Previously...
'THE GAME IS ON REED BRENNAN. THE PRIZE? NOELLE'S LIFE.'
Disclaimer: I don't own Private, Kate Brian does
Joshua Hollis reached across the couch and pulled me into his leather winter jacket. The moment he did, my mind instantly went back to the night when I thought that I lost him. How could I be so stupid to think that Sabine was actually a good person? I can't believe that I missed out on so many moments like this, all because of a physco who was trying to 'finish what her sister started'.
"I miss this" I whispered into his the jacket that was separating me from the warmth of his body.
His soft blue eyes met mine with a smile. He shredded the jacket and pulled me even closer, this time allowing me to hear his heartbeat.
"I miss this, too" he whispered, kissing me on the forehead, and wrapping his arms around me.
Tonight was really the one night that I got to spend alone with Josh, and I planned on enjoying it. The other times had been filled with rampaging through all of Noelle Lange's things, hoping that the kidnappers might have left some clue as to why she was missing. But after the third day on the job, we had no more information than we did to begin with.
"So, how's your little investigation coming?" he asked sarcastically. Josh had to have been among the many Easton students who wasn't really shaken up about the fact that Noelle was missing, actually, he didn't seem to care.
"Can you show a little more concern?" I asked, defending her. Not that Josh owed her anything, she was the one who thought that he killed Thomas Pearson, my ex, and told the Headmaster where we were that night. But then again, she was now one of the two friends I had. Considering the fact that Constance Talbot, the girl who used to be my best friend, is now pissed at me because I didn't invite her to the secret society.
"No, Reed. I can't" he responded, "and I don't see why your defending her. She wasn't the most caring towards you last semester"
"She wasn't the only one" I whispered under my breath, but judging by the look on Josh's face, I knew he heard me.
"I'm sorry" he said, gliding his hands along his legs until they met mine, "really, I am"
"Lets not talk about it anymore" I said, shaking away all the pain that came along with the memories of last semester.
"what time is it?" I asked, looking around the art cemetery to see to look at the clock that was hanging on the wall.
"10minutes before curfew" he said, before I even had time to glance at the wall.
"Oh"
I smiled up at Josh, wondering if he knew how I wanted to spend our last few minutes of the night, and he smiled at me in return. He did
"So, who do you think it could be?" Ivy Slade, the other friend of mine, asked when we walked into the library the next morning. One of the many good things about Easton on the weekend was that early in the morning, people were catching up on their sleep; which meant that almost the entire Easton would be in silence, especially the library.
"I have no idea" I said, tugging of my black Marc Jacobs coat and sliding into the comfortable computer chair. I signed onto the computer to check any emails that I might have received from the kidnappers. Nothing.
Just then, the library doors opened up, and in walked a tired Sawyer Hathaway. My heart churned when I saw him, feeling bad for leading him on.
He lifted up his head and his eyes landed right on mine, I was going to give him a wave, but he turned before I had a chance to make a motion. Sawyer's brother, Graham Hathaway, walked in right behind him and headed for our table.
"Ladies" he said, when he reached close enough for us to hear.
"Hey" I said, surprised that we was still talking to me after all the pain I caused his brother.
"Hi" Ivy said, and reached up and touched Graham's biceps in a flirty way, "how's Sawyer"
"He's fine" was his reply not bothering to go on any further.
"Can you tell him that I'm sorry?" I asked.
"You can tell him" he said.
"But-"
"He was really pissed at first" he explained, "but after talking with the people around here, he realized that you and …."
Graham didn't finish the name. Mainly because he hated Josh with all his heart for breaking up with his twin sister.
I looked over at Sawyer, who was now sitting at the far end of the library, with his head stuck in a book.
I got up and headed towards him. Maybe Graham was right, maybe Sawyer didn't hate me anymore.
Midway towards my destination, Headmaster Hathaway walked into the library and motioned me to follow him.
I made a turn towards Sawyer one more time. Our eyes met, but he instantly dropped his gaze and got back to reading. I headed out the door and followed the Headmaster all the way to his office.
When we got there he made me sit down in the chair in front of his oak desk. His room was much different than any other of the headmasters who came before him. His was painted a certain type of brown that had a reassuring feel to it, the others were just painted beige that had a bland feeling to it.
"Ms. Brennan" he said, closing the door behind him and walking over to his seat, "how was your week?"
"Can we please just get to the reason I'm here?" I asked, not bothering to spend the next few minutes talking about my days with Josh.
"Okay" he said, fixing the tie on his collar, "Ms. Brennan, as you know, Ms. Lange has gone missing. Now, according to her parents there are quite a few people who could have taken her, but... I would like your opinion. I have gone through each and every person's permanent record in this school, and I could only find a few selected who would want to hurt Ms. Lange"
"Yeah, right" I scoffed, there had to have been more than a few people who wanted Noelle gone.
He ignored my comment and looked me square in the face.
"I know for a fact that you and Noelle have been close for quite some time, and I know that you can help me"
"What do you want me to do?"
"Unfortunately, I don't know the personal relationship Ms. Lange had with the students here, but I need you to tell me something"
"Please" he said, "explain to me the relationship Ms. Lange had with a Mr. Joshua Hollis"