Caught

Chapter Twenty-Nine

Aidan and I dodged swinging arms and spinning dancers as we escaped the dance floor. We lost track of where Tyson was in the room - or if he was even in the room. He had to tell us how to get up to the roof, or how they could climb down.

I mean, we could always teleport, but there were so many people and cameras here. Someone would probably see us.

"There," I said, pointing near the gifts table. Tyson was talking to Bethany and her little group, looking very uncomfortable.

We ran up to him, then slowed down to a walk so we didn't look strange to the three girls. However, they probably heard the sound of my heels, for they turned around as we slowed down. The girls were in matching bubblegum pink dresses. I could tell that one of them - Jade - was very uncomfortable wearing it.

"What, done dancing?" Bethany asked. "Maybe you could spare me one, Aidan."

Jeez, this girl and her undying love for Aidan... just die and leave my friend alone.

"Um... I'm kinda busy right now, Bethany," He stuttered. "We gotta talk to Tyson. In private. If you could just move."

She didn't move. "You can tell him in front of us, or at least me." She waved off her two friends, who, if I saw correctly, was pretty glad to leave. "Honey, we can't have a stable relationship if you keep secrets."

"What relationship?" I asked her. "The non-existent one you keep on playing in your head over and over again? Yeah, not gonna happen now shoo!" Listen, it's not like I like like Aidan but I ain't gonna let him end up with a girl like that.

She gave me a dirty look, her black eyeliner making it more intense. I shot her an equally dirty look as she walked towards her friends.

"What's up?" Tyson asked, licking his fingers. That boy was addicted to the cupcakes, I tell you.

I pointed to the ceiling. "You're foster sister and my cousin are on your roof. How do we get them down?"

His jaw dropped. "How in the world did they get up there? And they're alive?"

"You didn't think they were dead, did you?" Aidan asked his shocked and utterly confused friend.

"Knowing Mr. Miller, Jessica was probably as good as dead. Or badly injured," Tyson said. "Alyssa... she was probably grounded for the rest of eternity."

Before any of us could say another word, a group of boys approached us. They all looked at us - mostly me and Aidan, for a long time. Then, one of them reached out his hand.

"Lauren, Aidan!" He exclaimed. "Dudes, you're alive. How was boarding school?" He asked Aidan.

The boys did a handshake, something I could barely do. Clearly, these two were friends at one point. "Cole! Dude, it's been forever."

"Maybe we'd be closer if you didn't ditch us for that boarding school halfway across the earth." The boy crossed his arms. "You didn't even visit for the holidays. What was that dump called again?"

Aidan bit his lip, probably because he didn't know what his "boarding school" was called. "Um... IEB Academy," He stuttered.

"Sounds like a nightmare," Cole said. Oh, you don't know how bad it really is. He turned to me. "Ms. Lauren Olsen, looking beautiful as always." I blushed hard. "Wasn't there a rumor that you were found dead in the forest?"

"Actually, I was found very much alive, thank you very much," I said with a smile. "If I was, would I be standing here right now?"

"True, true." He stroked his chin. "But you were found, with a bullet wound, were you not? Then, suddenly you move to Paris?"