Chapter 10

Tristan dropped Dallas off at his house shortly after. He felt bad about leaving everyone else, but he didn’t want to have to explain to his mother why he was sneaking into casinos. If he were to get in trouble with his parents, he didn’t want to have to drag any of his friends into it.

Dallas headed up to his room and turned on his computer. He logged into facebook, and scrolled through his newsfeed. He couldn’t take his mind off of the strange events, as much as he tried. Nothing was enough for him to make him forget the strange email that Ara had received. Would it be the last one that he’d receive? Or would the sender keep sending more chilling emails? What if the sender started blackmailing him too?

His thoughts were interrupted when he noticed that he had an unread email. He started sweating. Maybe it would just be nothing. Maybe it was just spam. With his heart pounding loudly in his chest, Dallas opened up his email.

“Oh my God,” He whispered. It was from an unknown sender. He opened it, fearing for the worst.

To: Dallas Dawson

From: Unknown Sender

Hey Dallas, your friends could really use some help. Why don’t you go join them?

Dallas exited out of his email in a panic. This wasn’t happening. He did not just get a message from Ara’s blackmailer. He took a deep breath, and opened up his email again. The strange email was still in his inbox. It was real.

Ara? He decided he better check up on everyone.

Hello Dallas, Ara replied, Is everything ok?

I don’t know, Dallas said, I think I got an email from the same person that was threatening you.

Ara was silent for a long time. What does it say? He said finally, in a nervous tone.

It says you guys need some help, Dallas explained, I thought I’d check in with you to see how you were doing.

Honestly, I don’t think we’re going to be staying for much longer, Ara said, You can come with us next time, but only if you want to. I don’t want you to feel like you’re being forced into this.

I think I kind of am, Dallas said. The email hadn’t really been that threatening, but it definitely had an aggressive undertone to it.

Fair enough, Ara said, Ask Andor tomorrow about that fake ID.

Why not right now? Dallas asked, Isn’t he with you?

He’s a bit drunk right now, Ara said, Best to wait until tomorrow

***

The first thing that Dallas did the next morning was talk to Andor. Hey, Andor, He asked, Are you awake?

When he got no response, Dallas assumed that Andor was probably still asleep. It was seven in the morning, so it was a pretty safe bet to make. Dallas was getting out of bed when Andor finally answered. What is going on right now?

I need to talk to you about that fake ID you mentioned last night, Dallas said, It’s important.

I can’t deal with this right now, Andor said, We’ll talk later.

Dallas decided not to press him any further. He decided that he would try to talk to him later in the day. Having decided on that, he got out of bed and got ready for school.

***

Dallas’ morning almost turned out to be a normal one. His first period went by slowly, but without incident. It was halfway through his second period when Andor decided to talk to him. Dallas tried ignoring him at first, as he had been in the middle of writing a French test. He had been successful at first and was able to focus on his work, but Andor soon became impatient.

Hey, Dallas, Andor said for the hundredth time, I need to talk to you.

I can’t right now, Dallas answered, Unless you can tell me about conjugating French verbs. Please stop talking to me.

That seemed to keep Andor quiet for a few short minutes. Dallas…? Dallas...?

Dallas continued to ignore him. He was only getting a C in French, and he needed to bring his grade up to improve his overall average. Dallas decided he wouldn’t respond to him this time. Whatever Andor wanted from him could probably wait.

 HEY, TALK TO ME YOU PIECE OF S**T!! Andor’s voice was so loud in his mind that Dallas dropped his pencil.

What do you want? Dallas yelled back at him, Seriously, this better be good.

That fake ID, Andor said, what exactly do you need it for?

Wow, really? Dallas said, That’s what you’ve been bothering me for? I wish you were sitting right next to me so that you could see how annoyed I look right now.

How sweet, Andor said sarcastically, Anyways, if you want to come by and look at the fake ID, you can.

That literally could have waited another fifteen minutes, Dallas said, looking up at the clock.

Ara is on his break right now, Andor said, He can come pick you up and bring you over to my place.

Dallas thought about it for a moment. It would work out perfectly, he realized. He had his spare block next, which was followed by lunch. That left lots of time to swing by Andor’s place and look at the fake ID. Fine, Dallas said, But leave me alone in the meantime.

Andor didn’t say anything after that, which lead Dallas to believe that Andor was finally respecting the fact that he was in the middle of writing a test. He finished writing without any further problems. He felt certain that he had at least gotten a passing grade, but he figured he could have done better if Andor hadn’t bothered him.

I’m outside your school. It was Ara who spoke to him this time. Just come out to the parking lot when you’re done.

Dallas glanced up at the clock. If it was at all accurate, the bell should be going in a few minutes. I’ll be out soon, Dallas said to Ara, How did you get here so fast, anyways?

I work at the hospital, Ara said, It’s only a few blocks away. I could have walked here.

The bell rang and everyone got up out of their chairs and made their way out to the hall. Dallas grabbed his pencil case and his binder and followed his classmates. He pushed his way through the over crowded hall and made his way over to his locker. He put his things away, then left out of the nearest side exit to avoid being seen by anyone.

As promised, Ara was waiting for him in his car at the front of the parking lot. Dallas opened up the passenger’s door and slid in.

“How was school?” Ara asked him.

“It might have been better if Andor had stopped bothering me while I was trying to take a test,” Dallas said, “But you know, I guess it wasn’t so bad.”

“Sounds like you’ve realized how good Andor is at mental screaming,” Ara said, as he started the car.

“So this is a thing he does regularly?”

Ara shrugged. “Well, yes,” he said, “Mostly when he’s annoyed with someone. It’s not really something that we want him to be good at.”

“What are the chances he’ll do it when we’re at his house,” Dallas asked.

“Slim, I hope,” Ara said, as he pulled out of the parking lot, “If all goes well, we should be in and out of his place in under a few minutes.”

“What can possibly go wrong?” Dallas asked.

Ara hit the accelerator, and went speeding down the road. Dallas gasped, caught off guard by the sudden change of speed. He instinctively grabbed the side of the door.

“I was talking to Andor just before you got out of class,” Ara explained, “We were having a normal conversation, and then he just stopped talking. He mentioned that he was feeling funny, and that he was going to go lie down. We talked for a bit after that, and then he just stopped.”

“Are you sure he’s not just hungover from last night?” Dallas asked.

Ara slammed on the breaks. The car came to a sudden stop at a red light.

“If it were anyone other than Andor, that would be my assumption,” Ara said nervously. The light turned green, and Ara slammed on the accelerator once more.

Author's Note

idk if anyone is even keeping up with this. If you are, you should really say something because I wrote this chapter a long time ago and forgot to put it here :/