Lauren sat at Alex’s usual table, sighing contentedly. Today, she tied up her blonde hair into a high ponytail. She also wore her cheer uniform. They had cheer practice at every free time possible—even lunch! Good thing their cheer captain gave them some time to eat as short as it may be.
At the sight of the menu, Lauren snickered to herself. Instead of the usual spaghetti, they served macaroni and cheese. The melted cheese looked creamy and sticky around the pasta. Just the smell of it made her stomach grumble. When she ordered a plate of it, she also took a side of bacon.
Some would say mac and cheese was a kid’s dish but the nostalgia was always welcome. They always had bacon whenever her mom cooked mac and cheese.
She took a bite of her meal eagerly. The cheese tasted smooth and rich. It brought back so many good memories. While she took more bites, she wondered how Alex and Logan were doing.
When Lauren told Logan Alex was sick, she did not expect the following events to happen. How was she supposed to know Logan would dash off into oblivion right after telling him about it? Good thing she decided to call him and asked where he was.
Alex would have thrown him out—if Lauren hadn’t messaged Alex that she sent Logan in the first place.
Lauren shook her head. Logan really was impulsive but she started to believe the trait worsens when Alex was involved.
“Eating alone?” Someone asked Lauren. She glanced at her left where Colin sat next to her. He had a simple gray hoodie one and a pair of dark jeans. He also had these wide innocent brown eyes, wondering why she smiled by herself.
Lauren immediately noticed that they bought the same thing. Somehow she found it more amusing than when it had only been her who ate the mac and cheese.
“Yeah” she half-giggled and half-sighed, “Alex couldn’t make it. He’s sick.”
“Well, that’s too bad,” Colin replied. He really didn’t think that way but he pushed the thought aside since it sounded selfish. If he wanted to spend time alone with Lauren, he should ask her out.
But that didn’t mean he would turn down the occasional alone time given by fate.
He pointed his fork at the rest of the empty seats, “What about Logan?”
“Oh, I have no idea where he is.”
“Huh… I wonder where he is these days. Haven’t really seen him since he fell into my arms” Colin pondered for a moment. Was it normal not to know why your supposed best friend was not in school? Even Lauren knew Alex was sick and he hadn’t heard of them being best friends.
At Colin’s words, the whole scene replayed in Lauren’s mind. While the rest of the class watched Alex, her eyes stayed on Logan, wondering what he would do. It surprised her that he actually opened the door and went out in his costume.
The part where he tripped on Colin only made it much more comical.
“Hopefully your fair maiden didn’t get into any trouble” Lauren laughed under her breath, silently hoping it was true. Maybe she should check on them later. She needed to give Alex her homework anyway.
Colin folded the pasta and the creamy cheese sauce together. He knew that the cooks already mixed them but a little extra stir wouldn’t kill anyone.
“Hope not” He chuckled then, took a bite of pasta, “She’ll have to save herself.”
Colin felt relieved that Logan wasn’t a drinker or a party animal. At least, he could rule out those possibilities. He couldn’t possibly be in worse trouble than his other two friends who passed out after the party.
Lauren took her juice bottle and opened the cap. Taking a sip, she looked over her shoulders. No one else seemed to head for their table.
“Where are Jae and Max?” She asked Colin, screwing back the lid and grabbing her fork.
Colin swallowed the food in his mouth, “Well, Jae is at the library. You remember the Cinderella search, right? Carla is also helping out. Apparently she had seen the girl more clearly than Jae did. But you cheerleaders have a lot of extra practice this week so this time before your lunch practice is usually when Carla helps him out.”
“Saw her? When?” Lauren placed down her fork and stared hard at Colin. Did someone else see Xandra that day? Had it been Carla who placed that folder? But why the club portfolios? Was it because those documents were in the staff room? Maybe Carla had the same idea as Lauren did to look through them—except she already planted that folder so she could pretend she just found it when she borrowed them.
What a brilliant idea.
Too bad it had been Lauren who found it.
If the case turned out to be that way that is.
Colin looked up at the ceiling, trying to think of the answer, “I think she saw the girl at a restaurant somewhere with Logan. At least, that’s what she said.”
Lauren shook her head, “But that could have been any girl. Even the ones not in our school.”
“That’s true but Jae believes it’s the same girl who dropped her phone. She wore our gym uniform that day. Unless she went to all that trouble to borrow a uniform, she’d most likely be from this school.”
“It’s not that hard to borrow a uniform” Lauren reasoned out.
“Yeah, but why would someone need to? We had an open game that day. She could come here in casual clothes and it wouldn’t be a problem. I don’t think anyone wore a gym uniform at all.”
Lauren started to mentally ask Alex the same questions. Why did Alex wear the uniform? That part of her disguise only made things more complicated!
She cursed quietly. She couldn’t believe how difficult it was to turn the tide. The situation almost felt hopeless.
Lauren licked her lips and also looked up, acting skeptical about their conclusions, “It could still turn out to be two girls.”
Colin lifted an eyebrow at her. A girl who didn’t believe words at face value. That meant she also didn’t trust rumors right away. Such an extraordinary girl.
The corner of his lips turned up, “Yeah, well, when Jae gave Logan the phone, he called the girl as Logan’s girlfriend and Logan didn’t deny it. That became a sort of clue. Why else would Logan take a girl to a restaurant? They didn’t have a date, sure, but that restaurant is far and he drove her all the way there. Even a nice guy wouldn’t go that far if he didn’t know the girl. Also, Carla said it took them a long time to say goodbyes as if they didn’t want to part at all. That only happens if the person is interested. Then, she turns up at the basketball game, in the locker room that smells like it hadn’t been cleaned in years, alone with Logan before she happened to bump into the rest of the team on her way out.”
…
…
…
“Wow, and I thought girls analyze everything” Lauren joked, feeling defeated. She truly had no contradictions prepared for that argument. She could only pray everything would end smoothly for Alex.
“Jae and I occasionally bond over BBC’s Sherlock” Colin chuckled, “We just like to play detective at the chance.”
“All of these investigations” Lauren blinked her eyes in marvel and breathed out a laugh, “She must be someone really special.”
Colin took some of the bacon from his plate, biting into one, “Jae is just worried about it. He can’t really rest until he finds out who she is.”
“Is it love at first sight?” Lauren teased.
“Hell nah. The girl had to be extra special to capture Jae’s heart.”
Lauren sighed, picking at her leftovers. She felt bummed that she couldn’t get more information.
“I see. I guess, the rest of us are mere mortals then” she joked as a response, taking the last bite of her lunch.
“Don’t” Colin grabbed her hand with the fork suddenly, “A goddess like you should never lower yourself.”
Lauren snapped her wide eyes towards him. Colin used his other hand to lift up her chin. He wiped the corner of her mouth with his thumb.
As soon as he was done, Lauren bowed her head.
“You had a little something—” Colin explained and pointed to the now clean spot.
“Thanks” she mumbled, hoping that she didn’t look like an idiot. Somehow her senses heightened and she became more aware of how close Colin was next to her. She could almost feel his body heat.
These thoughts only made her blush faster. She was sure that her face must be beet red. To stop it, she decided to change the topic, “Is Max also helping out?”
At the mention of his name, Colin went rigid. Lauren didn’t seem to notice though.
He shook his head slowly, “I don’t think so. My guess is that Max is shooting hoops at the gym.”
“And why is that?”
“Why do you think?”
Lauren paused for a moment, “He has a group of girls he wants to impress?”
“He’s most likely alone” Colin clarified.
“Huh, wow, weird.”
Colin cleaned up his spot on the table and stacked together his plates. While he did that, he debated whether he should tell her about Max’s state or not. They didn’t exactly part ways on good terms that night. He also didn’t know if Lauren really wanted to hear about Max.
On the other hand, Max was his friend. It wouldn’t be right if he left the situation alone.
Colin leaned over to Lauren, staring at her straight in the eye. He could hear her inhale sharply and the exhale didn’t seem to come.
They stayed this way for a while.
When Colin whispered, Lauren felt his breath brush her face, “Look, I know Max doesn’t have the best behavior among everyone but the one thing I can count on is that he acknowledges his wrongs. Right now, he’s at the gym because he’s frustrated and he regrets what happened.”
His voice came out deep and appealing. The kind of tone that someone would trust without a doubt.
With Colin’s nose almost touching hers, Lauren couldn’t possibly tell him that he was lying.
From what she knew of him, he had a very understanding and caring personality. That trait also applied to his friends, no matter how troublesome they were. If he said to give Max a second chance, Lauren knew she could rely on it.
That didn’t mean she’d take it lightly.
“Well, when he is ready to man up and apologize, I’ll think about forgiving him” she replied, shrugging her shoulders and taking her tray.
Colin sighed and followed her to the return counter. He got her message clearly.
He had done what he could to help his friend. The rest would be up to him.
As for Colin himself, he had his own things to set straight.
