Without Me

Missing

Shou's explanation seemed to be more bizarre from each word that left his lips but Jonathan tried to take it all in and grasp the situation but it was like trying to hold air. Something was clearly missing but neither boys knew exactly what it was.

"Where did you get all these information?" Jonathan asked after Shou had finished his talking. The boy seemed surprised Jonathan even asked.

"Uh... I might have sneaked into the vice principal's office the other night and earlier just now which was why I was on the run," he replied with a slight shrug. Jonathan was baffled by how bold Shou was. So that was why he said he would be late. Sneaking into the office while nobody was there, huh. Sounds easier said than done when Jonathan thought about it.

"You mean you're skipping class?" He asked and the other just nodded nonchalantly.

"Look. As much as you don't want to get into trouble, I don't want everyone in this school to be at a risk because of something the school has to hide. We are all accomplices or victims here however I look at it," Shou tried to reason out with Jonathan who just nodded. He doubted the school could actually put the blame on students but he wasn't too sure if the police would listen to them compared to the adults. He sighed and rubbed his neck. This was definitely getting more dangerous as he dwelled in it more but he supposed as long as it was just Shou and him, it shouldn't get too out of hand. He would just have to do his best in convincing Shou that this wasn't a great idea.

"Yeah. I guess you're right in some ways. So, what's your next step?" Jonathan asked but before Shou could reply, the bell rang. Shou quickly got up and helped Jonathan up as well.

"Finding any news on the school for the past few years," he replied. "The library should have something since we can't get any newspaper from outside. Hopefully. It'll be highly suspicious if they just tossed all the news away."

"Sounds like a plan but I need to head back to class. Don't do anything too stupid, okay, Shou? I don't want my first roommate to suddenly go missing," Jonathan said with a sigh.

"That's it!" Shou suddenly exclaimed, causing Jonathan to jump.

"What's it?"

"Missing people. I need to check if there were any missing people from this school too. Great... uh.. thinking? Yeah. You go on ahead to class. Meet you back in our room tonight."

Jonathan nodded, glad he was of some help? He wasn't sure but as long as it didn't screw Shou over, he was fine with it. He walked to class, realising he was going to have to explain quite a bit to Chuck tomorrow. Hopefully the jolly boy won't become difficult to handle either. He really didn't want to lose his first friend here despite himself behaving this way. It was difficult for him as well, having to hide secrets and such.

He headed back to class and went through it without much thoughts bothering him apart from the few questions that kept popping back into his mind. What is the school hiding and what do they have to do with? He knew answers were going to be tough to find and definitely dangerous but his curiosity was piqued again just like when he had that conversation with Shou back then.

He tried to push the topic away for now but his mind had different ideas and started to think of the dinner meeting he had with Mark. He gulped a little, hoping things would be better this time. If being kissed wasn't any better. He internally facepalmed and calmed himself down.

One thing at a time, Jonathan.

After classes were all over, he headed back to his dorm. Shou wasn't there but he could tell the other might still be searching for clues and such. He put his bag aside before heading towards the back of the school, making sure nobody spotted him since he didn't want any trouble. He thanked God when he didn't see Viktor and Ares either on the way to the spot that Mark had brought him to previously. The fence, the forest and lastly, the lake. He was quite surprised he remembered the way but then again, it was mostly just a straight path.

He decided to take a quick look around since Mark hadn't arrived yet. The lake was pretty clear and he could spot some fishes that swam close to the surface. Little ripples bubbled to the calm surface of the lake. He was tempted to try to catch something but decided against it. There were small buds growing around as well and he silently apologised for sitting and stepping on them even though it was really hard to avoid doing so.

His mini adventure came to a stop when he heard footsteps. He turned to see Mark appearing from all the trees. A small smile laid itself on his lips as their eyes locked together, sending a chill down Jonathan's spine.

Focus.

"Hey. Didn't think you'll be this early," Mark said and took a seat beside Jonathan who settled back onto the grass as well.

"Yeah. Class ended early and I thought I'll just head on over and... you know, look around. Since I've never been here before," he replied. Mark nodded and handed him the container.

"Dinner."

"Thank you." Jonathan took it and opened it, smelling both food and nature mixing together. Mark handed him utensils as well before they both started to eat.

There was a mutual silence apart from the chewing and wind. Jonathan didn't really mind it since it had mostly been that way when he was back at home. In fact, he liked the silence better at times. He glanced over at Mark and smiled a little. It was hard to put it in words, the way he felt right now but he could tell he was happy with how things were going between him and Mark. A steady friendship would definitely go a long way.