Where is Louise Bauman? + Original, Book 1 ✔

8

"You get in life,
what you have the courage to ask for."

As soon as class ended, Charlie waited until she had the chance to talk to Tyler and when the moment was there, she seized it. "Tyler, hey Tyler!" She shouted, catching the boy's attention. Of course, this gathered other people's attention, and as soon as it did they either ended up looking away or trying to listen in. Charlie just rolled her eyes as she pulled Tyler to the side once he'd waited for her.

"Hey, Charlie." He greeted her, the tiniest smile on his face. He's always been nice to the girl, enjoying her company. She was one of the few people he actually liked to talk to, which was rare for the boy as he disliked most people, considering most people annoyed him. Charlie wasn't one of those people, and at this moment Charlie seemed to be grateful since it made things so much easier since she needed to talk to him about something so much more complicated than school.

"Think I could talk to you real quick?" She questioned, not bothering to glance at the people who were staring at the two.

"Sure, how long though? My next class is all the way on the other side of the building and we only have five minutes to get there." Tyler told her, and Charlie smiled.

"We have our first two blocks together, remember?" She asked, "We can just walk together while we talk, and continue talking in there if that's okay?"

"Yeah, sure. Is it going to take that long?" He asked, his dark brows furrowing together.

"I don't know, maybe. Depending on how you react, if you're nice about it, maybe." She shrugged.

"What's going on? Is everything okay?" He questioned, beginning to feel concerned for the girl.

"I just- it's about," Charlie stopped, glancing around the swarmed hallway before back at Tyler. "It's about Louise Bauman."

Tyler's eyes widened for a second before he looked down at his feet in front of him. "Oh. Right." He was quiet for a moment, "You want to talk to me about Louise."

"Yeah, just if you want to, I guess. I'm just curious is all." Charlie sighed, trying not to pry too much.

"Why, though?" Tyler asked, looking back up at her. "You guys weren't friends, were you?"

"Well, no not exactly. But like, isn't it weird to you?" She asked, "Like, that everyone's giving up so easily? Doesn't that make you wonder why they just gave up without a question and whatever?"

"Yeah. I was kind of wondering about that." He admitted, "But what can we do?"

"I want to do something," Charlie admitted, "I know that I wasn't really friends with her, but I want to try and figure out what happened to her. Do you think- do you think you could help me?"

Charlie's intentions weren't originally to ask him for help, but the way he'd responded when she immediately wanted to talk to him changed her mind on what to say. She'd needed the help anyway, and Tyler was someone who was genuinely Louise's friend.

Tyler's eyes snapped to hers, and for a second it looked as if he was about to cry, but after a moment he straightened himself up. "How are we going to do that?" He asked, "She's- was my friend. We don't know anything. How are two teenagers who know nothing about this type of stuff going to figure out what happened to a girl who's been missing for days?"

"Does this mean you're in?" Charlie asked, beginning to smile.

"Not exactly, it's just- let's say I did agree, how would that work?" Tyler asked, "I'm just curious, is all."