Missing ↝ ÉLITE ²

FOURTEEN

CHAPTER FOURTEEN
Missing

Ander

ANDER WOKE UP the next morning with a headache– nothing to do with how much he drank, but more to do with last night's events and the fact he had only gotten a few hours of asleep. He turned to see Omar already awake, ready to go downstairs without a word. Things have been weird between them for a while and it all started when Polo revealed a secret. 

He reached out for his phone on the nightstand and checked his messages, seeing that Arlo hadn't responded to any of them. He then noticed that some of his texts hadn't been delivered and he sighed, thinking she probably turned her phone off to avoid him.

Immense guilt spread through him. Not only had he lost Arlo, he looked Guzmán straight in the eyes and lied as he asked him if Polo killed his sister. Swinging his legs off the bed, Ander rubbed his face before he stood up and dressed for school.

He jogged downstairs to see Omar eating his breakfast and his mom sitting by the counter. She looked up at him and smiled. "Come on. Eat something. We only have ten minutes. You woke up late today. And I won't have you miss that exam."

Ander grabbed a banana. "I'm ready. We can go."

After the car ride to school, Ander walked into the building to see Guzmán and he found that he couldn't look his friend in the eyes. He wondered if Arlo had told him what they had discussed last night, but with the smile Guzmán flashed at him, he guessed he hadn't. Ander managed a weak smile before he entered the classroom and plopped down in his chair at the back.

It didn't take him long to realise Arlo wasn't sat next to him. His eyebrows pinched together. The girl was never usually late and for an exam, she'd be annoyingly early. His eyes scoured the room to see most of his classmates and friends except for Arlo and Samuel.

His gut twisted. Something didn't feel right. He took out his phone and started to message the girl again, but the messages weren't going through. Assuming, she had turned off her WiFi, he called her. The line didn't even ring as a robotic voice claimed the number was unavailable and go leave a voicemail. "Fuck."

Their teacher then walked in, quieting the class before they started their exam.

"Samuel's missing." Carla announced.

"So is Arlo." Ander piped up before he continued calling the girl, being sent to voicemail once again. "Shit." He grumbled, his leg starting to bounce in aggravation as the memory of the previous night replayed in his head: Carla's father glaring at Samuel and Arlo. He turned to Guzmán. "Hey, have you heard from Lo since last night? She's not answering her phone."

Guzmán shook his head, his eyebrows pinching together in confusion. "No."

"And how do you know if they're late or sick?" The teacher asked.

"Samuel is never late because if the pizza arrives cold, he doesn't get paid." Guzmán remarked. "And Arlo's never late either. She's probably sick. She wasn't looking so well last night at the party."

Ander licked his lips as he looked at Guzmán who took out his phone, presumably trying to get in contact with Arlo too. With how well Guzmán knew her, he must have known something wasn't right either.

The exam started and he could barely concentrate on the answers in front of him as his mind was too busy whirling with thoughts of his best friend. He glanced at the empty space next to him and huffed, putting his head on his desk.

After the exam, Ander sat with Guzmán on the bench in the hallway, tapping his foot on the ground. He glanced up to see a spot of yellow in a sea of red. His eyebrows pinching together, he stood up to see it was Izzy looking worried.