Author's Note; I really need your criticism now guys. If you do read, please please please review. I'm going through some serious personal issues at the minute, and I'm also a bit busy with schoolwork and A-level exams. If you want this story to be updated, I need your support in the form of CRITICAL REVIEWS. I need to know someone is reading. XD
Chapter 21 – Playing Detective
Whilst Chantelle was being dragged off towards Harrington House, Christy was being subjected to a delicious meal down at Bullworth Vale with Davis. He had treated her to a nice selection of gifts including jewellery and some expensive perfume and in general it had been a very perfect date considering what happened last year with Ricky. That Christmas had been one she just wanted to forget, since half the day was spent arguing with him and the other half was where she sat alone in her dorm room in tears. That would have been the ideal time to split up from the Greaser but she had stayed with him because she didn't exactly have anyone else at the time. Once Chantelle had arrived on the scene, she had stayed with Ricky for a few more months before realising, with Chantelle's help, that she didn't need him anymore. They were past it and the ghost of the memory that was Christmas always came back to haunt her.
Now she was heading back to the Girl's Dormitory, hoping to have a nice conversation with her best friend and hopefully continue the heart to heart they had been having earlier. It was only 7pm and although the sky was overcast with heavy clouds, the air cold and the wind bitingly chilly, there had been no new layers of snow on the ground (which would prove extremely useful).
Moving quickly through the gates of the Bullworth school, she narrowly avoided slipping on a strip of ice and watched briefly as the large jock Damon chased a young kid out of the gates before turning right and heading into the warmth that was the Girl's Dormitory. Angie and Eunice was sat in the armchairs talking in low voices whilst Pinky strutted by with a small smirk plastered on her face. Christy ignored all three of them and continued up the stairs, and then crossed the landing to the first door on the left and walked straight inside.
"Hey Chantelle, I was thinking maybe we could..." Christy stopped in her tracks, her hand still holding on to the door handle whilst observing the room. Chantelle's bed was still covered in her presents from earlier on in the day and the floor around it was scattered with wrapping paper. She was nowhere to be seen.
Frowning slightly, Christy closed the door and then crossed the room still glancing around expecting Chantelle to just appear, maybe spring up from underneath the bed or something. It was quite unusual to see Chantelle anywhere but in the Girls Dormitory since she had been hiding up here for the past few days.
"Now where the hell have you wandered off too..." She whispered to the empty room.
Chantelle was currently still tied up on a chair in the middle of Harrington House. Parker had just entered the room and had taken up the position of watching her whilst the other Preps went about their usual business which right now was about trying to lure Jimmy in to come to the rescue...So to speak. He had his head lowered as he read a paperback, although as Chantelle observed him she noticed that his eyes weren't moving and he was turning the pages at almost exactly the same intervals. The silence was awkward and tense, and she could tell that the book was just a reason not to look at the girl sat opposite him.
"How long are you actually planning on keeping me here...Because I need to sleep and eat...And I sort of need the toilet."
Parker kept his head down for a few more seconds and Chantelle actually believed he was going to ignore her completely, but he closed the book and stared at her with blank expressionless eyes that Chantelle didn't care for much. Her eyes never left his face as he got to his feet and moved towards her, leaned towards her even.
His hands fiddled with the rope binding her to the chair and allowing it to fall loosely off her. He then grabbed her arm and dragged her upwards, reminding Chantelle forcefully of Gary Smith in the earlier days of their meetings. She blinked stupidly as she was escorted out of the room and down a narrow corridor that was decorated with more expensive ornaments still gripping her arm tightly enough to make her wince slightly.
"In there. You've got five minutes." Parker said firmly, now avoiding her gaze completely as he opened the door for her.
"Parker I..."
"Five minutes." He said again, cutting across her and staring down at the floor instead of at her. She rolled her eyes and moved past him, closing the door behind her with a snap and turning the lock. Staring wildly around she tried to think of a way she could potentially get out of this mess but she knew it was still pointless. She was probably on the second floor of Harrington House and jumping out of a bathroom window would probably cause more damage then do any good.
There was nothing else to do, so she had the toilet break then unlocked the door and returned to the firm grasp of Parker who looked disinterested and blank again. Her stomach turned uncomfortably and she suddenly felt incredibly sick and disorientated. She stumbled down the hallway and if it hadn't been for Parker holding her she probably would have fell straight down to the floor.
"What the..." Parker muttered as she fell against him, trying her best to stay upright until the dizzy spell subsided. "Stop acting up, your shit doesn't work on me..."
"I'm not acting you idiot..." Chantelle replied weakly, trying to straighten up instead of looking weak and vulnerable in front of the Prep that she thought once had feelings for her. "I've not eaten properly for the past few days and...Right now I don't feel too good."
Parker opened his mouth to say something but then closed it again quickly. He tightened the grip on Chantelle's left arm and continued walking down the corridor. However they did not return to the room where Chantelle had been staying in for the past few hours, instead he shoved her inside a room to the left of it which contained a very comfortable-looking bed and some drawers.
"You'll stay in here. You're going to be locked in so don't bother trying to get out, I'll bring you some food up. Looks like you're going to be stopping overnight anyway." Parker added shortly, still avoiding her gaze. He waited for her to cross the room and sit down on the edge of the bed before leaving. There was a loud click as he locked the door behind him followed by a heavy sigh from Chantelle as she laid down.
"Where the hell are you Jimmy..."
"I'm not going to apologise."
"But you two are really close and what's the point in destroying your friendship over a Prep. She already admitted she was only trying to help you..."
"That was probably just a damn excuse Petey."
Pete Kowalski looked incredibly put-out as he sat down on the end of Jimmy's bed whilst the latter paced the room looking pissed. Jimmy had only just decided to tell his friend that her and Chantelle were no longer on talking terms and now Pete was trying to make some sort of sense on what was actually going on...And getting nowhere. It seemed as though Jimmy's bad mood had not dissipated over several days and it was definitely not getting any better.
"How do you know that? Why would she lie to you for one..."
"I don't fucking know do I? I thought I could trust her and then she started going out on random dates with that bastard Parker."
"C'mon Jimmy she would never look twice at a Prep if there wasn't some other logical reason behind what she was doing."
Jimmy opened his mouth to make another vulgar retort but thought against it and instead continued to stride up and down the room, trying to think things over and failing miserably at it. He was never one to think first and act later. Pete watched him nervously for a few more seconds and then cleared his throat.
"I think you're just being irrational Jimmy. Chantelle wouldn't purposely do something to piss you off, I know that much. She actually gives a damn about you. I think you took it all the wrong way."
Jimmy stopped pacing the room and simply turned his head to look at Peter who was now avoiding eye contact and instead was choosing to stare at the wooden floor. Pete had a feeling that Jimmy was on the very verge of letting his temper get the best of him and he didn't want to be in the vicinity when he did...He had a knack of throwing things, and throwing punches too.
"So you're saying Chantelle is the one who is in the right?" Jimmy spoke in quiet tones that signalled to Pete he was about to lose control.
"No...I...I wasn't saying that," Pete started nervously, now twisting his hands in his lap not quite daring to look up at his friend. "I was saying that Chantelle wouldn't go out with that Prep because...Because she would know it would piss you off. So I think the stuff about her getting information out of him was the truth y'know? That she was using him to help you out...She doesn't like to always see you get into fights cause she's afraid you're gonna get expelled."
"What?"
Pete let out a loud sigh and folded his arms over his chest in a defensive way, he shouldn't have really gave him all this information to say Chantelle had come to see him in private and had asked him as politely as possible to keep his mouth shut.
"She came to see me the day after you had a go at her. I don't know how she cornered me like that but she did, she has a habit of knowing where people are when she needs them..."
There was no pacing now, and the anger had seemingly slipped away at least momentarily as Jimmy turned to face him properly, listening with rapt attention. He did not speak and gestured for Pete to go on.
"Anyway, she was really upset...Said she had ruined her chances of being friends with you again after trying her best to help you out. She said she didn't want to see you get expelled for fighting and causing anymore trouble around the school cause she wanted you around, that you're usually a good friend and easy to talk to and stuff..." Petey finally lifted his gaze to Jimmy and saw with some astonishment that he no longer looked pissed off anymore, in fact he even looked a little regretful.
"I told her that I'd talk to you, try and get you to see sense y'know? I mean...She's a good person Jimmy. She wouldn't do anything like that. She had a reason." He finished up and then let his arms drop back down into his lap.
"I gotta go." Jimmy said sharply, turning quickly on his heel.
"It's past curfew she isn't going to be outside is she? In fact I don't think she's left her room properly for days or that's what Christy said."
"God-damn it.."
Christy awoke in the early hours of Sunday morning to find herself still fully clothed and feeling worse for wear. She had waited until gone midnight for the arrival of Chantelle and had obviously fell asleep against her will and as she sat up to look across at her friend's bed, her stomach turned uncomfortably as she saw it was still covered with presents. Definitely not slept in...
"Shit Chantelle where the fuck are you!?" She spoke up as she swung her legs off the bed and got to her feet trying to think of any place where she could actually be. Thinking back to the previous day she brought up as much as she could about them being together, perhaps that would help her understand where her best friend could have disappeared off too...
She recalled Chantelle turning her back to Christy as she opened her final select few presents, ones that she had been purposely saving for last when she believed Christy had been busy doing something else like messing with those new straighteners of hers. But she could be secretive and quite deceiving when she needed it and right now she guessed she needed it.
Standing up she moved over towards Chantelle's bed and shifted through the litter on the floor trying to look for that little square of bright pink paper. She even looked inside the trinket box even though it was clearly not folded inside there anymore.
"Damn it Chantelle." Christy whispered as she pushed the wrapping paper aside and started to search in other places. First, she shifted through the Christmas presents that were piled up on her bed, she doubted Chantelle would really mind, before moving the pillows and checking to see if it had been hidden between them. Getting down on her hands and knees she then stuck her arm underneath the small gap between the floor and the bed and still found nothing. Lifting her hand up she then stuck it through the small gap between the mattress and the frame of the bed, shifting it left and right before she struck gold.
Narrowing her eyes she brought out the pink slip of paper and observed it, reading it through several times before getting quickly back up to her feet and slipping it into her jeans pockets. There was no time to get changed, this seemed incredibly important, but should she go alone?
The only other person that would possibly help her would be Jimmy Hopkins, perhaps even Davis and a few of the Bullies would too...But there was certainly no time to track them down and then again it might not even be a serious matter even though she felt nauseated and extremely concerned.
Grabbing her coat from the back of the door she quickly zipped it up as she left the room. It could only be about 7am in the morning, everyone would still be fast asleep which would serve her just as well.
Leaving the Girl's Dormitory she ran down the length of the pathway to the other Boy's Dormitory, wondering briefly how she could actually alert the attention of Jimmy. She was stood staring up at the doors when she received a tap on the shoulder that nearly made her scream out loud. She spun around and came face to face the one and only.
"Jesus Christ you nearly gave me a heart-attack!" Christy moaned, her right hand was still clutching at her coat in the position of where her heart should be.
"I saw you running from over there, wanted to see what was going on."
"Well either fate is being very nice to me this year, or this is a complete coincidence but we need to move now."
"Care to explain before I go anywhere with you?"
Christy stared at Jimmy with disbelief, before realising she had not told him anything. It seemed to have slipped her mind that Jimmy hadn't been there for the last twelve hours during Chantelle's absence. Then again the two of them weren't even on talking terms.
"Here," Christy said quickly, sticking her hand into her pocket and pulling out the slip of vivid pink paper and thrusting it at Jimmy. "Chantelle didn't come back last night either."
Jimmy raised his eyebrows and unfolded the paper to read what was on it. Just like Christy, he read it several times before it sunk in. "So you think she's been.."
"I don't know but either way I don't like it." Christy interjected, her face still full of concern and worry before setting off at a jog towards their specified destination. Jimmy remained silent as he followed behind her, through the deserted campus of Bullworth. It was still too early for the rest of the school and he was glad that Christy had not thought to ask him what he was doing at such early hours of the morning...Not that he would have told her the truth at any rate.
They ascended the steps to the library and went around the right side of the building towards the broken wall. Jimmy gave Christy a boost as she climbed over and then followed her.
"Look." Christy said, the fear in her voice was extremely pronounced and Jimmy followed her gaze to see long drag lines in the snow. It was a good job there had been no fresh layers over the past twelve hours or this would have been their dead-end.
"And look at where it goes," Jimmy said flatly, pointing to the right over another wall. There were footprints, drag marks and a glove. Christy stared in disbelief and watched as Jimmy jumped over the wall not wanting to follow but knowing there wasn't much choice.
"Where does this go exactly?" He asked as he knelt down beside the glove, picking it up and staring at it...Too big to be Chantelle's that was for sure.
"Harrington House."
"Looks like they found out what she was up to then."
"You think..."
"They took her. Yeah I do." Jimmy finished before throwing the glove aside and turning to look over his shoulder at Christy who was now extremely pale even though it was freezing cold outside. "It would just be the perfect plan wouldn't it? They know me and Chantelle are close, they know I care about her as well...Take the whole boxing thing that happened last month. Now they've took her, and I think I know why."
"They want to lure you in." Christy said in hushed tones, walking towards him slowly. "They want you to go straight in to get her back."
"Yeah. And I'm going to give them what they want but I ain't going in alone."
"Well I can't do anything I'm just a girl."
"I know. And you're going to stay far away from here when I go in."
"What!? Chantelle is my best friend I'm not just going to leave her!"
"You said so yourself, you're just a girl...But you are going to help me get her back. I need you to find Davis, and get him to alert Russell. I want the big guy on my side. He's enough to get the Preps out of my hair until I find her."
Christy stared at Jimmy as he finally straightened up and looked down the side-path towards what would be Harrington House. There was no time to plan out a strategic mission, she had already been stuck in that place for over fifteen hours and that was probably torture being stuck in a place full of posh snobs.
"Do you want me to go now?" She asked quietly looking down at her gloved hands. Never before had she felt so useless as she did right now, whilst Jimmy and Russell would be fighting to get Chantelle back all she could was sit and wait patiently...Mind there was Pinky Gauthier...
"Oh my god!" Christy exclaimed suddenly making Jimmy briefly lose track on what he was about to say. "Pinky Gauthier! That stupid snobbish bitch!"
"What!?" Jimmy responded with confusion, staring at Christy as she slammed her palm into her forehead.
"How could I have been so stupid, everything just seems to be bloody clicking into place now. She was walking around with a stupid sneer on her face, she looked straight at me with one of those I-Know-Something-You-Don't expressions on her face aswell. That damn stuck-up bitch was part of their plan all along!"
Jimmy opened his mouth to speak, but now wasn't the time to start dwelling on the past. Chantelle was locked up in Harrington House with a bunch of imbeciles and he needed to get her out of there fast before they brain-washed her too.
"Get Davis now. You can think about Pinky another time."
"Oh don't worry about that." Chantelle said harshly before turning around and climbing back over the wall. "No-one gets away with tricking my best friend..."
Jimmy raised his eyebrows and shook his head as the red-head made a sharp exit and made the assumption that he would be seeing Pinky with a perhaps a vicious black-eye for the next few days. He stared back down the pathway, picturing Harrington House in his minds-eye before leaving himself, heading towards the Boys Dormitory where he could stack up on fire crackers, stink bombs, marbles and his weapon of choice, the slingshot.
Neither Christy or Jimmy noticed the fourth set of footprints imprinted in the frozen snow, leading towards and away from the library. The set of footprints that belonged to the real sender of the pink note...