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"All right," Professor Z sighed as he faced his students the next day at the Science Club meeting. "I guess we're not going to get much work done today."

"And there's really nowhere we can go to get more information to find out where Josie could be," Corrine added.

Z nodded tiredly in agreement with her. He was feeling drained and exhausted, which wasn't really surprising considering he had been up late worrying about Josie.

"And you won't let any of us go through the black hole to find her," Lucas remarked with a glare at his professor.

Z turned towards the boy. "You know why I won't let you Lucas. We don't know where Josie is, and if she's stuck and can't get home, then the same thing would happen to you. I know it sounds harsh guys," he continued, turning to face the rest of his students and resting his hands on one of the lab desks, "but it's better that only one person is gone, not two, or three. Or all of you."

"But…" Vaughn began to argue, before Z cut him off.

"You might as well all go. I'll see you in class tomorrow." Z sighed again, and moved back to the black board, turning his back on his students to hide his fear for Josie.

With an eerie silence, they all packed up their books, and headed out of the classroom, with one last look at Z. Corrine banked left, and headed up the jam packed stairs, while Vaughn fought his way through the crowds to get outside for football practice.

Marshall and Lucas headed right, down the hallway, to go back to their dorm room, but for some strange reason, the hall was incredibly busy for the time of day.

"Don't these people have anywhere else to be?" Lucas asked Marshall sarcastically.

Marshall shrugged, as he tried to get through a small group who were clustered together. "I guess not," he replied over the dull roar of talking.

He turned and looked back at that group he'd just gotten through. One of the students, a look of great interest on her face, was leaving and rushing towards the next group. Suddenly Lucas grabbed his arm. Marshall struggled to break free, but Lucas doggedly held on.

"What?" Marshall asked in frustration.

"Shhh… I just heard Josie's name mentioned," Lucas replied in a hushed tone.

"Did you hear what that Josie girldid to the rat in the science room yesterday?" a sophomore whispered. "She turned it purple, can you believe it? I heard that that weird Lucas guy was involved too."

"I was told that she left school to join the army, because her mom thought she needed some discipline," someone else cried out triumphantly after she'd heard about Josie and Lucas's little prank.

"No, no, no," a third person replied heatedly. "I heard that Trent was secretly working undercover. She's actually a spy, and is working for the government trying to figure out what Durst is hiding. Because Durst is actually an international spy who is hiding from the Czechoslovakian Government!" The guy leaned against the wall with a satisfied smirk.

"You idiot," one of Madison's friends laughed. "Didn't you learn nothing in history? Czechoslovakia doesn't even exist anymore!"

"Well then, Durst is hiding from some other government, under the guise as a Principal and Trent's trying to uncover the truth," the boy shot back.

Lucas raised an eyebrow at Marshall, as the two of them continued down the cluttered hall. Every few moments they stopped to listen in on another conversation, as people tried to figure out where Josie could have disappeared to.

"Well, this is interesting," Marshall remarked. "I didn't realize Josie was so popular."

"She's been kidnapped by the KGB because she holds information vital to them," one girl whispered.

"Are you serious?" a junior boy asked. "I heard that she took off for a few days to a rock concert that's going on in town."

The girl looked at her friend with disgust. "That's really lame!" she replied, before rolling her eyes.

"Not really popular," Lucas replied. "Just an interesting subject to gossip about."

The noise levels went down as the PA system crackled to life above their heads. Everyone turned towards the nearest speaker and craned their heads up to look.

Principal Durst's voice came over loud and clear. "There is nothing wrong at Blake Holsey High," she said, before switching the PA system back off.

The noise rose again with indignation at Durst's statement. Someone snorted at the blatant lie, while others laughed.

Lucas and Marshall exchanged glances before turning around, and fought their way back through the crowds to Professor Z's office, to let him know about the schools interest in Josie's disappearance.

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