At exactly two in the morning, his phone went off.
This time, he listened to the sounds. He kept his emotions at bay, and listened.
He heard voices. The voices of small children. And behind those voices was the faint sound of circus music.
Ring around the rosie
Pocket full of posies
Ashes, ashes,
We all fall down
The voices silenced quickly, and the buzzing of insects, like the call before, erupted.
And the phone clicked.
o-o-o
Casey stared at him with evident worry in his eyes. He ignored her. He knew she was full of questions. He was beginning to regret ever telling her. He should have lied. He should have kept her out of this.
For the first time in his life, Derek got to school early. He'd skipped breakfast, leaving quickly. Casey hadn't even had time to get to the door when the roar of the Prince was heard.
Sorry, Case, he thought.
He got to school at exactly 7:06.
Somehow, though, as he got out of the car and approached the building, Emily spied him. With overwhelming speed, she was by his eyes in seconds. For a moment, Derek was afraid Emily was back into her "obsess over Derek" phase—Sheldon had moved, after all, and she was single. Single and prowling.
"What are you doing here so early?" he asked, eyeing her.
"Trying to find you. Casey told me you came to school early." She was out of breath, panting, and she had to stop momentarily.
"Trying to find me?" he echoed, confused.
Emily nodded, her dark curls bouncing with the motion. "Derek, Amy was abducted last night. And everyone's saying you were the last person to see her."
He pressed his lips together, refusing to let the dizziness in his head get to him, realizing what this meant. Realizing he had little to defend himself with, except Casey's word, and he wasn't sure if that was enough.
"All I know is, she's missing. And you're the target." She looked at him in pity. "I mean, I know you wouldn't hurt her, and I'm sure a majority of the student body and staff knows that. People will be here for you. We'll back you up."
"Where's Casey?" he asked suddenly, dismissing her earlier comments quickly.
Emily's expression answered his question.
"Goddamn it, Casey," he muttered, and bolted, whipping the doors open with fury. He ignored the secretary's yell: No running in the halls!
Paul's door was closed. Relief flooded through him. There sat Casey, frozen with panic as he stared at her.
"What the hell do you think you're doing?"
"You need to tell someone! This is getting dangerous!"
"I need to tell someone, Case, not you! So keep your fucking trap out of it!" he snapped, rage flowing through his veins.
Casey looked at him, her face drained of color; the way she held herself made her look small. Derek sighed, taking her arm and pulling her to a corner.
"Casey," he began, trying to think of a way to approach his request calmly, "Please, please just go to your classes and do your grade grubbing and obsess over the fact that I didn't give you a ride this morning. Okay?"
Casey's breath hitched. "Okay." She said, so quiet he thought he imagined it. She looked down.
"And Casey…" he trailed off, knowing what he was about to say would make her panicky again, but he had to say it, "Don't go anywhere alone. And make sure you know where the kids are at all times. Can you do that for me?"
She nodded, her eyes still downcast.
He used one index finger to tilt her head up. The contact made him queasy, so he took his finger back quickly.
"Thanks, Case." He said distractedly, and stepped away from his previous closeness to her.
"What's your first class?"
"You have first period with me, Derek."
"Right."
They walked to the classroom in silence, and he made sure the teacher was in the room before he tilted his head at her—a subtle farewell—and exited the room, going in search of Alan before it started.
He found him in the library, a change to his usually hiding place.
"Dude," he said, clamping one hand on the boy's shoulder, "We need to talk."
"I'll say." Alan noted wryly.
They exited the building, huddling in the shed that was both a storage place for tools and a place the potheads went to get high.
"So, Little Miss Blondie went missing and everyone's overlooking the possibility that she's just off skipping a few days."
"Alan," Derek said tiredly, "Not helpful. I'm in a lot of shit here."
The boy shot him an impatient look. "I saw you and Casey. Thought you weren't going to get her involved." Alan muttered bemusedly.
Derek shot him a look of warning, his patience having run out.
"Okay, okay. I've brought the stuff I need, we can set it up today and we'll go from there," responded the blonde, "Anything else?"
His hazel eyes regarded his own with dark trepidation and then, "Why didn't you tell me about what happened two years ago? With your sister? Framing that guy—"
Alan glared at him, "That was never proved, and how do you even know about it? Those records are sealed."
"I'll tell you when you tell me the truth," he responded in kind, "You said this wasn't someone at Thompson. And maybe it isn't, but if you're the kind of guy that can frame someone like that and get away with it, don't you think it's a little suspicious?"
The look of shock on Alan's face morphed into one of defensiveness, "If you're accusing me of something, just say it," he spat out.
The brunette rose his hands, curling his fingers into fists and pressing his lips in agitation, "Do you even understand how much trouble I'm in right now? Do you? Because if you did, you'd just tell me the truth, wouldn't you? So what, is this some kind of game? Did Amy get involved somehow—"
He felt Alan shove him back roughly, ice in his eyes, his voice hard, "If I wanted to ruin your life, I wouldn't have waited until now, and I sure as hell wouldn't have to have someone like Amy Park help me do it. See you around, Derek."
With that heated proclamation, Alan exited the shed, leaving Derek alone. He sighed, leaning back against the wall of the shed, rubbing his face roughly, wondering how much he'd fucked up.
He got to first period five minutes early, and his teacher was more than surprised. She commented on his punctuality, complimenting Casey for influencing him.
Clearly, she hadn't heard of Amy's demise.
He didn't see Casey in the room and wondered where she'd gone, feeling antsy, ready to call off the whole day until one by one, students entered the classroom, whispering to one another, eyeing him in what they thought was a subtle way.
Meanwhile a short distance from the classroom, Alan stared at Casey and said, "If you want him out of here," he told her, "before he goes into that system and doesn't get out, you're going to have to get involved. I don't care what he said. Create a distraction."
"Like what?" she asked, borderline hysterical now, calling his name when he whipped past her to escape Emily's detection.
When the teacher slammed her book against the desk to get her students' attention after the bell rang, Derek was all nerves, wondering when she'd come in and where she'd gone and hoping to God she'd just gone to the bathroom to cry or something.
Then the principal arrived, calling for him personally, the form of two officers standing beside him, and he caught Casey's eyes, as she watched him from her locker, Emily beside her.
She looked like he wanted to cry and he shifted her gaze away from her, a firm look on his face. Don't you dare do something stupid, Case, he thought.
And then she saw it. The fire alarm.
o-o-o
"So," began one of the officers, dark-skinned and dark-haired, watching him with her silver hawk eyes, "I'm sure you know by now why you're here."
Her badge glittered at him menacingly. The man by her side was big-boned, with a full face and dark eyes. His face was riddled with rosacea and acne scars.
Derek kept silent. Even he knew better.
"We just want to know if you know anything," the male officer began, clearly trying to befriend him.
"Did she say anything about running away, or maybe going to meet someone else?"
"No." he said, feeling intimidated.
"Did you take her somewhere?" she asked bluntly.
"I didn't take her anywhere, we stayed at her place. I got home at 11, on time."
The woman stared at him in a way that, Derek swore, was sarcastic.
And just then, the fire alarm went off.
He was saved.
He bolted out the door, away from the roving gaze of the officers, camouflaging himself with the rest of his peers. It was raining.
After getting out of the building, Casey found him, soaking wet and gasping.
"Let's get out of here." She said, taking his hand and pulling him toward the car.
He looked at her, stunned. In the car, he was still staring at her.
"You pulled the alarm. Why?" He asked in a daze.
"Well," Alan piped up in the back, startling him, "I helped."
His eyes flickered up to the rearview mirror, where Alan's eyes met his.
"Start the car already, we're going to your place." He commanded, content to ignore the events that occurred earlier that morning between them.
They had bigger problems, anyway.