Colours // Poofless AU

Chapter 17

Thank you for 7k reads! That's insane! < 333 And also we hit 245 followers, which is crazy! I don't know how to thank you all without just repeating it over and over.

Anyway, I hope you enjoy this chapter! :)

Vikk's POV

I look around the classroom and see an empty chair where Preston should be. I groan and feel myself start to worry. Usually he never misses a class. Just yesterday we were driving around and having fun, but now he's not here. He didn't seem sick at all, so why wouldn't he be here?

"Hey, man. How you doing?" someone asks. I look up to see Joshua Zerkaa. What does he want? He may sit next to me in this class, but he would never talk to me unless forced to.

"Um, good. You?" I question. He nods and sits down in his seat.

"It's been good. I just wanted to see if you've seen Simon today. He was supposed to meet me by the fountains today, but he didn't." I can see a glaze of concerned in his eyes, but I still don't know why'd he ask me. He could go up to some of the other members in The MenSide and ask.

"No, I haven't. Speaking of him, isn't he in this class?" I ask.

"Yeah, he is. Now you understand my curiosity," he states. He points to the back right corner where no one is sitting.

"Well, did you see him before the fountain situation?" I question. He shakes his head.

"Nope. We only have this period, lunch, and seventh period together."

I conclude, "Well, maybe he got sick or something."

"That's not possible," he sighs. "Just yesterday I was at his house playing video games and such. I even had dinner there. The whole time he was smiling and laughing. Never once did he mention feeling sick or something."

All I can say to that is, "Hmm."

Suddenly the door shuts and there stands Mrs. Faye. She's the advanced math teacher, and personally, the best teacher ever. She's the first one to know all our drama and even jokes with some of us. You'd be surprised at how much the students tell her. She's the one you go to if you need to vent, need help with any subject, or know of any juicy drama. If you tell her some drama, she will ask you what type of candy you want and she'll get you the king sized one.

"Hello class! Today there really isn't anything new to learn because the finals are coming up. So, you are all welcome to go on your laptops and chat amongst yourselves. If you get too loud, I'll have to ask you to be a tad more quiet." She smiles at us and walks back to her desk.

I open up my laptop and log in, seeing the weird mountain background turn into a green and purple screen. Folders are scattered across and random documents are cluttered into certain areas. I should clean it up, but I really don't feel like it. There's no need to be organized when the end of the year is coming. 

I scan some of the titles of the files I've made and spot a random one. It's titled "Sodsterq" just like a few of my other ones. Another one is named "Hsasewr" with parentheses that say, "Important". I never take the time to write out an actual one to help me figure out what it is. Instead, I've made a system for myself.  Anything starting with "S" is for Science, "M" for Math, "H" for History, and "E" for English.

"Hey, does anyone know where Preston and Simon are? They're the only ones absent," Mrs. Faye asks. Most of the students shake their heads.

"I thought I saw Preston in second period at the beginning, but he never came back from the bathroom," a voice calls out. I look up from the laptop to see Choco talking. Ms. Faye nods.

Someone else says, "Simon never came to second period."

"I saw him in first hour."

"I watched Preston walk into the bathroom. Never saw Simon, though."

"Simon was walking down the hall before second period."

"I thought I just saw him, but it could have been someone else."

Everyone starts talking at once and some of the people start coming up with some cases.

"Maybe they were kidnapped."

"Could they have ditched school?"

"Probably got murdered."

"Principle might've needed them." 

"Would they really just leave like that?"

The classroom starts to get really loud, so Mrs. Faye shushes everyone.

"I'll call the office and inform them of the missing students. In the meantime, you all try and text them. Maybe we can get ahold of them." She walks to the left corner of the room where the phone is and dials the office. 

I take out my phone and open up Preston's number. The last thing I texted him was "Goodnight" when he said he was going to bed. I start to text something, but quickly delete it and start over.

Vikky - Where are you

Presto - got sick

dad picked me up.

Vikky - You should've told me

Presto - I know, sorry

Vikky - It's okay. How you feeling?

Presto - eh, better than before. I was throwing up earlier.

Vikky - That sucks. gtg. Text you later?

Presto - okay. see ya.

"He's just sick," I say out loud to everyone. "Said he got picked up by his dad."

"That's what Simon said," Josh states and glances at me as he puts his phone in his pocket. I raise my eyebrow.

"Well then," I reply. "Seems a bit too... I don't know."

"It seems way to much of a coincidence," he says while he types something into his laptop. I peer over to see him looking up something about how to spot a Colour. My eyes widen.

"What are you doing?" I ask. Usually the only people who do that are the psychopaths that want to "cure" The Colours from the world.

"Oh, uh, I'm using this info to see if maybe Simon got taken to one of those labs for suspicious activity." He clicks on the first link and it pops up with an article. It looks like it's the same reading from our online book. We weren't supposed to read it, but many people did, including me. It's very... creepy to say the least.

"You do know that's in our online book for science, right?" I question. He shakes his head.

"I didn't want to read that chapter. It just seemed too weird for me." He clicks into a new tab.

"What do you mean?" I ask. 

He huffs. "I may hate The Colours, but not enough to hunt them down and kill them. That's just completely wrong. Everyone deserves to live on this planet, even if they're different."

"Then it sounds like you don't hate them. It's just a slight disapproval."

"Maybe." Josh types more stuff into the search bar and groans. "Why is so much stuff here blocked?" He whips his head back and shuts his eyes.

Mrs. Faye finishes talking to whoever is on the phone and puts the phone down. She fixes her brown hair and smiles. 

"Both Preston and Simon got sick today and were picked up by one of their parents. No need to worry about them." I hear a exhale of relief settle across the room, especially from me and Josh. They are our best friends after all. 

Something still feels fishy, though. And when something doesn't feel right to me, that feeling never goes away until it's proven wrong.