Elise

"Come on, we have to go." Aria called out as I rushed out the door. "We've got places to be."

Seriously? I grumbled and made my way into the car. My entire body shivered with the fall's hard transition into winter. Unfortunately, the ability to change that was about as futile as my speed limit. Something I couldn't control.

"Sorry if this wasn't fast enough for you." I scoffed while strapping on my seatbelt. "I do happen to be carrying a child."

"Yeah and I've seen a tennis star play while seven months pregnant. If she can hustle, you can too."

I raised my finger up only to put it back down I would've shot her a snarky comment but was too tired. Then again, I could barely keep my eyes open.

"Please slow down." The words nearly fell flat as I clutched onto my stomach tighter. Sadly, my request fell on deaf ears because Aria kept going at the same pace, if not faster. "Aria, I'm serious–"

"There's a cop following behind me right now."

"Bullshit."

Aria didn't respond and in a matter of seconds, we both heard the sirens from behind us. Damn her and her rightness.

"See?" She not-so-subtly bragged. "Told you."

"Whatever." I waved her off. Not long after, we pulled over and kept quiet until the officer knocked on the window.

Aria simply rolled it down before she asked. "Is there a problem, sir?"

"I'm afraid there is." He responded. His voice was so deep yet familiar. Oddly comforting too. "Do you know you've got a busted tail light?"

"Busted tail light?"

"Yes." He nodded before Aria stepped out to check herself where I followed right behind her.

"Huh." Aria remarked.

"I'd suggest you get that fixed."

"Thanks Officer Novak."

Wait a second... I put my finger out, pausing for a moment before I spoke up. "Hey, weren't you at our school when the school year started?"

"Yes ma'am."

"Wow."

He nodded and smiled. "Yeah, it's been awhile and luckily nothing strange has happened since or at least nothing illegal."

"You sure about that?" I teased him.

Novak's left eyebrow raised. His nose wrinkled too. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Er... nothing." Aria forced a smile in a desperate attempt to cover for me.

Novak gave a little grumble before nodding again. "Alright. I'm letting you off with a warning, but don't think this is a problem. It really is. You two make sure to get that fixed and no shenanigans, you hear?"

"We understand." Aria replied.

"Great. Have a nice day."

Once he was gone, we both got back in the car and sighed the moment he passed us by.

"That was a close one." I remarked.

"You can say that again." Aria agreed. "I thought we were gonna get arrested or something."

"Over a busted tail light? Please." I scoffed.

"Yeah, now that I think about it... that does sound dumb."

"Mhmm..." I nodded and with that, we were off to school where we arrived in record time. Both of us got out and headed right inside.

At first it was really packed. It was practically a sea of heads. Not that it wasn't normal, it just felt more strange than usual. I couldn't exactly pinpoint why, but it did. Amid the crowd of kids that filled up the main hallway, a certain someone pushed through. It wasn't long until his charming voice immediately got my attention.

"Oh look, the dreamboat has arrived." I pointed out.

"More like the Titanic." Aria scoffed. Damn, when did she get so savage?

However, before I could respond, we were met by Johnny's stunted presence.

"Hey, you guys know where Lyle's at?" Johnny asked. His body was shaky, his skin was burning up, and for once he looked... imperfect.

I shook my head and Aria did the same. "Nope. We haven't."

"Well it's been three weeks."

"No, that can't be right." I denied as Johnny nodded profusely.

"Uh, yeah it is."

"How do you know?"

"For one, his parents mentioned going on vacation two weeks ago. Lyle even said something about a dying family member, but this...this didn't-this didn't sound right."

"Has he said anything since?"

"Nope." Johnny huffed, crossing his arms and let his head shift to the side for a split second. "I'm seriously starting to get worried."

"He really hasn't said anything?" Aria asked while I stared at the ground.

"Not one word." Johnny answered in a deeper tone. "Neither has Dominic. Fucking asshole."

"But he's still in town. He still shows up to school."

"Yeah, but does he talk to you?"

"He talks to me." I revealed prompting both to look my way.

"What?" Johnny exclaimed. "When?"

"Maybe once a day? Twice if he's feeling up to it."

"Bullshit."

"Well he'd rather talk to me than you."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Johnny grumbled.

I looked over to see a glare in his eyes. He really didn't understand the severity of the situation.

Just as I was about to answer, the fire alarm went off. My heart jumped as did I. The alarms blared loudly throughout the building, causing everyone to scramble to the nearest exit. During that time, Johnny covered his left ear, shook his head, and scoffed. "You know what? We can talk later."

"Sure." I shouted as we made our way outside. As we flee, I felt this eerie obligation to feel my belly. I kept breathing in a steady rhythm until Aria spoke up.

"Are you alright?" She asked.

"Yeah. Everything's fine."

"You sure about that?"

By then, I was only focused on my child. I held onto my belly and walked, tuning out the world around me. For some reason, this uneasy feeling within me still wasn't going away any time soon and for all I knew, it was only gonna get worse.

* * * * *

"I'm here!" I called out.

"Thank god." Dominic responded as he stepped out from the shadows.

"You got the proposal done?"

"Yep." Dominic swayed a bit as he handed me a few sheets of paper which were done surprisingly well.

I found myself nodding to the point I said, "Wow. Didn't think you could really elaborate on all of our ideas."

"Trust me, it was such a bitch to get done but I did it while sober too."

"Awesome. Normack's gonna be so proud."

"You got that right." Dominic smiled before his eyes shifted both ways. He then stepped closer and asked. "Now the real question is... do they know anything?"

"Nope." I shook my head. Dominic chuckled as he downed more of his beer.

He let out a sigh of relief and said, "Ain't that just splendid?"

"Oh, don't you dare taint that word."

"Why not? It's already ruined anyways." Dominic teased. I couldn't believe we were meeting up again under the same bridge with the cool graffiti art, plus I swore that bum a few blocks down was petting a rat. A rat! Yuck.

I cringed and nearly gagged before speaking with Dominic. "Look, it's been a few weeks. What's really going on?"

"You don't wanna know."

"Actually, I do."

"Sure you do." Dominic hiccupped and took another swig. "That's the question everyone wants to know. What's going on? Where's Lyle at? Why's he gone?"

"Yeah that's exactly what we want to know so why aren't you saying anything?"

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"Wanna take that bet?" Dominic's eyes got all solid as he glared at me. "I'm tellin' you now, it ain't worth losing your shit over this."

"And here I thought you cared about him."

"I care." Dominic insisted. "I may be stupid, but I ain't that stupid to just demand answers from his parents-Oh wait, I am."

"What do you mean?"

"They fucking suck." Dominic snapped as he scoffed and shook his head. "You know, I did try. I went to his brother, went to his father, then somehow got the balls to face his twat of a mother."

"I'm sure they loved that."

"Oh, they did." Dominic chuckled. "Especially the part where I was served a paper."

"Paper?" My right eyebrow raised.

"Yeah, the one used against all them stalkers–"

"That's a restraining order."

"I know." Dominic revealed.

Oh my god, I covered my mouth and turned away for a moment. "How did–"

"There's a reason they say to quit while you're ahead."

"Let me guess: You slowly got the guys in his family to almost tell you the truth before–"

"Madam Bitchface shut me down? You betcha."

Dominic continued drinking before he put the bottle out to much to my annoyance.

"Seriously?" My eyes glared right at him.

"Right. I forgot." Dominic backpedaled before finishing the bottle. "You got a kid on the way."

"Yeah, no shit." I told him. "I'm already worried as it is. The last thing I need is your liquid courage over there to wreck my child. Unless it's already ruined–"

"Huh?" Dominic's left eyebrow raised while his nose wrinkled a little.

"Never mind." I brushed off the matter. I took a moment to step away and look out at the park nearby despite the trash littered about the area.   Children played around which soon be mine assuming he turned out alright.

Dominic didn't say anything for awhile. Then he coughed before saying, "Hey. You're gonna be a great mom."

His response rendered us both silent, then we burst out with laughter.

"Yeah, until he dies while I fall asleep." I scoffed.

"Or when he shoots up the school."

"Oh, that's never happening."

"Sure it won't." Dominic teased before coming closer. "But seriously, you got nothing to worry about."

"Actually I've got a lot."

"Really? Like what?"

"Telling my parents about my baby, getting the ultra sound on Friday, accidentally tripping on whatever, Lyle's gone missing, Johnny is losing his mind, my child might be–"

"Maybe I can help with one of those."

Wait, what? My mouth dropped as I could've sworn he couldn't do much not that long ago. "I thought you–"

"Look, I can't tell you where he's at 'cause I don't even know the exact place but I know someone who'd cave in and tell you."

"You do?"

Dominic took out a scrap of paper and scribbled a number down with a pen he pulled out from his pocket. "Here."

"Is this his brother's?" I asked.

"Nope." He shook his head. "He got out of that mess when he could and as fast as he could. Ask for Timothy Calhoun and don't be afraid to get tough with him. Just not too tough."

"Alright." I agreed.

We exchanged mutual understanding glances before hugging one another.

"Damn." He chuckled after his arms wrapped around me. "I can really feel the baby kick."

"Oh fuck off."

Dominic laughed heartily as he broke off the hug. "I'll see you around, Elise."

"Yeah. See you at school, you crazy bastard."

Once he took off I couldn't help but smile. There was something about him that was so oddly compelling. He was a useless dick yet I couldn't shake him off. He was like deep-fried birthday cake. Oh...

I scoffed before looking down at the paper he gave me. Apparently that was the key to finding Lyle. The number went through my head like a gust of wind. I stared long and hard until taking a deep breath and heading out. In a matter of minutes, I was back in my car and took a deep breath. This may have seemed strange, but I was going to do it no matter what. I gradually punched in each number before putting the phone to my ear. It rung a few times. With every passing second, I clung on tighter until hearing a click.

"Hello?" A gruff voice responded. "Who is this?"

Oh god, I choked for a moment and stared forward. Chills went through my veins as he spoke again. "Hello? Is anyone there?"

"Yes." I closed my eyes and nodded.

"May I ask who this is?"

"Elise." I responded. "Elise Roswell... And I believe you know exactly where Lyle is."