The Class Reject: A Damsel in Disguise (Featured Story)

Chapter 27

Somewhere in the middle of town, Parker and Artemis were conducting yet another search mission.

"Maybe we should stop for today," Parker suggested, scratching his head. "It's getting late." The sun was quickly diminishing in the west. Artemis knew that it was past late. But she also knew that the more time they wasted, the less effective their efforts would be.

They had been missing homecoming meetings. Parker was missing lacrosse practice. Now it was a week until homecoming, and coming back to Rinzen without some major revelation would completely undermine their efforts. Miren was book smart, that couldn't be denied. But it never occurred to Artemis that she also had the street smarts to remain hidden for so long.

Artemis continued on, a few flyers in hand, walking aimlessly. She closed her eyes, feeling the autumn air sludge past her hair. Parker stopped her.

"Did you hear a word I just said?" he asked, his green eyes large and irritated. She brushed past him.

"Of course I did," she said with a sigh, handing a flyer to a random civilian. "Fortunately, I'm not required to listen to you."

"But we're a team." He couldn't hide the hurt in his eyes. Artemis tensed. Great, now she had something else to feel bad about. Every day this search effort lagged on, she could feel her inner bitch being released. And here was Parker, a convenient target for her aggression.

"Besides, Wallace said she's probably in town," Parker offered, refusing to feel discouraged. Artemis nodded, trying to expel the frustration churning inside her.

"Yes, but where?" They had looked all over town. For weeks. Wallace simply assured them that their efforts were in the right direction. Nothing more. "We're not any closer to finding her. So sorry if I'm not celebrating."

"Maybe you need to celebrate something," Parker said. "Did you ever think that your attitude could be straining our efforts?" The look on his face was serious. But so was Artemis'. "I know you care, but exploding on me all the time isn't going to help." His voice lowered into a mumble. "I don't like how this has changed you."

Artemis scoffed, her amber eyes on fire. "And what about you? If you kept your girlfriend in check, then we wouldn't be here in the first place! God, what the hell do you see in her?"

"Did it ever occur to you that I never wanted to be with her?" he almost yelled. He shook his head as Artemis' eyes widened. He had over spoken, he knew that. But he couldn't fall back now.

"What?" she said in a gasp.

"Isn't it obvious?" he replied, a tense smile gracing his lips. "I liked Miren. And from afar, I grew to love her. But you're right. I didn't help her. I even made a fool of her at the assembly—I should have just let her kill Penelope." He forced a laugh. "She probably hates me now."

Just probably.

"Then why in Allah's name are you dating Penelope!?"

"Because Miren cost me my athletic scholarship," he said, almost matter-of-factly. Artemis's face spoiled in an angry pout. Parker picked up on what she was probably thinking. "She doesn't know this. But I didn't choose Penelope out of anger or spite."

"Then why?"

"Money." He pressed his lips into a firm line, hard enough to drain the color from them. "Penelope's family's very close to mine. My dad's a wealthy software engineer. But during that time he was branching out from Apple and he almost went bankrupt. Her family helped us out when my scholarship was suspended due to my injury for that semester. Her dad was in need of software for  some type of electronic surgical technique. And because Penelope wanted to be with me, I couldn't exactly slap the hand that was feeding us."