his roommate answered in an uncharacteristically serious voice. "I got worried, okay. You need to answer stuff immediately so I know you're all right."

"Sorry," Ryan answered, starting to walk again. "I'm fine, I've just had a lot on my mind. Remember high school?"

Tobias started laughing heartily. "Yeah. I don't envy you. So, did Princey like the clothes?"

"No, asshole," the younger of the two answered with a groan. "I'm busy now too, so... I'll call you back sometime, okay?"

"Yeah, okay," Tobias said. "Don't take too long. Hey, good luck, kid. Take care of yourself."

"You too," Ryan answered before ending the call, walking the last piece of way across the entrance hall as he stuffed the device back into his pocket before he looked up to see three familiar teenage boys waiting there already. "Sorry I'm late," he stated, biting his lip slightly before reminding himself not to. "My brother has terrible timing."

Spencer nodded, "no problem. The car's waiting for us, so we best be off," He started towards the doors, Brendon already in front of him. When they reached the car (which was really a black limo), Brendon shrugged and rolled his eyes, muttering something unintelligible. They all got into the back, the four of them fitting comfortably and with a lot of room to spare. There was a tiny television hanging from the ceiling of the car, a small mini-fridge and a makeshift table. Brendon took the seat nearest the the dividing wall between themselves and the driver and then watched as his friends all sat down, silent as the car pulled away from the curb.

"Might as well get comfortable," he said at last, as he reached up and switched on the television. It was at the music station, as always, and he sat back and listened.

"Any ideas what we're going to get up to tonight?" Jon asked, glancing around. "Movie? Just walking around downtown? Shopping?" His eyes lit up at the last thing on his small list and his eyes widened hopefully. Spencer didn't answer, just laughed and shook his head. He didn't really mind what they did. Instead, he looked over to Ryan for an idea.