Ill Appearances

Chapter 6: Andy

"Everyone, please calm down!" I yelled to the crowd of people accumulating in the school's back parking lot.

Carmen tugged on my arm anxiously. "Please hurry up," she muttered. "I'm scared."

"Relax," I whispered. "I'll be done soon."

Carmen frowned. "Alright..."

I glanced down at the unconscious body at my feet. Taking a deep breath, I continued. "I know things look bad right now, but if anyone saw who that guy was please let me know!"

Carmen swallowed nervously. "I called Mara a bit ago, so she should be here soon."

I nodded. "Good."

Just then, Mara ran up to us. She stared in horror at the boy passed out in front of us. "What happened?!" she exclaimed.

"We were about to head to Castar's," Carmen explained. "When we came out to Andy's car, there were two guys fighting. Andy went to take a closer look since there was crowd forming, and that's when the one guy used a forcefield to block his," she pointed to the boy on the ground, "attack."

"He passed out in shock," I added.

Mara scowled. "You make sure the crowd disperses. I need to make a call."

Carmen's worried eyes met mine as Mara walked away. "Are you alright?"

I frowned. "She knows something that we don't," I mumbled. "I can...I can feel it. Everything she just did gave off a suspicious vibe."

Carmen nodded thoughtfully. "Now that you mention it...she did seem a bit off."

My eyes once again shifted to the guy at my feet.

He was beginning to stir.

I knelt to his level. "Are you okay?" I asked.

He groaned. "What happened?"

"You passed out," Carmen said.

His eyes widened.    

I clenched my fists as I watched him eye Carmen up.

She shifted uncomfortably.

The guy smiled. "I'm Steven, by the way," he said, sticking his hand out for Carmen to shake.

I rolled my eyes.

Carmen hesitantly took his hand.

"In any case," I began, "I'm glad you're alright."

Steven continued to ignore me and stood. He smiled at Carmen again. "You and I should hang out sometime."

Carmen opened her mouth to speak, but she yelped instead.

I'd grabbed onto her waist and pulled her to my side. "Let's go, Carmen," I growled.

She didn't object as we made our way to my car. She let out a relieved sigh when we'd successfully shook off Steven.

I let her go. "Sorry about that..."

She shook her head. "Don't apologize," she said. "I don't know how to get out of those kinds of situations..." she laughed lightly. "Since it's never happened to me before."

I snorted. "That's hard to believe."

Carmen blushed. "Why do you say that?"

I glanced away from her. "Well, I mean...why not? It's not like...it's not like you're bad looking."

Before our embarrassing conversation could continue, Mara appeared at Carmen's side.

"Sorry about that," she apologized. "Everyone's cleared out so...let's go to Castar's."