Chapter 19
"…didn't wear her seatbelt that time, she probably could have been thrown out of the car!"
"… Colsen went to visit her once he learned what happened to his Gwyneth and…"
"… quite a lot of accidents, don't you think? There's Hardy, the younger one, then there's also the elder Hardy, then Shaw and now Gywneth…"
"…maybe they could call off classes for a while to avoid these accidents since most of them happened here and maybe we could avoid those exams coming up…"
"… what happened to Gwyneth?"
Frank, Callie, Joe and Vanessa were walking along the corridor the next morning and hearing everybody talk at the same time about what recently happened. News spread already as to what happened to Callie and Gywneth Rayson the day before and now the corridors buzzed with conversations of the informed informing the students that were still unaware of what took place.
"Have you seen Noah, Frank?" Joe asked his brother and looked at Vanessa and Callie to emphasize that he's also asking them.
"I don't think he's here today," Callie said with a worried look. "He and Gwyneth usually hangs out by his or her locker every morning and I don't think I've seen him."
"I saw his brother, Josh, a while ago, but I wasn't able to talk with him because quite a lot of students were trying to talk to him," Vanessa added.
"I don't want to say this but maybe Gwyneth's badly injured that Noah couldn't get himself to attend classes today. I have three subjects with him and I don't think I've seen him absent from one class ever since this school year began," Frank said but his eyes were still searching for any sign of his mate in the baseball team.
"Let's head to our classes now since it's almost time," Joe said a few minutes later after a useless search for Noah. "Maybe we can talk to Josh at lunch. I'll ask him if he can join us for lunch, since if I'm not mistaken, his room is near mine before lunch."
They agreed and headed to their respective rooms. Frank was taking up the stairs when he heard and saw someone take up the stairs near him. Uh-oh, he thought.
"What?" he asked to the tall boy beside him who was wearing a rather goofy grin.
"Good morning to you Hardy!" Jason Moore said. "How's Callie? I heard she was in a 'sort of' accident yesterday? You're not taking care of her," he said, talking like a father scolding a little child.
"She's fine," Frank said, continuing up the stairs until they reached the second floor. "Sorry Moore, I gotta go now."
"We're having classes together, you know," the sandy-haired boy reminded Frank who thought, What a great start to the morning…
* * *
"And don't forget to bring your own periodic table tomorrow, okay?" Ms. Ryan's voice was heard over the bell. The petite, blonde teacher was only answered by the sudden buzz that started among the students as they got up to leave the room. Joe Hardy searched for Josh Colsen among the crowd and found him near the door three rooms away from Ms. Ryan's lesson room, making his way out. He waited for him to get nearer then approached him.
"Hey Josh!" he said once he was beside the younger Colsen. The sophomore looked at him and said, "Yeah?"
"I'm Joe-"
"Hardy?" came the quite annoyed answer of Josh. "Sorry, I don't mean to snap but it's just that just yesterday, I was a normal guy undisturbed by other students and I haven't made my second step in the corridor this morning when a number of students suddenly bombarded me with questions."
"Oh, sorry about that. I kind of understand how you're feeling," Joe said as the two walked to the direction of the canteen.
"You probably do, since you're one of the most famous students around," Josh said with a chuckle.
"I didn't know about that!" Joe joked back. "Hey, maybe you can join us-"
"-for lunch?" Josh cut off again with a sheepish smile. "I have to ask my 'special friend' first if she won't mind."
"Special friend huh? Well, okay, but we probably won't mind inviting her over to our table also," Joe added.
"I guess. But she might feel shy, you're group consists of juniors and seniors, right?"
"Well, yeah."
"I'll tell her. But honestly you know, she probably would be jumping for joy if she learns that we're having lunch with you guys, especially your brother," Josh said, rolling his eyes.
As they entered the canteen, Joe guessed, "No offense to you, but she has a crush on Frank?"
Josh looked at him in surprise. "Oh, no no." Then he chuckled. "Actually, she's among the top five students among the sophomores and she'll probably be thrilled to ask Frank for advice and the like."
"Ah, okay. Why don't you ask her now and we'll be just over there. You know where are usual table is, don't you?" Joe asked, raising his voice so that he could be heard over the noise in the school canteen.
"Yeah. I just have to look for the noisiest one," Josh kidded before walking off.
Joe headed to their usual table where the others were already seated. He took the vacant seat between Vanessa and Biff. He tapped Biff on the shoulder and said, "Let's pull another table. I invited Josh Colsen and his girlfriend to have lunch with us since we want to ask a few questions. Our table's too crowded to have another couple of chairs."
As he and Biff pulled a vacant table and placed it beside their own one, Josh and a petite girl walked towards them, both carrying their tray. "Are you sure you guys don't mind having us here?" Josh questioned.
"It's okay. We just need to ask you a few questions anyway so why don't we do it over lunch?" Joe replied as he pulled a couple of vacant seats from another table. He placed them between Frank and Chet. "There. You guys can seat now."
"Guys, this is Josh Colsen, Noah's younger brother and his girlfriend…" Joe introduced and waited for Josh to continue.
"Dinah Roberts," Josh said while the auburn-haired girl gave a warm smile.
"We just want to ask if Noah told you anything about what happened to Gwyneth," Frank started as he picked up his burger. He and Joe decided not to tell Josh about what they found in the van the night before.
"I'll tell you everything Noah told me last night when he came from the hospital. He said that he walked Gwyneth to the van, which is Gwyneth's temporary car for a while since her brother borrowed her Mustang. They actually went to your van," Josh said to the Hardys then proceeded, "they thought it was her car. So anyway, since Noah's car was parked a few cars away from your van, Gwyneth told Noah not to walk her to her van since his car's nearer now. Then half an hour after Noah got home, Mrs. Rayson called him right away, telling him that a police officer called the Rayson's house to tell them about the accident." Josh bit into his sandwich after he finished his speech.
"So Noah didn't see Gwyneth's van…" Vanessa said thoughtfully.
"So naturally, he wasn't able to see if something was wrong with the van or anything," Joe added.
"Right," Josh agreed.
"How's Gwyneth?" Callie asked.
"I don't know how you survived your accident Callie, but thank God you did. Anyway, Gwyneth just learned driving a few months ago and maybe that's why she wasn't able to prevent herself from crashing into three posts and, what was that Noah said?, oh, the railing somewhere along the road. Gwyneth's kind of nervous when driving and I guess she freaked out when the brake wasn't working," Josh went on.
There was a moment of silence then…
"Noah didn't go to school today, did he?" Chet asked.
"No. He felt so bad about what happened to Gywnie, I doubt he'll be able to pay attention to his classes," Josh answered grimly.
"Anything else Josh? Anything Noah could have said?" Frank asked hopefully.
"Sorry guys, nothing else," Josh answered with a sad smile.
"Oh, okay. Thanks anyway, Josh and Dinah for joining us here," Joe said, fiddling with his fries. "Let's stop the interrogation here shall we, and just enjoy our lunch," then gave Dinah an encouraging smile. Josh caught it and talked softly to her. Then Dinah turned to Frank with a smile and they launched into a quiet conversation.
A few minutes later, they decided to finish up and head to their classes.
* * *
"I can't wait anymore," he said, pacing the floor of the office. "I want her with me right now. As in right now!"
"Woah! Easy man. It's not time yet," another one, seated on the couch, answered.
"Stop that! You just don't know how I'm feeling! Tell Dad, tell him that I want her abducted, as soon as possible, probably today. I mean it!"
"What?! You're crazy!"
The first man glared at his chubby friend.
"Okay, okay. I get the message. I'll go tell your father now, okay?" he rose from his seat and left.
