THE EERIE DISPATCH

the addressing

Present day ~

Skylar's pov.

The knocking on my door wakes me up from my sleep. I find myself in an uncomfortable position, my back slumped against a wall near the window where I must have fallen asleep last night.

Dad enters the room, I make an attempt to sit properly but the cramping in my back and neck prevents me from doing so.

Noticing my obvious discomfort, dad helps me up by supporting my arms.

"What time is it ?"

I ask , completely having lost track of time since I got the news.

" It's almost 7"

A silence falls between us. It's not awkward. More of processing everything that has been happening.

Breaking the silence he says,

"You don't have to go to school today. You can sit back at home and take rest .I will call the school to inform them."

Not going to school sounds like an amazing proposition. I mean which kid in their sane mind would decline that offer?

I usually wouldn't miss this golden opportunity, but today I know if I stay home and do nothing I am going to overthink everything and have a breakdown at some point.

" That's a very generous offer dad .And you know I wouldn't pass up on it but I think it might be best for me if I do go to school and make sure my mind stays engaged in something."

"That's okay too sky. But just know that its high school and there are people who are going to say things too."

He had a valid point. But I think I will survive that.

" What time did you come home?" I ask him, changing the topic.

"Around at 4 in the morning."

"Did you find any leads?"

"Nothing as of yet sky, but I'll let you know as soon as I get something on the case. As of now, if you do want to go to school you have to start getting ready. I'll be down making breakfast find me when you're ready ."

I nod my head in response. He gets up , an heads down closing the door behind him.

I get up and freshen up, doing my morning routine. After getting dressed I pick up things that I need and head down.

As I enter , my dad says

" I just got the info that the principal is going to address the situation. Thereafter, the students will be taken into questioning. If you are going to school you have to be ready for that too. It has become a sensitive case with this town being so small, so exceptions can't be made."

'addressing the situation' is a very vague way to put a disappearance of students without a trace. But I am still don't change my mind.

" I am still going to school dad. I'll be fine"

He serves breakfast for the both of us and we dive right in. But the thoughts inside my head don't stop from running its course. It has officially been 72 hours since his disappearnce . I still don't know how to deal with it. And now I have to face the interrogation at school too. Great.

After finishing up breakfast, I take my things and head out saying bye to my dad.

- - - - - - -

When i enter the school parking lot , I can already feel a lot of eyes on me. And of course the gossiping starts almost immediately.

I try to ignore them and walk fast.

"isn't she ryder's girlfriend"

"why wasn't she at the party with him?"

"I heard he was fooling around with courtney at the party"

"no wonder they disapperead together"

"why would anyone let their boyfriend go to a frat party alone?"

I cannot wait for this day to be over already. Now I am having second thoughts about coming to school.

The first bell rings soon, right after it's followed by the intercom,

"All the students are requested to head to the auditorium. I repeat all students to head to the auditorium."

Fussing about it, all the teens start making way to auditorium. I too head the same way mentally preparing myself for this.

I see a seat towards the back which is empty. I go and take a seat there . I subconsciously look around and find Courtney's boyfriends sitting among the other jocks and cheerleaders. Because of the angle that we're sitting in I could make out some of the features of his face . He looks rather pale and he has dark circles around his eyes.

You might be thinking why I am not sitting there, as the quarterback was my boyfriend. Well, that's because I never got along with them . I knew them because of Ryder and vice versa.

I'm lost in thought when the boy next to me asks, "do you know what this assembly might be about?"

I am quite taken aback by his question , I mean this is a small town and news spreads fast and it's hard not to get hold of all the gossip going around. Noticing the surprise on my face he chuckles and says, "I'm new here , I just moved here day before and got caught up unpacking . That's why I'm not caught with what's going on"

Well that explains it then.

" That makes sense. It was surprising cause it's a small town and it's difficult not to get ahold of what's going on . Sorry about that. And to answer your question the principle is going to address the situation of two teens a guy and girl ,who went missing two days ago."

" oh, that's rough. I am Tobias by the way." He says , stretching his hand out .

" I'm Skylar." I say shaking his hand.

" Did you know any of them?" he asks

That hits me right in the gut. But I answer anyway saying,

"Yeah the guy that disappeared was my boyfriend."

He went silent for a few seconds. After which he said, "I'm sorry . That must be pretty hard for you."

Not knowing how to respond to that I just nodded my head in acknowledgement.

The static noise of the mic grabbed all our attention letting us know that the principal will be speaking now. All eyes watched him as he stepped onto the stage adjusted his mic and started his 'addressing'

"Good morning to everyone here. I'm here to address the investigation of Ryder and Courtney, as we know , they are our star quaterback and head cheer leader. This tragic incidence have affected us all . I know most of you might be having a hard time delaing with it right no-"

The scraping of chair catches all of the attention. The person responsible for this is Courtney's boyfriend, Maddox. He abruptly starts picking his bagpack and starts walking towards the exit. No one dares to stop him. His friends just sit there, none of them making a move or an attempt to after him. Some great friends he has there.

He passes right next to me , and I could basically feel his anger radiating off of him.

Tobias whispers, "damn who is he ?"

"He is Maddox , Courtney's boyfriend."

Everyone seems to snap out of it and the principal continues,

"anyhow, the police department is here for the questioning of the students a per the protocols of an ongoing investigation. Each student called will be taken into questioning. Now here you have to keep in mind to give every detail possible as it might lead to a break in a case. Your co-operation is highly appreciated. Thank you everyone, with that being said you can go back attend your classes as per usual until you're called."

Everyone gets up and starts heading towards the hallways. Me and Tobias part ways . I head towards my locker to take out the necessary text books. After I'm done I close the locker and turn around to head to my first class where I see Tobias who is looking clueless as to what he is doing.

I didn't get to have a good look at him in the assembly. But now that I notice he is pretty tall , easily above 6'2 and fairly built too. He could easily fit in at the "popular table". He is quite a catch too, definitely blessed with good genes seeing his jawline, sculpted nose and those blue eyes with dark brown hair.

Deciding to help him I go to him.

"you look like you could use some help." I say , mostly startling him.

" yeah. This place is a little confusing , do you have any idea where room 302 is?"

"wait do you have math with Mr. Sullivan?"

"yeah I do. So should I be scared?"

"no not at all. Just be sure to submit assignments on time and you should be fine. I have the same class , we could walk there together."

"That will be great . Thank you."

With that being said we head towards the class.

---

Turned out we have 4 out of six classes together. I helped Tobias through the previous classes and now it was lunch. We had decided to meet up at the cafeteria after going to our lockers.

I enter the cafeteria and see him sitting at a table not too far. He sees me and waves , I wave right back letting him know I'll be back after I pick up lunch. Standing in the line I could still hear people talking about me. This time they were also talking about Maddox .

"I think he knew that Courtney was cheating on him that's why he got angry."

"I mean is Courtney even worth his time?"

" oh, now that she won't be around anymore, I think it's a good time to make a move."

Are they serious right now? There are two people who have gone missing and all they care about is making a move on him when his girlfriend is missing? Pathetic.

Suddenly, a kid comes into the cafeteria shouting there's a fight going on . Naturally all the teens head towards the fight. Picking up my lunch I head over to Tobias. I sit down opposite to him.

" Any idea of what's going on?" he asks, referring to the previous commotion.

" nope." I say popping the 'e'.

Just then I see a group of girls squealing about the fight. They mention Maddox. Now that catches mine and Tobias's attention.

"Wanna go check it out.?" I ask

"yep." He says , popping the 'p'.

We hurry and reach there. What I see there however dosent surprise me.

There's Maddox beating another guy to pulp.

Me being me, without thinking go and stand in the middle of them.