Thank you so much everyone who reviewed and alerted this story. I do apologize for the long wait, didn't expect that many people to even take a second to read my story! Also edited Chapter 1 since I spotted quite a few mistakes. Hope you enjoy Chapter 2 and that this story does not disappoint.
In the friendliest manner that she could, Monica gently nudged the quiet student beside her. The little girl, probably not used to receiving much attention at all, glanced up at her history teacher in awe. Monica had to admit, she was adorable looking and in all honesty, couldn't understand why she was always ignored by her fellow classmates.
"Having fun, huh?" Monica questioned with the warmest smile she could muster without looking overly intimidating.
The mute simply nodded, her pigtails jumping up and down excitedly. But oddly, she didn't even smile herself.
Monica observed her a little longer as the little girl gawked at the surroundings that zoomed past them. "What's been your favourite part of the day so far?"
Her little student seemed puzzled for a brief second. "The statue," was all she mumbled. Hurriedly, her attention was back onto something else other than her history teacher's face.
Monica really tried her best to make little Lea participate in class, to familiarize her with the rest of her classmates, but it always seemed to fail. When Monica was a little girl, she liked being by herself, admittedly, but she'd at the same time crave company, always wondering if there was a problem with her. Was she too weird? A little ugly? She didn't know. So as she sat next to her lonely student, all she could see in front of her was the mini version of herself, practically curled up in a ball. It stung a little.
She herself had once been the shy, vulnerable kid in class... Not that she was ever bullied, but simply ignored. God, she hated reliving those horrible years but it was a part of her, no matter what. Looking back, her father had always shelled her up, constantly reminding her it was "for her own good", though she couldn't quite pinpoint what good exactly. Thankfully, she managed to slowly gain her confidence and couldn't feel any better. As for her father...
But before Monica could even think about anything else, the bus jerked as it drove over a bump. She had been so engrossed in her own thoughts and memories that she hadn't noticed they were completely off course. Instantly, she felt the adrenaline begin to course through her veins and her heart pound violently against her ribcage.
"Um, where exactly are we going? I've never taken this route," Monica stated, trying her best to conceal the nervousness and urgency in her voice. After all, he was the bus driver and supposedly, knew what he was doing and where he was travelling to.
The rugged looking guy simply continued driving, his knuckles white against the wheel. Nothing.
"Excuse me?" Monica repeated with a little more force.
The bus suddenly came to a halt, and everybody was practically thrown in different directions. The tires squealed as it burnt rubber, the pungent odor of it filling the scene. The burly driver, who Monica suddenly recalled as 'Jabba' after a quick introduction beforehand, stood up with all his might as the kids began to yell in panic. Monica, not sure what to do, glued herself to her seat. If anybody had to remain calm, it was her.
"Kids, calm down!" she said, attempting to soothe them. Clearly, it was not working.
"You're all going to follow my rules now —" Jabba soon materialized a small pistol from underneath his shirt, only ensuing even more screams of terror and fear throughout the bus. "— or someone gets killed."
"What are you doing? They're... just kids!" Monica hesitated a little — she didn't exactly want to act overly cocky in front of a guy who had a gun that was most likely loaded. She was confused and couldn't understand what on Earth was going on.
"Enough!" he bellowed, quite literally rocking the bus until everybody sealed their lips. Twenty pairs of innocent, unsettled eyes focused in on the armed perpetrator.
"This bus is heading to the Pearl Harbor where a boat will be waiting for us. No questions asked, no funny business and no disobeying orders," he declared. The next thing Monica knew, the barrel of his pistol made its way towards the center of her forehead. Cocking it, he then said: "You. All phones in a bag, no electronics, or you're the first to blow."
Gulping, she nodded and began to collect any phones, and the kids certainly weren't taking any risks, since all of them handed it straight to her in a heartbeat. When she returned to her seat next to Lea, Monica swore she had never seen as much emotion in that girl's eyes ever before in anybody else. And it gave her the chills.
Jabba snorted like a hog. "You really expect me to believe you don't have a cell, too, sunshine? Bag it, now."
Luckily for her, she had two phones on her: a nice, shiny recent one which her sister Abby had given her on her birthday quite recently, and another she kept simply because it was easier for carrying around with her, since it wasn't shaped like a humongous potato like most new smartphones. She threw her older phone into the bag and watched him chuck it out the nearest window. The bag landed with a crack outside.
"Good girl." He smiled peevishly, his bright yellow teeth not a pleasant sight to see. "Someone is due to arrive any time soon, let's just all be a little patient, shall we?"
When the creep began to stalk towards the back of the bus, Monica took that as her chance to call someone for help using the smartphone she had in her back trouser pocket. Her fingers trembled ridiculously and it was proving far too hard to even press the numbers right. She knew she had a few more seconds since she could hear Jabba spitting out some threats at the kids sitting at the back. But she then realized calling 911 was going to be far to conspicuous. She had to text someone, and quick, but who?
'Call for help. Bus heading to Pearl Harbor. Guy's got a gun. Quick.' She pressed send just in time and shoved her cell back into her pocket just in time, as Jabba stomped back to the front. He glanced out the window, and so did Monica, only to realize the 'people' he had referred to were arriving. Two younger looking men stepped out of the car and started towards the bus.
She really hoped that Abby hadn't decided to sleep in late that morning.
It was oddly quiet in Hawaii today, that even Danny commented that to Kono. Since not much was happening back at HQ, the pair decided to grab coffee for the rest of Five—0 in a local coffee shop. Secretly, Danny felt a little unsettled about the whole thing.
"Hey, Kono, have you heard Steve talk about Catherine lately?" Danny asked Kono as he pushed open the glass door for her.
She raised a questioning eyebrow at him. "Where did that come from?"
Danny mimicked a fish for a moment. "Well, I just think... Something is on his mind. And he's been acting like he's my therapist or something over my fabulously rocky relationship with Rachel, and I'm pretty sure that means something is up. With Catherine."
"Or maybe Steve is just trying to be a good friend?" Kono countered, ordering coffees and Steve's favourite, malasadas.
"Okay, Kono, could you just answer my initial question, please?"
"Well, no, not that I've heard off. At least not since she left to Nepal," Kono told him, grabbing the greased paper bags and coffees and heading outside, Danny following close behind her. "So, since when did you become Steve's therapist, huh?" she playfully joked.
"Just curious, okay? Since he seems to be acting, I don't know... Unaffected, that's the word. But hey, Steve shows emotion as often as a slab of concrete."
Kono snorted. "Don't let boss hear you say that."
Danny's phone then began to ring. "Steve, did you really need to call? Kono and I are already arriving with the malasa — Wait, what?"
Kono began to listen in, realizing this could possibly be a case. Ah, the thought of a peaceful day went straight out of the window.
"Okay," Danny sighed, hanging up. He massaged his head a little with his hand, clearly feeling agitated. Noticing Kono's quizzical gaze on him, he eventually decided to inform her of the 'good' news. "We've got a case. School bus was hijacked, apparently the body of a bus driver was found in the middle of nowhere. There are kids in that bus. Come on."
"On it."