Chapter Thirteen: ❝ because kidnapping is better than ditching school ❞

"Soooo, in other words, Manny's a complete dumbass."

O'Dallas bobbed her head. "Surprise, surprise. And are you sure you don't know anyone in our grade named 'Hakeem'...?"

"It sounds familiar, I swear, but I'd need a face to put it with the name. And there are probably dozens of guys in our grade named that," Annisa said. The gushing sink water was cut off with a twist of the right handle— soapy bubbles and droplets of water sprinkling across the countertop as she shook her hands like a dog coming in the house after being drenched by the rain.

"True... I tried calling the number back one more time, but 'Hakeem' or whoever he is still didn't pick up," O'Dallas replied. "You don't think he's trying to set me up with someone?"

Annisa scoffed while she shuffled over to snatch some paper towels from the dispenser nearby, water slithering down her forearm and to her elbows. "Manny? Set up? A date? With a boy? Remind me, when was the last time he actually had a real, solid, serious relationship?"

"Like four months ago with Emma before they officially broke up..." O'Dallas said slowly, shuddering at the brief flashback of that rocky and stressful time. "But I don't know if that even counted. I mean it was all back and forth. Back and forth. 'I fucking hate you!' 'I fucking love you!' 'Why did you cheat?' 'Well you were flirting with him!' Ya-da, ya-da, ya-da. Geez..."

"Well, that's my point! Manny went through absolute hell with Emma, and like you know, the wounds are still pretty fresh. I doubt he wants to meddle into anything related to deep 'relationship stuff' at the moment. Especially whatever match-making he's trying to do," Annisa explained, crumpling the rough paper towel into a ball and tossing it in the large trash can. "Maybe he's setting up some stupid prank or something."

O'Dallas shrugged as they began their stroll out of the bathroom, the door swinging open for them as two more girls entered. "I guess, but this is Manny we're talking about here. Don't you remember how he spent this past summer 'coping' with the breakup...? Not to mention how he acted on his birthday last week... If this is a prank, it's even more vital that we find out what's going on."

"Fine, whatever you say," Annisa responded as they walked side-by-side back to their tables. "Ugh, what is up with the drama in the friend group lately? Andrea and Alex are back together and having a kid! Shardae and Terrance had a huge fight last night and suddenly 'made up'. Chase is taking Maddison to Homecoming. Lily kicked Manny for God knows what in the parking lot. And Manny is not only fighting Jared for some stupid ass reason but is trying to play hooky?! God, I need a fucking ibuprofen."

O'Dallas sucked in her breath and nodded in agreement, linking a comforting arm through her best friend's.

After the strange and random call O'Dallas received from Manny, she immediately blabbered most of what she was told not to say to Annisa. Reciting the details of what went down out loud made the encounter seem less unusual for O'Dallas, and helped gradually piece together parts of this puzzle.

Like why, or more importantly how, Manny got out of In-School Suspension, who "Hakeem" was, and why she had to save his number. At first, Annisa told her to delete it, but she hesitated. "If this person knows Manny, and is possibly with him right now, then I need to know who this guy is so I can make sure Manny's safe," she said earlier, before dialing the number again.

It's not that Annisa didn't care so much— while listening to the story, her face was frozen in a frown and mild disbelief for at least three and a half minutes. But, she learned to be more accepting of the madness that was their friends and try her best to embrace whatever hit her. "It is what it fucking is," she started to quote. Plus, Manny's behavior had been very erratic since the horrendous breakup at the end of May.

No one in their friend group knew what stunt he was going to pull next. He became like a girl throughout her menstrual cycle— one minute, as happy as a buzzing bee in a meadow. The next, he was going around stinging everybody in his path. During one party in the summer, he drank more than a twenty-one-year-old at a swanky nightclub, and by morning was throwing up everything his body didn't process yet. He admitted that he probably blacked out and never recalled any of the crazy things he said or idiotic antics he pulled, but then proceeded to rummage through the house that wasn't his in search of some more "liquor to pour in my orange juice."

They'd never seen him that bad, and it was a night that concerned them more than it did amuse them. O'Dallas wanted to call an ambulance while Annisa had a near panic attack. It was like once the news got out about the breakup and how bad it had gotten to him, everybody wanted to be his new "therapists" and hold "interventions" and "meaningful group talks about emotions." But it infuriated him more than it did give him comfort, so everyone quickly backed off and let him deal in a way that wasn't too illegal or led to an untimely death.

The girls were greeted with smiles and "heys" once they arrived, swinging their legs under the table and readjusting themselves onto the bench. O'Dallas handed Annisa back her phone while side-eyeing Maddison, then said, "Question."

The statement was directed towards most of everyone in her general area, so heads immediately turned her way. Chase sighed and wiped the side of his mouth with one of the fresh napkins, being the first to respond.

"Yes?" he asked, intertwining his fingers together while Maddison squinted her eyes at him with a mouthful of noodles.

"Don't answer my question with a question when I didn't even ask the question yet," O'Dallas said. "Besides, this is important. Okay, so do any of y'all know someone named 'Hakeem' that's possibly in our grade...?"

Chase's snarky and fake uninterested look morphed into a deep frown, his posture promptly straightening. "I-I'm sorry, d-did you say 'Hakeem?'"

"No, she said 'dill pickles with onions'," Shardae responded, happily slurping down some non-brand strawberry yogurt she got from the lunch line.

"Does he got a last name?" Terrance asked, who was cuddled up right next to Shardae.

"I wish. Manny failed to provide me with that information when he called all of a sudden," O'Dallas replied. "I tried looking up the name on Instagram, but there's too many to single out."

Makayla blinked rapidly. "Wait, he called you?! I thought he got his phone taken away?"

"He did, but who actually knows at this point," O'Dallas said. She briefly explained what happened in the bathroom ten minutes ago, the group becoming more absorbed and puzzled by the situation. Meanwhile, Chase's frown only continued to stay plastered on his face, his mood turning so sour, the candy would've been jealous.

"Oh my God. And are you absolutely sure he isn't here?!" Maddison asked and lowered her fork down.

Annisa poked her tongue against the inside of her cheek. "As sure as the sky is blue. So any information would be great."

"And it's Hakeem you said?" Chase asked once more, his dark eyebrows raised.

"No, she said 'french fries with a side of chicken nuggets and barbeque sauce'," Shardae retorted. Everyone gave her a strange and bewildered look as the gazes shifted towards her. She shrugged in response. "What? It is lunch. I am hungry. Can a girl not make food-related sarcasm?"

Chase shook his head and dismissed her "sarcastic" remarks. "Look, I know who you're talking about. Hakeem? I had Geometry with him in like, freshman year. And I think P.E. too. He and his other friend Rashaad..."

"Oh shit, that's right! Do y'all remember what happened in ninth grade with Lily cheating?! They were there and the ones from the locker room. And yesterday from the café," Terrance explained and leaned forward on the table.

"The café?" Kit asked, his reddish-brown hair falling in front of his face as he also leaned forward.

"Right, almost forgot," Chase started, "long story short, yesterday after practice had to end early because of Manny, we stopped at Cup o'Joes and saw Hakeem and Rashaad digging around in Manny's wallet..."

"His wallet? Okay, weird," Annisa said. "Obviously you asked them about it and got it back for him, right?"

"Sort of... They said they were his 'friends' and 'knew him' and were invited to the clubhouse so... We sort of wanted to call their bluff and see if they were telling the truth by tomorrow... And if not, we'd just find them and...." Chase's sentence faded as he slowly saw the anger creep up on O'Dallas' face and just listening to how stupid his explanation was.

"So, you let two people who you think are Manny's 'friends' keep his personal property all because you wanted to be proven right in the end to just inflate your own ego?!" O'Dallas asked. The table grew quiet for a moment, as Chase tucked his pinkish lips into his mouth. He never answered, but everyone knew the answer was yes.

Maddison smacked her own forehead. "Chase—"

"Yes, I know, I know. Bad move. But it's okay," he began, "the worst thing those two could do is step on a ladybug. And if Manny is with Hakeem, or maybe even Rashaad too, he's probably got them locked in his trunk or something for stealing his shit. So all's well that ends well."

"Right, because kidnapping is better than ditching school," Makayla said and rolled her dark brown eyes.

"I thought... nevermind," Shardae said, and shoved a spoonful of yogurt into her mouth as Terrance smiled at her.

"It better be," O'Dallas said to Chase. "He's already in this weird and fragile state of mind, which is a lot more than usual. So we have to make sure he doesn't do anything else too stupid."

Maddison nodded after she gently massaged her forehead. "Good point. I would just wait to see if he or this Hakeem guy calls back again and then ask where he is if you can. But you don't want to push it too much. He may be reckless, but not dumb."

"Ugh, what a wonderful idea Maddie," Chase complimented, and caressed her hand with his thumb. "A rational, well-said, and wonderful idea from a wonderful human being."

"Meh-meh-meh-meh-meh, meh-meh-meh, from a wonderful human being," O'Dallas mocked, twisting off the cap of her water bottle and taking a long gulp afterward.

"Meh-meh-meh-meh-meh-meh, meh-meh-meh, from a wonderful human being," Chase mimicked back.

O'Dallas narrowed her eyes and set her water bottle back down with a loud plastic smack. "Meh-meh-meh-meh, you're not funny."

"Meh-meh-meh-meh, you're not funny," he spat back.

"Meh-meh-meh-meh, meh-meh-meh, you're an idiot and asshole."

"Meh-meh-meh-meh, meh-meh-meh-meh, you're an idiot and an asshole—"

"Oh my God, I have an idea!" Maddison suddenly exclaimed, mainly to get them to stop the bickering. "Me and my other friend, Diana, are going to the mall right after school to shop for shoes and new makeup for Homecoming. Sooo, do any of you guys wanna come? Annisa? Makayla? Shardae? O'Dallas?"

Makayla squirmed in her seat next to her boyfriend, Cole. "Hmm, I don't know if I can. Got a meeting with Rho Kappa after school and it usually runs pretty long. But maybe another time."

Shardae sucked her teeth. "Oooh, so tempting. But, let me think of an excuse and I'll let you know tomorrow."

"But it... never mind," Annisa said. She also didn't want to say no since Makayla and Shardae quickly jumped ship, and the rest of the other girls in the friend group were spread out down the lengthy lunch table; too far and too engrossed in other conversations to ask. What would be the harm in trying on some new shoes anyway? she thought. "I could... go. Don't have any club meetings after school, so it sounds good enough for me. Ally?"

O'Dallas sighed, knowing she couldn't get out of this one. "Sure, a great way to spend my afternoon. But we ride in separate cars."

"Awesome! Can't wait," Maddison squealed, which made Chase smile widely as well.

But O'Dallas couldn't tell if it was because his date and friends were going to be spending some ninety minutes together, or if it's because he got the last word. She was thinking it was most likely the latter.

Fifty-one minutes. That's how long O'Dallas and Annisa have been holding their tongues.

See, once lunch ended at noon, their tables were a lot messier than when they first sat down. Most people cleaned up after themselves, while others decided to make the custodians' lives harder. Without naming all the names, one of the perpetrators had a five-letter name and hair that was dyed black.

Everyone eventually said their goodbyes with quick hugs or slick handshakes before splitting off into various directions for the last three periods of the day. Annisa went off to her Algebra 2 Honors class, and then met back up with O'Dallas to walk to their English 3 Honors class for sixth period. Another forty-five minutes ticked by revisiting descriptive, narrative, argumentative, and expository essays before the seventh and final period came around the corner. O'Dallas went to AP Biology while Annisa headed into Biomedical Interventions.

The soft chime of the bell prompted everyone to exit the school in the same sporadic groups as it had yesterday and all the days before. Annisa and O'Dallas met up again in the student parking lot by O'Dallas' car. A 2018 Honda Accord in a rich obsidian blue. The girls loved to alternate who would drive what day and whose car to take, that Thursday being O'Dallas' turn.

They saw Maddison appear beside them a few minutes later with her friend Diana right behind, exchanged phone numbers just in case of an emergency (which O'Dallas insisted it must only be used for), and started their drive to the mall. The Millenia, as it was named, was only twenty-five minutes away from the school. Maybe thirty-five if you got caught in the midday traffic.

Both girls texted their parents where they were going and why they were going to be home a little later before the drive started, knowing this wasn't just an average grocery store run. The Millenia was huge and well-known for its variety of delicious, fattening food courts. They were also still in the season of back-to-school deals, cheaper starting prices for Halloween costumes, tacky Thanksgiving decorations going on sale, and were subtly shoving Christmas advertisements in people's faces.

Not to mention a lot of school dances were coming up, so in short— it was busy.

Luckily the girls found parking by each other, with O'Dallas' Honda next to Maddison's sleek, Mercedes-Benz convertible of the latest model; its color like that of a newly made quarter.

Fast forward through three different dress shops, two expensive shoe stores, sampling out everything they could in Sephora, four churros from the devilishly good food court, and fifty-one minutes later, neither O'Dallas nor Annisa have said anything shady, sarcastic, or accusatory towards Maddison.

At least not yet. They still planned to be in her presence for another thirty minutes or so.

They'd now gone through the more pricey, higher quality stores strolling around dresses and trying on shoes they couldn't afford. But after the more imperative shopping was over, they headed into Macy's for O'Dallas and Annisa to try on dresses in their price range. Their parents only gave them both so much money to frivolously spend, and even though they didn't have Homecoming dates, it still didn't hurt to try on a few party dresses.

Annisa found a form-fitting, mini cocktail dress that was on sale, and slipped into it with the help of Diana.

For someone that came from Maddison's group of friends, she was really sweet towards Annisa and O'Dallas. She had a beautiful heart-shaped face with big, light brown eyes that would sparkle wherever she smiled and bouncy light brown curls that fell past her shoulders in neat ringlets. Her skin was pale ivory, dotted here and there were some shrinking zits and one beauty mark near her nose; her body plump and round, with thick arms, a small, protruding belly, and chunky thighs.

Once Diana finished helping Annisa zip up, she stood on the carpeted platform in front of a row of long mirrors to see how it looked.

"Well... what do you think Ally?" Annisa asked after turning multiple times.

O'Dallas tilted her head. "Very sexy. But I also think your mom would put a chastity belt on you if she saw you leaving the house like that."

"Good point. But can't a girl dream?" Annisa asked, smoothing down the velvety red fabric.

"I think you look amazing. And plenty of girls have worn more revealing at Prom anyways," Diana said with a bright smile. "Just add some strappy heels, a fake ID and you're all set."

"Ugh see, someone who gets me," Annisa said as O'Dallas stood up from the waiting chair. "And if anything this could be a really nice skirt. Or shirt, whichever."

O'Dallas strolled over and stood on the platform beside her. "Whatever you say Betty Boop, but try not to get too attached. Just wait until Maddison comes back with the other dresses."

Annisa shrugged and smiled in glee as she continued to check herself out in all the mirrors. Her waist-length, dark brown hair was in a half-up, half-down style for the day, which she flipped some of the tresses over the spaghetti straps on her shoulders. She probably did this for all of seven seconds until her cell phone buzzed, and Diana went to go grab it for her.

She didn't really look at the number when Diana passed it to her, just tapping the green button and tucking the phone under her ear.

"Hello, Annisa speaking," she said, still looking at herself in the mirror while O'Dallas lightly chuckled.

"Oh my God, hiii, Manny speaking!"

Annisa nearly tripped and fell off the platform once she heard Manny's voice over the phone. Her eyes grew wide and she turned back and forth between Diana and O'Dallas, who both read her astonished expression. "Um... I'm sorry, what?"

She could practically see him rolling his eyes. "Wow Nini, I haven't seen you in like, twenty-four hours, and you already forgot what I sound like? Pathetic."

Annisa mouthed "It's Manny" to both confused girls and then placed the phone on speaker before answering. "Manny, what the actual fuck?! Where the hell—"

"Hey, hey, hey, watch the language! I don't appreciate being cussed out at the moment," Manny interrupted, O'Dallas also wide-eyed while Diana frowned. They caught her up on the latest drama that happened, but she was just as confused as them. "But before he notices, I need you to do me a really quick favor."

"Not until you tell me what's going on! And who is 'he'? Hakeem?! Because Ally told me what happened today," she replied sternly. There was brief muffling and curses heard in the background before he responded.

"Fine... Are you alone?" he asked.

O'Dallas and Diana both nodded their heads.

"Yes, but not for too long... now spill." Annisa crossed her arms over her chest, the phone firmly gripped in her right hand.

There was a long pause as what sounded like small wheels rolling on concrete and faint shouting in the background persisted until he spoke into the phone again. "Okay, so I really wanted this whole thing to be a surprise for you and Ally. But I guess it's time to come clean..."

"Yes... continue," Annisa pressed, tapping her foot against the floor.

"Well, yesterday after I got in trouble, I went to go to see... her," he started, knowing the girls knew he meant Emma, his ex, which made their eyebrows raise. "But things got really, really bad and then..."

"And then," Annisa pushed again. "Say it already! What happened?!"

"Don't rush me, woman, I'm trying to get there," he spat. "After that visit with Emma, which is a whole other situation in itself, then I..."

Annisa, O'Dallas, and Diana simultaneously groaned. "Then you what?!"

"Then... After that I... So we c-came to the... But now we're..." Manny's line was breaking up, each sentence becoming more static and broken.

"Hello?! Manny! Okay, just forget the explanation and tell me where you are and who you're with so we can come to pick you up," Annisa pleaded, her palms becoming clammy.

"I-I-I'm using Rashaad's phone... H-H-His name is R-Rashaad... Save the number... We are at..." he managed to pump out a few more words, but it was becoming faint.

"Yes, okay, goddamn it just say it!" Annisa exclaimed.

"I'm at... I'm at..."

"For the love of God, just say it," Diana demanded, becoming just as anxious as Annisa and O'Dallas.

"The..."

"Yes," all three girls said.

"Th-The..."

"Yess?"

"Th-Th-The..."

"Yes!?"

"The s—" The phone cut off just before he got the sentence out, making all three of them moan in aggravation. They got many strange looks from other customers passing by in the spacious fitting area, but they hardly noticed.

O'Dallas let curses roll off her tongue while Annisa stomped down the platform and tossed her phone back on top of her bags, just as Maddison came shuffling her way back past the other ladies. She had multiple different colored dresses in her hand and gave a frowning Diana a cheeky smile, but it quickly diminished.

"Hey guys," Maddison greeted in a concerned tone. "What'd I miss?"

Since I haven't done a dedication in a while, this chapter goes out to @mirnasekc for her amazing, sweet, and hilarious comments! Your support means the world and I am truly so, so grateful. So guys please, go n give this girl a follow and show her some love.

Next chapter starts off exactly where we left the boys in Chapter Nine, and continues all the way until about Chapter Twenty. Meaning you'll get to see where Manny actually is along with Hakeem and Rashaad, lol.

And Happy Ten Year Anniversary to One Direction and all the Directioners. Who was your favorite (s) members? I was never a hardcore 1D stan myself, but I liked a lot of their hits and watched they come up and everything. So I hoped y'all enjoyed the song for this chapter!

Onto the next one.

~ Robin ~