Symbiotic

Chapter Six

When Eve was next aware of her surroundings, she was lying in an unfamiliar bed in an unfamiliar room. The surface underneath her seemed to be made of plastic, covered over with a thin layer of cloth, and the blanket that covered her was scratchy. She was, on the whole, quite uncomfortable.

A voice. “Eve, sweetie. You’re awake.”

A woman appeared in her field of view, and she realised that it was the school nurse. She couldn’t remember her name right now. As she moved to sit up, the nurse placed a gentle hand on her chest.

“Just relax, Eve. I’m afraid you’ve had quite the shock.”

“What… happened?” Because something had definitely happened – if the fact that she was in the nurse’s office wasn’t proof enough, the sick feeling in her gut was.

“You’ve had a fainting spell, dear.”

“A fainting spell?”

“You passed out in the middle of lunch,” the nurse clarified. “Now I have called your parents, but your father won’t be here for a little while. So in the meantime, just stay here and try to relax.” She stepped towards the door. “There’s someone here to see you, if you’re up to it – only if you’re up to it. She’s been waiting for you to wake up.”

“Uh, ok. Send her in, I guess.”

The nurse nodded, and spoke to someone outside the door. A few seconds later, Roxie stepped into the room.

“Eve! Oh, thank god you’re ok.” She ran to the bed, and took a seat in the plastic chair that sat next to the bed.

“I feel fine, actually. Wanna clue me in on what happened?”

“I had just told you the news, and you seemed like you were going into shock, and then you collapsed. Just fell to the ground. Chase caught you, and stopped you from hitting your head. Some other kid went to get the nurse. I was sent with you to explain what had happened, and she let me stay.”

“Chase stopped me from cracking my skull open, huh? Thank him for me.”

“I will. Profusely.”

Then it hit her. ‘The news’. The reason she had passed out in the first place. Roxie’s expression turned worried in an instant as Eve’s breathing sped up slightly and her knuckles turned white.

“Are you ok? Please don’t pass out again, that was scary enough the first time.”

“Don’t worry, I won’t.” She was sure of that much, at least. But her chest was still so tight she was finding it hard to breathe, and her head felt like helium had been pumped into it, and her eyes felt like she had just held a red hot poker to them.

Before she even knew what was happening, she was sobbing. Roxie took her hand and held it in her lap.

“Oh Eve, I’m so sorry.”

“She- She can’t be missing! Not her, please not her! God, why? How can this happen?”

By the time her parents arrived, her heartbroken sobs had faded into dry gasps and she was resting more fully in Roxie’s lap. The taller girl was silently holding her, having no words of comfort to offer. Her parents, unsure of what to do, waited for a long time before they finally pried their daughter out of Roxie’s arms and took her home. They talked with her about the situation as best they could, telling her that the police were already investigating and that they would most certainly find her. That she had probably just run away, as statistically that was the case for most teenage missing persons cases. That most missing people were found within days, and there was no cause for concern just yet.

It didn’t help. As much as the statistics said otherwise, Eve knew in her heart that this wasn’t a simple runaway. When her parents eventually left her alone in her room, she lay awake for hours staring at the ceiling and promising Vanessa that no matter what it took, she was going to find her.

The next day, thankfully, was a Saturday. Eve started her morning with no intention whatsoever of leaving her house. She was going to stay home, and paint, and try to get some of her feelings out on paper before they faded. Once they did, she was going to figure out how she would find her friend.

Then she got a text from Roxie, asking to meet at ‘home base’. She was out the door within minutes, despite the protests of her frantic parents.

When she reached the clearing, she found Roxie already sitting on the bench. Noticing Eve’s arrival, she offered a sympathetic smile and a seat next to her.

“How was your night?”

“Terrible,” Eve moaned as she sat down. “Thanks for asking.”

“So, I guess it goes without saying that this is serious now.”

“I’m finding her.”

“And I want to help you.”

“Really?”

“Of course. Why wouldn’t I?”

Eve leaned into Roxie, closing her eyes. “Thanks.”

They sat together for a time, soaking in each other’s presence. By the time Eve sat up again, she felt lighter.

“We have to find out more about Latimer. Where he lives, what his religious beliefs are… We need to know whether this is actually worth taking to the police. We’re running out of time.”

“How are we going to do that?”

“Well I can find out his religion by starting a conversation with him next time I see him. He seems to like me, so it shouldn’t be hard.”

Roxie shuddered. “You’re a braver woman than I, Eve. But I think I can get his address.”

“How?”

“Well, he’s a ‘cool’ teacher. And usually for every teacher like that, there’s at least one student who knows where they live. Not sure if you’ve noticed, but I have some pretty good connections at school. I’m pretty sure that if Latimer has that student, I’ll be able to find them.”

“Unless it was Blair,” Eve pointed out. Roxie shrugged.

“We will cross that bridge when we get to it.” Her phone buzzed, and she pulled it out. When she read the message, her stomach dropped from under her.

“Oh crap, I gotta go.”

“Uh, why? We haven’t even been here all that long.”

“I totally forgot. I was supposed to meet Chase at the movies.”

“Ooh, why?”

“Its…” She stopped, looking embarrassed. Eve waggled her eyebrows at her.

“It’s what, Roxie?”

“It’s kind of a date,” she admitted. “Look, don’t tell anyone.”

“Only friend just got abducted. Who am I going to tell?”

“Ouch. Sorry.”

“It’s fine. Go, ok? We can’t do much else right now anyway. We’ll get the details we need, and then we’ll get back to work.”

“Are you sure? I hate to leave you alone right now-“

“Go, Rox. Don’t keep your date waiting.” The amused expression on Eve’s face didn’t quite match the guarded way her arms and legs were both crossed, and her shoulders were slightly hunched. But Roxie decided out of necessity to let it go for the time being. She thanked Eve profusely for understanding and left, hoping it wouldn’t be too difficult to explain her tardiness to Chase.

Eve had initially been planning on going straight home once Roxie left. But when the time actually came, she found that she remained at the park for a long time.

Considering how afraid she had been that Chase would be angry at her, Roxie wasn’t sure how to feel when she realised that Chase was also late. Should she be relieved? Annoyed that she had rushed so much for nothing? She honestly had no idea.

She paced back and forth in the carpeted lobby amongst the smell of popcorn and the loud blare of the cinema arcade. Every so often, she would catch herself glancing over her shoulder. For what, she didn’t know. Just as she was making the decision that she easily could have spent an extra half hour with Eve, Chase came sprinting towards her. He stopped, coughing and wheezing with a red face while she looked on.

“I’m- so-sorry… I forgot…”

“You’re one lucky man, Chase.”

“I… know… I don’t deserve you…”

“No,” she giggled as she took his hand and pulled him towards her, “you’re lucky because I actually forgot too.”

“No way.”

“Bro, I haven’t been waiting all that long. You’re in the clear.”

His face split open into one of the widest grins she had ever seen. “Oh my god! I thought you’d been here forever, I felt so bad!”

“So did I! I was so sure you were going to be mad at me. Can’t tell you how I felt when you weren’t even here.”

“We’re both idiots. Perfect for each other, am I right?”

She felt heat rising to her face, as he leaned in close to her. He whispered in her ear.

“Well I guess we’ll have to catch the next screening, won’t we?”

“I mean, we missed this one.” Pulling her hand away, she noted the way his face fell slightly at the lost contact.

He put his hands in his pockets and bounced on the balls of his feet. “So what did you get up to today? Why were you late?”

She kept her face as relaxed as she could. She knew she was being silly, that she should just tell him, but she couldn’t make the words pass her lips.

“Spending time with Eve Verbeck?”

She froze, stunned. “How-“

“She did mention that you’d been hanging out,” Chase clarified. Roxie immediately remembered what he was referring to.

“Oh yeah. Guess I forgot.”

“Well she did pass out. Can’t really blame you for forgetting the totally mundane conversation that happened before that.”

“I guess. Yeah, we’ve been working on a project together. We’re not really hanging out as friends or anything.”

“Cool, what class?” s**t. Did they even have a class together that Chase wasn’t in? She decided to take a leap of faith and just pick a class she knew Chase didn’t take.

“Biology.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, it’s so dumb. I thought we were too old for group projects by now. But you know, Eve’s not that bad to work with.”

He snorted. “Wait, is that affection I hear? For the art nerd?”

“Hard not to feel something for the girl whose best friend just went missing, Chase,” she reminded him. Hooking her arm around his, she led him towards the arcade.

“Anyway, we have some time to kill before the next screening. Come on, bet you ten bucks I can beat you at Star Destroyers.”

“Oh you are on.”

Monday was the first time Eve had really thought about what it meant to talk to Latimer. More specifically, the fact that it meant talking to Latimer. The potential murderer who she was so terrified of that she started shaking whenever his name was mentioned. Even ignoring that, she wouldn’t exactly say that she was great at social interaction. How was she even supposed to start this conversation?

Oh hey, Sir. I was just wondering which God you bow to. No reason.

Yeah, no. That somehow didn’t seem like the right way to go about it. But as the teacher passed her in the hallway, she knew she ran run out of time to consider her approach.

Here goes nothing, I guess.

Jogging after him, she called out. “Hey! Mr Latimer!”

He stopped, greeting her with a toothy smile.

“Nice to see you again, Ms Verbeck! Can I help you with something?”

“Just wanted to chat,” she swayed slightly as she spoke, hoping it would help to hide the shaking and the nerves. “Are you busy?”

“Not at all, no. I was just heading to the staff room, actually. What did you want to talk about?”

“I- I wanted to ask what your thoughts were on art that’s inspired by God? We were talking about this really religiously inspired work in class today, and it ended up starting a massive debate about whether religious art counted as ‘real art’ or not. I wanted to hear a second opinion from another teacher.”

“Real art,” he laughed.

“So does that mean you don’t support it?”

“Oh no, Eve. I was laughing at the idea of ‘real art’. Let me put it this way; real art versus what? Fake art? How do we define fake art? There are a lot of elitists out there who will try to tell you what ‘real art’ is, but they’re all wrong. Art has no rules.”

“That’s a nice way of looking at it.” And she meant it, as much as she hated to admit it. “What about you? Have you ever looked to religion for inspiration in your art?”

“Personally, no. I’m not much of a religious man. But I have no hatred in my heart for those who do. Passion is passion, and art is art. Nobody has any right to judge others for their passions or their art.”

Just like that, a weight lifted from Eve’s chest. “You’re an atheist?”

“I prefer to call myself an agnostic. But they are very similar. Anyway, does that help at all?”

For once, she offered him a genuine smile.

“You know what? I think it helps me understand this whole issue a lot better. Thanks for taking the time to explain it to me, you’re a great teacher.”

“Oh thank you! And you’re welcome, Ms Verbeck. Come to me anytime.”

She bounced off, feeling better than she had in a while. Only to squeak in surprise when someone grabbed her hand and dragged her down a corner.

Looking up, she realised it was Roxie. She led her to the bottom of a stairwell, that lay tucked away behind a corner. The area was technically out of bounds, so as long as a teacher didn’t find them they would have a good few minutes alone.

“It’s not Latimer.”

“I know.”

“He lives within easy access of the quarry.”

“He’s not religious.”

“s**t,” Roxie sighed, putting her hand to her forehead. “What now?”

“I don’t know. That was the only real lead we had.”

“Well we have to think of something!”

“Don’t you think I know that?!”

Roxie’s hands came down on the wall in frustration, pinning Eve under her. Her eyes met Eve’s, with what could only be described as an intense expression.

Eve’s breath all but stopped dead in her lungs as her poor abused heart reached a fevered new pitch. All of a sudden she felt hot and cold at the same time, couldn’t think of anything except the girl leaning against her.

“Um,” was the only semi coherent sound that she was capable of making. Fortunately – or was it unfortunately? She didn’t know anymore- this seemed to snap Roxie out of it. She took several shaky steps back.

“Uh, sorry. I don’t know what that was.”

Eve remained where she’d been pinned against the wall, feeling suddenly cold. She took a moment to compose herself, wondering just how much stranger her day was going to get before it finished. Flipping her hair behind her ears, she crossed her arms.

“So, how’d your date go?”

Roxie looked as if she had been doused with cold water. She looked away.

“It was… Ok, I guess.”

“You guess?”

“He kissed me.”

“Why don’t you sound happy about that?” Eve had a feeling she already knew the answer.

“Because I didn’t feel anything. Is that normal? Am I supposed to not feel anything?”

“Christ, Rox, how am I supposed to know? In case you forgot, I have even less experience than you.”

“I know, I know. I just- I don’t know what to do. Chase and I have been told for years that we would make the perfect couple. That we’re basically soul mates. Aren’t you supposed to feel fireworks, or sparks, or something? Anything?”

Eve shrugged. “Maybe that’s just what it’s like. I don’t know. I really wish I had more experience, so I could give you advice. Look, maybe you should just talk to him. Tell him how you feel?”

Roxie looked stricken at the mere concept. “I can’t do that!”

“Why not? He’s your boyfriend.”

“Because he’s had a crush on me for years. To dangle a relationship in front of him like that, just to snatch it away after a couple of days – that’s cruel.”

“Maybe,” Eve conceded. “But you’re a person too, don’t forget. It’s not your job to give him something you’re not feeling – and it sure as hell doesn’t sound like you’re feeling it. You don’t owe him s**t for having a crush on you.”

Roxie still looked torn, but she didn’t argue the point. Eve would take her successes where she could get them.

A voice called out, and they became aware of approaching footsteps for the first time.

“Excuse me, are there students back there? You know this area’s out of bounds!”

Roxie grabbed Eve’s hand and started dashing up the stairs.

“Run!”

“I don’t run,” Eve complained as she was practically dragged along. “And if you ask me, these last few days have included entirely too much running!”

“Do you want detention?”

“No…”

“Then run, girl!”