High School Dream ~ Youtuber Fanfiction ~

Chapter 15

NICK COULDN'T FIND SHELBY AT SCHOOL THE NEXT DAY. In all of the classes that they shared, she wasn't present in any of them.

He had a sneaking suspicion as to why.

"Where's Shelby?" Jess asked, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

Cory looked up. "Dunno."

His eyes had barely-noticable bags under them. Only Nick could see them, because only Nick knew to look.

The day before, Nick had opened the door to a weary-looking Cory.

Cory's eyes had swept over Nick nervously. "Hey, um..." He had sighed. "You got a place to stay?"

Cory had put a wall between himself and Nick that night.

Nick had told his parents that Cory didn't want to be with his family, who was taking the death of Cory's mother hard. Nick's parents had agreed to letting Cory stay at their house (Nick strongly suspected they were letting Nick do whatever he wanted after their last trip to the doctor's).

Now, as Nick quietly stared at Cory, he couldn't help trying to think of what had happened.

Maybe the same thing that happened to Shelby? Speaking of which...

Nick cleared his throat. He noticed how Cory's eyes quickly locked onto his in a panic, before looking away a split second later. "I think I might know why Shelby isn't here."

Adam looked over. "You do?"

Nick nodded. "I was on my way to the grocery store-" He caught how Cory flinched at the mention of the grocery store, "- and I ran into Shelby on my way there. She was acting all weird."

"Weird?" Jess asked.

"Yeah. You know, like, on edge, looking over her shoulder a lot. She basically sprinted away from me. And she was wearing a freaking work uniform."

"A work uniform?" Adam was picking at the grass. "So Shelby has a job?"

"But that's normal," Jess pointed out. "Most kids our age get jobs."

"But haven't you noticed?" Nick asked. "Shelby never talks about money. She doesn't have a cell phone. And once I caught her falling asleep."

Adam frowned. "Last time she didn't show up for school, she told me her alarm clock broke and she slept in. Do you think she lied?"

Jess shook her head. "Maybe that was what actually happened. But do you think something else is going on?"

Adam leaned forward. "Maybe something else is happening in Shelby's life. But we're her friends. And friends help other friends when those friends have problems. So we're going to support and help Shelby in any way we can."

Nick silently agreed. But while they were focusing on Shelby, Nick noticed how Cory was slowly retreating into his own world. His eyes, while focused on the ground in front of him, were glassy.

"Cory?" Nick asked, interrupting Jess and Adam's train of theories. "Are you okay?"

Cory blinked twice, before looking up at Nick. "Huh? Yeah, I'm fine."

Nick frowned. "You're not fine, Cory. Usually you're taking every chance possible to make fun of me. So what's wrong?"

Cory shrugged. "Nothing. I'm fine."

Feeling Is Not Expressed. Fudged up, Insecure, Neurotic, Emotional.

Nick raised an eyebrow. "Sure."

I guess his mom just passed, Nick thought to himself, watching Cory slowly engage in Jess and Adam's conversation. But something else is going on.

Do Adam and Jess have problems, too?

"Hey, Jess!"

Nick looked up. Laurence.

Jess looked equally scandalized.

Laurence was grinning, the whites of his teeth blinding Nick. "You didn't answer any of my texts. Are you okay?"

Jess stood up. "You know what, Laurence? Let's have a talk."

Laurence's smile was slowly dropping from his face. "Babe? What's going on."

"Laurence." Jess's amber eyes were hard. "Let's have a talk."

"Wait, what? What's-"

Jess had grabbed Laurence's arm and dragged him behind the Oak Tree.

Adam and Nick exchanged glances, before creeping towards them to eavesdrop.

Nick realized he didn't have to eavesdrop. The whole campus could hear the heated conversation between Jess and her boyfriend. If that's what Laurence could be called at this point.

"What aren't you telling me, Laurence?"

"I'm not hiding anything from you, Jess."

"I didn't say you were. But you're obviously not telling me something. Sneaking around with Michi, part of some sort of gang-"

"Gang? Where the heck did you hear that?"

"DON'T AVOID THE QUESTION, LAURENCE. A gang? Really? I gave you my heart and soul, and you do this?"

"Jess, what are you talking about?"

"Your freaking gang! Laurence, I thought you were better than this."

"Jess, I-"

"SAVE IT."

Jess appeared from behind the tree, not making eye contact with any of them.

Nick bit his lip, his thoughts running a thousand miles per hour.

So, Shelby, Cory, and Jess all have problems. Who else?

[ okay i thought i'd update more because it's summer, but it turns out my brain is really enjoying its break and is refusing to follow the rules of writing whoops ]