AWOL…the two students who sit to your immediate left and right have gone missing. Help us find them. Chase fears he may be responsible, given that this is not the first time his next door neighbors have disappeared. His dialogue with the cops is classic.
AWOL
I walk into the school, my stomach churning at the thought of having to watch the news. I wish I could just disappear for today, go AWOL, and not have to watch the news. Too bad Mr. Tom would make me fetch a switch if I skipped.
When I enter, I see the usual sights. E is sitting by the door playing football on
his phone, Danny is looking up quantum computers, Rhys isn’t here yet, like usual, and Jayla is also missing, which is weird. She’s usually early, making Mr. Tom his five cups of coffee.
I shake Mr. Tom’s hand and sit down at my seat. I do the attendance at 7:45. I’m here, Karla still isn’t here, E is here, Madison is here, Hector is here, Danny is here, Ethan is here, Kendall is here. But Rhys isn’t here, and Jayla isn’t here either. Mmmmmm. Guess who’s gonna be on the homework list today! Rhys comes in at 7:50. Dang, that’s early for him.
The entire day goes by and neither Karla nor Jayla show up. They didn’t even text. Mmmmm. Mr. Tom gives us another one of those super serious talks about following the honor code and showing up every day, on time, and calling the school if you can’t make it.
Over the weekend, still no sign of Jayla or Karla. Mr. Tom starts to get worried and sends a text to all the students. “Good evening students, don’t forget to do your literature. Stop waiting until 4 on Sunday. Also, remember to bring lunch on Monday. And Wednesday. Also Thursday. And finally, call me if you need help on your math. Also, your new grades have dropped on Thinkwave, so you can look at them. One final thing, Karla and Jayla are missing. If you know anything, please call me. Hope you’re enjoying your weekend. I certainly am. I’m loving this pizza up in the mountains. Check it out.” I don’t know how he wants us to check out his pizza. He didn’t even send a picture.
Jayla and Karla are missing. Oh my god…It’s all my fault. Bre’Onna and Kevin used to sit next to me, and now they’re out of the school. Now Jayla and Karla sit next to me, and THEY’RE OUT OF THE SCHOOL! HOW COULD I DO THIS? Oh my god, I need to do something. But not right now, it’s the weekend. I’ll do
something on Monday.
Monday comes, and when I walk into the school, I am met by a completely unusual sight. Instead of students sitting in the seats, it’s all cops! Cops everywhere!
“We’ve been waiting for you, Chase.” Says Mr. Tom.
“Yeah, we just got a few questions.” One of the officers chimes in.
“I DIDN’T DO IT!!” I yell, waving my arms around like a maniac.
“Is that self-incrimination I hear?” Another officer says.
“No.” I tell her.
“Chase, you know we have two students missing. And since you sit next to both of them, we think you could help us find them.” Mr. Tom tells me.
“So I’m not going to prison?” I ask.
“Well did you do it?” A tall officer asks.
“Nope.” I say confidently.
“Good, sit down.”
I sit down in Mr. Tom’s gargantuan leather chair and sit up as straight as I can.
“Okay, Chase.” One of the officers says calmly. “Please describe the very last interaction you had with Ms. Rivas and Ms. Gill.”
“Uhh.. well I got my chore checked by Karla on Tuesday.”
“Mhm.. Was she acting unusual in any way during that interaction?” A cop questions me.
“She was weirdly obsessed with Youngboy at that moment. She wouldn’t stop singing one of his songs and wouldn’t stop talking about him. But that’s pretty normal.”
“And what about Ms. Gill?”
“Uh, her and I were making lunch on Thursday.”
“And was she acting unusual?”
“No, it was pretty normal.”
“Okay, next question. If you were Ms. Gill or Ms. Rivas, and you were to run away,
where would you run away to?”
“What kind of question is that?” I ask.
“An important one. Answer it.” A mysterious cop demands.
“Well, I’d probably go to a family member’s home.”
“We’ve already looked there, where else?”
“Uhh, a friend’s house?”
“Already looked there as well. Where else?”
“I don’t know? Hershey Park?” I blurt out.
“You heard him boys, I want a team sent out to search the entirety of Hershey Park for the two girls, ASAP. We’ve already got teams all over Baltimore and the D.C. area. No sign of them. This is a multi-million dollar operation, we will not let them hide.”
“HUH? Why are you guys so serious about all this?” I ask.
“You wouldn’t understand.” The interviewer cop answers. The officers roll out and speed off towards Hershey Park.”
After I go back home, Ethan comes over to me. “Did you hear where Jayla and Karla are??” He asks.
“No, where are they?”
“Apparently they’re in Salt Lake City, Utah because that’s where Youngboy lives.”
“You’re joking. Did you tell the cops?”
“We don’t need too.”
“What do you mean?? The cops are looking for them in Hershey Park.” I say.
Later that night, while I’m watching TV and eating spaghetti, the reporter says they just got Breaking News.
“Earlier this evening, musical prodigy NBA Youngboy was awoken by two teenage girls who broke inside his Salt Lake City home in order to get his autograph. One of the girls even proposed to Youngboy. Both girls are apparently from The Community School in Remington, here in Baltimore City. They are both in custody facing multiple charges. WBAL will keep you updated with the latest information regarding the situation.”
I almost choke on my spaghetti.
Chase Christou
2/15/23
