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The police presence on campus increased as the days drew on, and posters went up for missing students.
It had gotten to the point that students would be stopped on occasion to be "asked a few questions" before being released with instructions to share any information they might have. Ambrosia supposed they were there both to find people and make those who weren't missing feel a little safer. But they weren't, not really. It left that silent question hanging in the air of every conversation and interaction: who would be next? It was as if every student suddenly became the center of the universe, and everyone was claiming that they might be next.
The Tuesday after the Friday evening party Cherry's floor threw was the day that Devon's posters went up. His angular face with his heroic cleft and bright grin went up on almost every available surface--littered across floors, upon announcement boards, whizzing past on televisions displaying slideshows of ads--his gray-green eyes unblinking and jovial. Ambrosia felt a pang of pity for the guy, but suspected he might just be lying low somewhere, resting off a hangover. He'd seemed like the type of guy to party it up to his fullest, regardless of what would be faced the morning after.
Ambrosia was staring at one such poster, absent Nat, when he heard the officers interrogating yet another student. The only difference time was that the voice that carried off answers politely to the uniform pair was familiar. Leaning slightly to the side to peer around the announcement board, Ambrosia's gaze landed upon the figure of Cherry.
Raven black hair pulled back into a single braid, she shifted her weight impatiently from side to side in her white Adidas sneakers. He remembered that she'd once told him those were her favorites. Standing there in her gray joggers and a baseball jersey--the Baltimore Orioles she'd said she was such a big fan of--she looked as though she wanted nothing more to be done with them, but she remained respectful.
He'd seen plenty of students dismiss the officers or hold little regard for them while being questioned, and he had to say it hurt to watch. He understood that officers were merely trying to do their job; it wasn't like they wanted to hang around hungover brats, hipster wannabes, or rich pricks. They merely, maybe out of the goodness of their hearts or maybe because that was what they were paid for, wanted to see them safe.
Stepping out from behind the announcement board, he considered walking over there. They were speaking to Cherry longer than he'd seen any other student. He took a step forward tentatively, then another, and then his feet drew him towards the officers and Cherry without hesitation. Brows raised and a smile slipping over his lips, he raised a hand in greeting as he approached.
"Son," the older officer greeted. A man probably no older than his sixties with a thick graying mustache growing over his lip. Heavy-lidded blue eyes appraised Ambrosia for a moment before a smile raised up the man's full cheeks. Robust with some height, he tipped his head back to look up at him better, extending a thick hand for a shake.
"Sir," Ambrosia responded, shaking hands with the officer with a smile.
"We were just asking this student here a question," the other officer stated, "Do you mind if we ask you a few as well?"
