Report

Thea did not show up after the first period. Nor did she seem to plan to be there for the second. Almund called Dabria and they talked for a bit. The rest of the gang sat and listened. Amber had joined them, also a bit worried. But the others could also tell that she seemed irritated.

"Yes they're all here. Ehm, okay, I'll ask them… No okay, yes I will tell them." Dabria finished the conversation with Almund and put down her phone.

"You'll tell us what?" Sel asked.

"The police wants to talk to us. To know what we last heard or saw of her. And if we have any idea of where she might be or why she might have left."

"That sounds fair enough." Katkin said. "When do they want us there?"

"Now."

"Now? But we're in school?" Bree said, a bit torn between what to do.

"They'll just have to let us go. We won't miss anything important. They should understand."

Dabria was right. The five of them went to the principal's office to ask for permission to leave. He had just gotten off the phone with Almund himself, and tried to make sense of the situation.

"Yes, I understand that you need to go. Make sure to get back here when you're done, if you still have classes then." He said to them, clearly a bit lost in thought.

He muttered something about kids causing drama, and started to look through some files, as the gang left his office.

They took the bus down to the police station. They all felt a bit weird as they entered. Dabria had been here before, meeting up Tristram when he had ended up in custody for being to drunk. Sel had only been here to get his driver's license, a much more joyful experience. Katkin had not been there before, but the aura of government and authority felt familiar from her meetings and overall experience with the child care system. Bree had only been here on a school field trip. They had gotten to try on some handcuffs, and toured the less secretive areas of the building. Now they all stood there, in the reception, unsure on what to do next. Amber took lead and walked up to the receptionist. She explained why they were there and mentioned everyone's names. She returned to the group with some papers in hand.

"Apparently we need to fill in these so that they can add to the system that we were here, and why."

Everyone took a form each, and they sat down on the sofas and chairs that stood around the room. They all sat in silent, and carefully filled in all their information. Dabria came to the space where she was supposed to write her address, and hesitated, unsure whether to write Tristram's or Theas. She looked up on the others. Most of them didn't seem to have a problem, but then she saw Katkin look up with the same confusion in her eyes. The looked at each other, Dabria lifted her paper and pointed at the address line, Katkin nodded. They both shrugged.

"Write my address, here." Bree whispered to Katkin and showed her her paper.

"Thank you." She whispered back, and started to copy it down.

"We can all hear you." Sel said a bit across the room.

Katkin didn't look at him but simply raised her hand and flipped him of. Dabria sighed, and looked down on her form again. She filled in Tristram's address, since she was still legally sign there, and continued on with the rest of the questions.

They finished almost at the same time, and went up to the receptionist to return the forms.

"Thank you. If you can all just sit down again, someone will be out soon to collect you." The woman behind the desk said, and smiled politely at them.

She didn't wait for them to leave, but instead turned around and started to look through the forms and put them into folders.

"Wasn't Almund supposed to be here?" Sel asked Dabria as they sat down again.

"I thought so too. Since he forwarded what the police said i thought he was already with them." She said and scrolled through her phone to see how long ago they had talked.

"He might be somewhere inside then maybe?" Bree said and nodded past the receptionist desk and down the hall.

"Yeah that's true. Probably." Sel nodded and leaned back into the sofa. "I guess we wait here then."

"That's what she told us to do…" Amber mutters.

"What's your deal? Why so happy?" Katkin asked.

"I think this is ridiculous." Amber answered.

Dabria was taken back a little.

"Ridiculous? Why?"

"Because she probably just ran of somewhere and now there is this whole thing. If she just up and leaves, then she is welcome to stay away for a while."

The others exchanged looks, everyone a bit unsure of why Amber was so angry with Thea.

"I mean I was angry too, but I'm still worried that something has happened to her?" Dabria said.

Amber looked at her, and Dabria could see that she looked close to tearing up.

"Of course I worry. But it's unfair of her to just leave in the middle of the night and let us worry like this. What secret trip did she go on that was secret enough for her not to tell me where she went?" Amber was clearly using anger to mask her insecurity and pain.

Sel caught on to what she meant, having managed to understand what she did not want to speak out loud. Before he could say anything to her though, Amber stood up.

"I'm just going to use the bathroom." She said and left the room.

Sel held up his phone, indicating to the rest to look at theirs, and started to write.

Sel: She thinks Thea might be with someone else.

Katkin: What?

Dabria: You mean BE with someone else?

Sel: Yes Dabria, I mean sleeping with someone else!

Bree: What makes you think that she thinks that?

Sel: Clearly she thinks that Thea would have told her where she went, if it wasn't somewhere that she didn't want Amber to know about.

Katkin: You got all that from what she said?

Dabria: Makes a bit of sense tbh.

Bree: But Thea wouldn't cheat would she?

Dabria: No. I can't imagine so.

Katkin: So Amber needs to calm down…

Bree: She is worried. Apparently more than we thought

Sel: Someone should talk to her

Katkin: Agreed

Bree: Sounds fair

Dabria: You guys mean me right?

Sel: Nice of you to volunteer.

Dabria: Assholes

"Very subtle guys." Amber's voice made them all look up. "Doesn't look suspicious at all."

She had returned and sat down again, shaking her head. She also picked up her phone, and sent a text to someone. Sel looked at Dabria and nodded his head towards Amber. Dabria rolled her eyes, and stood up, a bit unwillingly.

"Dabria Bronte." A dry voice came from the receptionist desk.

Dabria stopped in the middle of the room, and turned around. A man in shirt and tie stood there, and looked down on some papers in his hands. He raised his head and looked at her, and waved her towards him with one hand.

"Can you come with me? The rest can wait, we'll get to you too."

Dabria looked down at her friends, who all nodded for her to go. She walked over to the man, and followed him down the hall and into an office.