The morning after Mello ran away wasn't any better.
My parents called some family friends to keep an eye out for him, but I doubted it would help in the slightest. I still had to go to school, and once I was there I immediately wanted to leave (not like I'm usually a fan of school; I always want to leave school, but today more than ever), but I stayed. That day nothing really happened, I went to school, and came back home. I still felt worried about him, and the feeling wouldn't even budge. I drove around with my mother for a few hours and we took a look around, but we didn't find anything of use to us, which was no surprise.
To be honest, if Mello is fine wherever he is, he's going to come back eventually safe and sound. I hardly know him and, again, anything we try to do to get him back would be useless. Mello just knows what he is doing too much for his own good, and even in an unfamiliar city, he obviously understands how to hide well enough. By now the police probably reported him to be missing as well, which meant that he would be trying extra hard to stay hidden if he knew about this new development. But one slip up, even if it's being assaulted in some back alley by a hobo, and he'd be so freaking screwed; which is why we need to find him. But he is just too stubborn, and is most probably hidden away somewhere no one would think about, regardless of whether it be safe or not.
...wow, now that I think about it, I do know the guy quite well, which is scary. I mean, I literally spoke to him about three times, tops. And to think that I've analyzed him and empathized with him to such an extent makes me feel like a creepy stalker. Well, the plus side of my surprising near-stalker detective abilities was that I got a great idea, which I put to action the next day.
I didn't think of doing this before being as distracted by trying to find him as I was, but I just remembered I could easily look up his online accounts. Get more of an idea about his personality when it comes to these things, and if I use the information I get out of that, I can easily find details and use 'em to find him; and that is exactly what I was going to do.
So when the bell rang after the second period to end, I went straight to the computer lab. I didn't want to wait for school to be over so I could do this on my own computer, and settled for the computer lab. I sat down on one of the burgundy chairs and swiftly typed in the computer code, I waited for the computer to boot up. And once it did, I pulled up the search engine and looked up the name Kheel, and what loaded up was pretty interesting.
They were a big family and they owned an agency for detectives (oh, the irony), but for whatever reason Mello's parents didn't get in on the family business, and his father settled for being a police officer. Well, I wouldn't say settled, Eric was apparently a high standing police officer although it is very possible that he had other aspirations.
Then I realized that analyxing Eric wasn't going to be super important in helping me figure out Mello's hideout, so I turned my attention to Mello's online profiles' most of which were pretty hard to find. He only had a few accounts on a few sites and even then he didn't put up much information on them either.
His Facebook page was the one with the most information, and I soon found out what I could use to find him, at least a little bit. I was not able to find out more about his personality like I intended to do, but I did find out that he was from a village called Mace in Preddvor, Slovenia (which I soon found out was completely different from LA). I have to admit, living in a village called Mace sounds super interesting. It also made me wonder why they moved all the way out here, but I dismissed the thought soon and browsed over his other information.
He's seventeen years old, blood type A+ and was born on December the 13th. He was privately schooled in his hometown. His only post was about a kid named Near, that he apparently disliked a lot, and there was only three people on his friends list. His parents and a boy named Jure, I assumed this was a friend from his hometown and I took a quick look at his information, I confirmed their friendship, but found nothing else interesting.
I was about to exit the site deciding that was all I was going to find, when a single post caught my eye. It was an advertisement actually, on the bottom of the screen of his friends page that he had shared. It was advertising a chocolate brand that was on sale a few months ago, 'Green and Blacks chocolate' it read, and I was reminded of the shoplifting in the market place the other day. It was a small spark of something akin to hope as I clicked on the tags, and sure enough Mello was tagged on it.
It made sense, and it was only by chance that I actually paid attention to the post. Mace was a small town, so of course Mello wouldn't go far off, he would want to stay somewhere at least a little familiar. This post advertising chocolate, it made sense that Mello was tagged to it because he most likely likes the brand of chocolate, and then the shoplifting. I felt like I should have made the connection before, but really there was no way I could have.
There is a great chance that he is hiding out somewhere in the marketplace, but where? I couldn't imagine anywhere over there that could be comfortable to stay in the least.
I felt better now, I had an idea now of where he was, and decided I could go there right after school is out, even if he isn't, it is my only lead.
Almost right after I left the computer lab, the bell rang for next period and I found Beyond looking for me.
"Hey! Where did you go?" He questioned, irritation etched on his face as he walked over to me.
"I was doing some homework in the computer lab, why?" I responded, placing my attention on the dissatisfied teen.
"I just wanted to talk to you," He huffed.
"Okay, what about?" I asked, genuinely confused.
He shook his head exasperatedly, "You've looked like the walking dead for the past two days, I want to know why." he stated.
"Oh," I mumbled in realization, as I just remembered that I hadn't slept all that well in the last two nights no matter how hard I tried, thanks to Mello, and I probably did look terrible right now. Now that I was reminded of it, I felt really quite exhausted.
"It's nothing, just had a bad sleep," I supplied, trying to convince him, but I don't think he bought it because he just stared at me with a disbelieving look on his face. He all but said something along the lines of: 'you are lying to me, I know you are'.
"What are you hiding from me? You're not...doing drugs or anything right?" He asked half jokingly, but his concern was quite obvious in his tone.
"No, no," I reassured him with a little laugh, "Just family stuff...well, someone went missing." I only lied partially.
"Who?" He asked as he cocked his head.
Uh oh, this is where it gets tricky.
I was about to brush him off as I walked towards my locker and grabbed my books, but stopped mid breath and turned back to him. I mean, Beyond deserved know the truth.
"You remember that guy Mello?" I asked him while sorting out which books I needed, not caring much if I was late for class.
"Him?" He questioned curiously.
"Yeah, he ran away," I nodded.
"Okay," he drawled, "And exactly why are you so concerned about him?"
Dammit, did he have to be so perceptive when it comes to stuff like this? I totally regret thinking that he deserved to know. Bastard, he just has to be too sharp right now.
"I don't know. Anyway, come on. We are really late for class now," I diverted the conversation because I knew it was edging into the danger zone, but I didn't know why it was dangerous.
"Huh." Was his only response as he indeed followed me into the classroom.
I heard him mutter something under his breath and couldn't help but think it was something along the lines of out conversation from the day before conversation, but I convinced myself it was just my imagination as I sat onto my desk, ignoring the teacher scolding me and Beyond for being late.
English was not my favorite subject; not because I wasn't good at it, but because it was so easy, not to mention boring. Especially with Mello on my mind and the fact that I just wanted to go find him right now, English just seemed like a waste of time. I already knew what we were learning. Seriously, they literally just taught us this stuff last year, did they really think we forgot what we are doing? I know how to write poems thank you very much.
With a resigned sigh I hurried my assignment along, and waited impatiently for the school day to be over.
When the bell rang for the last class of the day, I repeated my past actions and tossed my books carelessly in my locker as I headed out, only to be stopped by my English teacher, Ms. Hampton.
"Yeah?" I asked, clueless to as why she was stopping me.
"You were late for class by five minutes," She said sternly. "Don't think you can get away with that, Mail."
Way to sound like an overly clichéd antagonist, Ms. H.
"Um," I gave as a reply. All I really wanted was to just get going, the sooner the better. If she made me stay for detention, I wouldn't have much time to search for Mello.
"Detention in my classroom, for one hour. Now." She said, brooking no arguments, her hands akimbo.
"I can't! I...I have things to do" I argued. I swear, I will even stay in detention for two hours tomorrow. I just wanted to get going ASAP.
"Not anymore you don't. If you don't go now I will make it an hour and a half."
I sighed in frustration, not wanting to get into trouble with my parents if I simply left now, "Let's get this over with," I grumbled, and promptly started walking back to the English classroom.
Ms. Hampton followed closely behind me as I entered the room, and gestured for me to sit down at a desk. I complied reluctantly, and sat down in the desk as she took her own place at the front of the classroom. A few minutes passed without a word, when I realized Beyond was late for class also, yet he wasn't in here for detention.
"Why isn't Beyond here? He was late too" I spoke up, frustrated. Knowing her she just wanted to pick on me. Gosh.
She looked up at me from some papers, an odd expression on her face as she responded, "That is none of your business" she deadpanned, and I immediately realized what happened, causing me to break out into laughter. Like, my bad mood nearly completely lifted, thanks to Beyond.
"Be quiet!" She snarled, irritation crossing her features. I only continued laughing harder. I should have known Beyond would pull something. I have known him to be absurdly rebellious when it comes to authority.
"What did he do?" I snickered, watching her face to go red with embarrassment.
"I told you to be quiet. Do you want me to tack on that extra half an hour?" She asked through gritted teeth.
I reluctantly stopped laughing (externally), but still wondered what he would have done. I was definitely going to ask him about it later. Beyond had a reputation for making pranks, some not so pleasant, and I would bet money that he only threatened her. But the look on her face showed that, whatever he said, she wanted to avoid it happening. I laughed quietly at that thought for a brief moment.
She gave me one last glare before settling down with her papers again, as I just gave her an amused smirk. It really was funny how Beyond could control the teachers in this school. From what I understand, Beyond's parents don't really care what he does in school. So whenever the teachers call his home to complain about him, his parents say they will talk to him, but they never do. So in a way Beyond has no limits for the amount of trouble he cause.
I shuffled around in my desk to get into a more comfortable position to pass the hour in, and I soon felt a frown begin to form on my face as I began to think about Mello again. I needed to find him, and this stupid detention was wasting my time.
Instead of thinking about being stuck in detention, I tried to think of exactly where Mello could be. The marketplace really didn't have that many places to stay, and there is still a chance that he isn't even there. But it seemed very liable, and it only made sense. I thought for a moment that maybe I should tell the Kheels about where I think he is, but decided against it. There would be a lesser chance of him running away from me, than him running away from his parents. If I were him, I wouldn't want to be found by my parents. I would be less worried about a kid my age finding me. Also, he doesn't really know me, so there is more room for him to trust me. Maybe it is just wishful thinking, and I am being an idiot, but I think he mainly doesn't want to see his parents.
Now what do I do when I actually find him? Convince him to come back? I don't really know him, so he might listen to me, but if he doesn't for that same reason? I will just have to try my best to come to an agreement with him, I decided.
On the other hand, why do I care so much about him? I still can't figure it out. If you haven't figured it yet (and you'll have to possess a remarkable amount of stupidity for that), I am not a generally caring person to those that I hardly know. Hell, I am not exactly the paragon of caring to people I do know. So why this concern for someone like Mello? The guy was truly an ass; yet here I am, worried about him, and I don't understand why. If I was what they call a hopeless romantic, I would call it fate, and that we are soulmates, but I have never believed in those things. So it does confuse me greatly, why did I all of a sudden find myself attracted to Mello? I am sure time will tell, but I am impatient, and I want to know now. Maybe it's just a clichéd case of me finding the asshole super attractive or something equally as dumb.
I remembered a psychology class I had when I was fifteen, that one day we researched sexuality. I was not really interested in it, but I do remember something from it; it was mentioned briefly and I am surprised I can still recall it, but a student brought up the topic of demisexual people, people who only have a sexual attraction to someone they are close to, or on a mentally similar level. That doesn't explain much about my situation, but maybe I could do some research on the topic. I just want an explanation that even vaguely applies to this situation, anything to put my mind at ease at this point, really.
"The hour's up," Said the bored voice of the teacher, jolting me out of my thoughts. I looked up at the clock and sure enough, an hour had passed, I was surprised that it seemed to pass so quickly but stood up from my desk anyways. Who am I to waffle away the time that I could spend more productively (I can't believe I just said that)?
Without a response and a dismissive wave instead, I left the classroom and soon I was walking down the street towards the marketplace, glad to be on my way.
I walked passed a bubbly group of girls chatting amongst themselves as I entered the marketplace. It was the same as usual here, people at all the shops talking with other people. Sometimes small arguments breaking out here and there, and in other points you had some groups of kids laughing at a joke. I have lived here all my life so it was very familiar to me. But today I intended to find Mello, and I decided I would drag him out of here if I had to.
I began to walk idly around, passing a few clothing stores, a bakery and some more shops. Soon making my way to where the chocolate shop from yesterday was, noticing that it was closed right now and was immediately disappointed, if it was open Mello might have been around. I decided to see if it would be open anytime soon, and walked over to the small shop, where I looked at the hours.
'Tuesday: 9:00m-4:00pm', The brightly colored sign read.
Great. It just closed, I thought dejectedly and with a light huff continued down the pathway. Thanks for that, Ms. Hampton. I hope karma kicks you when you least expect it.
I paid most of my attention to all of the areas that were scantily populated, any areas that went behind shops or anything of the sort, but I saw no signs of Mello. This causing me to feel downtrot again, like I was actually wrong, and I was completely on the wrong path here.
Eventually I stopped at one of the more fancy clothing and shoe stores, something catching my eyes. It wasn't Mello, but a pair of black combat boots that I, even being a person who doesn't like fashion that much, would have like to own.
But I was soon disrupted from admiring the attire when a heavy weight knocked into me, sending me off balance, and knocking the breath out of me as I fell on my back.
When I looked up I was met with a pair of steely blue eyes, and it only took me a second to read the situation when I saw a bag in Mello's hand and a small group of police running towards us. I didn't think when I grabbed Mello's hand and pulled him into a small alleyway behind the shops, and ignored Mello's startled exclamation of shock and confusion as I led us out of the police officer's line of sight.