And this was how days turned to weeks without Kristen. Today makes it exactly two weeks since she last showed up in school. Her presence meant a lot to us, and now that she wasn't here, we felt empty.

Then she came in on Tuesday. One minute she was there and another she wasn't. She'd sometimes come in three days in a week, and the other days she didn't. We rarely saw her and she disappeared before we got a chance to talk to her. She was like a human breeze.

We hated that we didn't have a number to call or an address. We were worried out of our minds. And when we finally got miss Rhoda to ask the records department for Kristen's details, the slot for address on Kristen's record was empty. And the number we got was no longer in use.

She never missed school for anything in the world. It just didn't make sense that she was acting nothing like herself.

"Jake"

Ray came up to me, leaning against my locker. He looked sick, his hair less arranged than usual, a strand falling down his face "She's being off lately....and I figured she'd be more closer to you than anyone else. Do you know what's going on with kristen?"

I sighed, shaking my head "I don't know man. I haven't gotten a chance to speak to her"

He nodded his head down, clenching his head in frustration. "If you do get to talk to her, please let me know"

I was loosing my mind, worried sick about her, but this guy might just suffer a heart attack at this rate.

"Sure man" I promised, patting his shoulder. I hung my bag over one shoulder, making my way to the main hall.

This hide and seek game sucked and she was damn good at hiding.

We had 'the deadliest test of the semester' in 12 minutes. She just had to show up.

Each time anyone walked into the hall, Bella, Laura and I would peer anxiously for any sign of Kristen. I also noticed Ray's troubled eyes wishing for her to walk through that door, but it was never her that walked in.

"I don't think she's going to come Jake" Laura said, with a look of disappointment latched on her and Bella's face.

"She'll come" I mumbled, holding on to the little hope I had left. Now only 6 minutes were left.

"I thought you were dead or something" I heard Rebecca blurt, and her friends cackle in a shrill voice from the front row.

Our heads snapped to the door, and then we saw Kristen. A wide smile of relief formed on our lips, and Ray grinned happily, his eyes keeping a tab on her as she quietly strut past them to her seat. 

Our invigilator walked in shortly, and as she started giving out the papers the hall fell as silent as a sanctuary. Kristen was my seat partner while Laura sat with Ray, and Bell with Rebecca.

"You have exactly an hour to round up" she informed us, dropping a sheet infront of Kristen before bending to her ear level "Garcia, it seems you don't study anymore because you're overly confident that you'll remain on top no matter what. Your grades keep dropping. If this goes on your semester results will be seriously affected"

Her grades are dropping?

It was a faint whisper, but I heard it anyway.

Kristen's vain eyes glowered at Ms. Renee. She gave her a bland look, like she didn't care about what she'd just said.

The test ended awfully bearably, but what really bothered me was that Kristen was acting odd the whole time. She'd stare at her papers, zoning out, then she'd wiggle her pen before putting down her answer. She seemed bothered about something other than the test.

By the time we managed to force our way through the crowd blocking the entrance of the hall, she'd disappeared. Again.

       ~•••~•••~
"Why did you have to go and lose your phone?" I scolded as we made a turn to the building on our left.

"Oh, I'm sorry" Laura air quoted, sarcasm coated in her voice "I'll ask your permission the next time I feel like willfully losing my phone"

Bella giggled, shaking her head at us.

"This isn't the time for sarcasm" I said, pushing open the door of the last place we'd been; the gym. The gym was empty because most people had left school already.

As we motioned in, we were welcomed by the sound of an irregular whimpering from behind the leg curl machine; the kind you hear in a haunted mansion in horror movies.

We saw a girl dressed in a black jean jacket, baggy jeans and black trainers, seated on the floor with her knees drawn to her chest. Her head was buried on her knees, with her long hair falling over her face.

"Shhhh" Bella whisper-shouted, holding a finger over her mouth. 
She hid behind me, clutching my shirt while Laura tugged at my arm "Who's there?"

"Is it a ghost?" Laura fake-gasped, biting her nails "A virgin ghost?"

"Oh don't be dramatic" I teased, grabbing their hands "Ghosts don't come out in broad daylight. Come on"

As we took quiet, slow paces closer to her, her whimpering dimuinited, but she didn't seem to have noticed our presence yet.

Wait, those shoes were familiar. Could it be....?

"Kristen?!" We echoed in unison, the astonishment evident on our faces.

She lifted her head to face us, her reddish eyes piercing ours. We knelt to her level, Laura and Bella taking her hand.

"What's wrong Kristen?" I asked, holding her shoulders "Why are you crying?" My agitated eyes searched hers for a clue; Anything, but Kristen was impossible to read. She had a strong defensive wall that always acted as a barricade to what was really in her heart.

"Did someone hurt you?" Laura questioned, holding her gaze.

She said nothing. Her tears just kept dripping and dripping like rain clouds.

"Please say something" Laura urged "You're scaring me"

"Did Rebecca do this to you?" Bella asked, fuming "Because if she did I swear I'll make her...."

That was as far as Bella could say before she wrapped her arms around us, clasping all three of us in a bear hug. We threw our mouths open, glinting each other shocked, confused gazes.

Her wailing filled the gym as she groaned. She panted heavily, clutching her chest. We snuggled her tightly, rubbing her back soothingly.

Laura and Bella's tears came rolling down. They pulled her hand away from her chest, holding it firmly, and she just surrendered.

I could feel my heart ripping quickly. We didn't know what this was about....but her tears made our hearts ache.

We stayed like that for a while, letting her splurge it all out.

When she'd finally let it all out,  and quieted down, she pulled away from us.

"Do you feel better?" Bella asked, caressing her hair gently.

"I'm...," she sniffled, wiping her eyes with her jacket "I'm sorry"

"You have nothing to be sorry about Kristen" I answered, slowly wiping the trail her tears had marked on her face with my hands.

"We're worried about you" Laura added softly "You can tell us what's bothering you. We're not your enemies, Kristen"

Her eyes showed that she wanted to say something, perhaps, maybe tell us what's got her so messed up, but then she said calmly,

"It's nothing for you to concern yourselves with. I'll look out for myself like I've being doing all this time"

That wasn't what she intended to say. The eyes never lies.

Bella reached for her face, rubbing it lovingly "We'll never get tired of reminding you that we'll always be here for you. You mean more to us than you realize, and I hope that someday you can trust us, and make a place for us in your heart"

We're ready to wait, even if it takes a lifetime.

💞💞💞💞
So, Ray gets a Pov in the next chapter. Who's excited? 😁
Stay tuned! Something's about to go down.