Chapter 6-The Search

Dedicated to Krystal because she was the first person to read my story..besides my sister. =P (I promise this chapter is longer. :)

I got to school forty minutes earlier, since Krystal usually came twenty minutes earlier and Tiana...well, Tiana was always really early. She was waiting for me by the library today. Hmm...strange I thought to myself. Our usual meeting place was the flagpole. She looked up as I approached.

"What happened, Tiana?" I asked worriedly. She looked pale and anxious. She didn't answer right away. When she finally did, she said something I totally did not expect.

"I like the same guy as Krystal," her voice was barely a whisper.

"What? What are you talking about? Who?" I asked rapidly.

"You know that guy, Justin?" she began.

"You mean the one in our homeroom?" I asked quizzically.

"Yeah!" Tiana said. It turns out, Krystal had told Tiana that she liked Justin just yesterday. Tiana was going to tell Krystal that she liked Justin, but Krystal beat her to it.

"So now I'd feel like a terrible friend if I suddenly told her that I like Justin, too!" Tiana cried. I told her that there was nothing to worry about and we could fix this, but she had to pull herself together before Krystal got here or else she would either have to lie or tell the truth to Krystal.

"You know, I'm sure Krystal wouldn't be mad at  you, though. You guys have been best friends since kindergarten. Plus, it's not like you weren't going to tell her, you just didn't want to hurt her feelings. It could have been Krystal in your position, you know." I said soothingly.

"You're right," she said, "I'm going to tell Krystal."

"That's a great idea!" I said.

"But not right now. I'm going to wash up in the bathroom," she said.

"Okay, yeah. Sure. I'll see you in homeroom," I said nervously. Someone tapped me on the shoulder. It was Krystal. She asked where Tiana went and why I was here so early.

"Tiana went to the bathroom and I thought it would be nice to be here earlier today," I said.

"Oh, cool," she said, "Well, I'm going to go check up on her. I'll see you soon!"

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Five minutes later, Krystal wasn't back. I took out my book to read, but then...Voila! Bad Timing Guy was coming towards me.

"Where is everyone?" he asked.

"Yeah, hello to you too. Why aren't you hanging out with your friends?" I asked.

"You can't answer a question with a question," he said.

"Yeah? But I just did," I retorted.

"Fine," he said. We stood there for a moment awkwardly, then I took my book out of my bag again. It was "The City of Ashes".

"But really, where are Tiana and Krystal?" he asked.

"Why do you want to know?" I inquired.

"Just wondering."

"Sure," I said, "Wait why are you standing here?" He stared at me like he didn't understand the question. I repeated it slowly, using large hand motions. He answered it like it was the simplest question in the world.

"Because I wanted to talk to you," he said. Now it was my turn to not understand. I seriously didn't get what he was saying.

"About what?" I demanded.

"The physics project," he said.

"Oh, well you could have just said that....About what?" I asked a few moments later.

"Well, we didn't get much work done yesterday because we were eating ice cream and all that, so I think we have to pick a different day," he said.

"Okay, what day is good for you?" I asked.

"How about Monday and Wednesday, then?" he asked. We agreed on a time, then the warning bell rang. I looked around to see if Krystal or Tiana was coming, but decided to just go in when I didn't see them. They weren't there in class when I came in. That's strange...they're usually always here on time. Maybe they're walking here right now. I thought to myself. I shook off the bad thoughts invading on my mind. What if they're having a huge fight? Did Tiana tell her? What if Krystal hates her? Maybe I should ask to go to the bathroom, just to check on them.

"Ms. Plurmington?" I raised my hand.

"Yes, Eva?"

"May I go to the bathroom?" I asked.

"Yes, go ahead," she said. I ran to the bathroom, not knowing how much time I might need to sort things out with Krystal and Tiana. Hmm..no one was there. I checked the other girls' bathroom on the other side of campus. Still no one. I guess I'd have to go back to homeroom before Ms. Plurmington became suspicious. Just then, I saw a rustle in the bushes. I crept closer....Wow. It was Bad Timing Guy.

"What are you doing here?" I hissed.

"Well, you took forever so I assumed you weren't really going to the bathroom. I told Ms. Plurmington I left something important in my locker."

"Why are you following me?" I asked, stunned.

"Look, Tiana and Krystal didn't come back to class. I didn't want the last member of their group to disappear," he said.

"Why would you care?" I retorted.

"Because I want a good grade," he said matter of factly.

"Well if you want a good grade, help me find Krystal and Tiana!!" I yelled.

"Okay, okay. Sheesh," was all he said. I went back to class for a few minutes and told Ms. Plurmington I had left something at home. She said I could get it as long as I was back for the last few minutes of the period. I thanked her profusely and ran back to where Bad Timing Guy was. Ten minutes later, I admitted that I thought that Krystal had dragged Tiana into the woods or something.

"Why would she do that?" he wondered aloud.

"Because...it's a girl thing," I said.

"Yeah, girls drag each other into the woods all the time," he said sarcastically, "What really happened?" I glared at him, but didn't say anything. "You can trust me," he said. That surprised me.

"Really? Like the time you threw that basketball at me and damaged my book?" I asked.

"We both know that there wasn't even a scratch on your book," he said. I looked at him, astounded.

"Yes, there was!" I said after I had gotten over my shock.

"Sure," was all he said.

I sighed. "Okay, what really happened is that Tiana and Krystal liked the same guy, but Krystal told Tiana first and Tiana didn't want to hurt her feelings so she kept quiet," I said.

"Oh...so if you were them, where would you go?" he asked.

"I don't know...but I know where I would go," I said.

"Yeah? Well, maybe they went there...or at least one of them did," he said, "So where would you go?"

"I'd go to..the park. It's my special place," I found myself surprised that I had admitted that.

"Well then, let's go," he said. When we got there, I immediately looked up to the top of the spider structure. Sure enough there was someone there. I pointed that out to him, and as we approached, I saw that it was Tiana. Of course. Krystal was way more afraid of heights than her. I climbed up to her.

"What are you doing here? You should be at school," I said to her gently.

"Yeah, you should too," she pointed out, "but instead you're here looking for me."

"I get it if you want to skip school today, but do you know where Krystal is? What happened?" I questioned. She slowly explained that when Krystal found her in the bathroom, she had tried to tell her about liking Jason too, but Krystal had gotten angry and left.

"I guess I didn't explain the situation to her well enough, but I thought we were best friends. It's just a stupid crush!" she wailed. She started to cry.

"Tiana, don't cry. I'm sure Krystal feels the same way," I assured her.

"You really think so?" she looked up at me with big eyes.

"Yes, of course," I said. "How about we get down from here, now? Do you know where Krystal could be?"

"She always liked the gardens at school...." she trailed off.

"Okay, then that's where we'll go," I said.

"Are you okay, Tiana?" Eric asked her worriedly.

"Yeah....What are you doing here?" she asked him.

"I was helping Eva find you," he said.

"Well...that was nice of you," was all she said. I told him that we were going to look in the school gardens for Krystal next. When we found Krystal, Tiana went to talk to her alone. I decided to give them some space.

"Thanks for helping me find them," I told him genuinely.

"It was no problem," he said.

"I guess we missed first period, huh?" I said.

"Yeah...it's no biggie," he said.

"I guess it's..between second and third period now," he said, "physics is next."

"Oh...I suppose we have to work on the project sometime, huh?" I asked.

"Yeah, Monday, right?"

"Yup...." I trailed off. We made it to physics just in time. Sadly, there was no time to read my book, but the day hadn't been that bad so far. I was actually looking forward to Monday.