After the bake sale, Aahan met the wrath of the enraged Michael, who berated him for being so careless and not checking the allergy labels himself.

If that wasn't bad enough, he was currently knee-deep in boxes that he had to sort out, from the attic.

"Aahan?
Oh, blòòdy h*ll, where are you mate?", called out Jo.

Oh yes.
Jo offered to help too.

"Over here!", he exclaimed.

Jo tried to get through the boxes, wincing in pain a few times when she caught her hip on the corner of a box.

Aahan opened the box closest to him. Crumpled up pieces of paper were at the top, which he picked up and set down on the floor.

A maroon leather book was in the box. Just from peaking in the box, Aahan could see that it was a thick book.
He brushed his hand across the cover, removing some of the dust that had formed.

PATEL FAMILY PHOTO ALBUM—2.

◆◆◆

Meanwhile, the students were in the park.
Eloise invited the whole class, but only seven came.
Eloise, Irene, Spencer, Rowan, Elliott, Atlas and Zee.

Zee turning up was quite surprising to Eloise, and as much as she wanted to believe that she had seen the importance of friendship over night, Eloise knew that she was most likely just there to stay in the loop about things.

"This is all so crazy", said Eloise.
"I mean, we're supposed to be studying for our exams!"

"Is anyone else wondering why Mr. Patel is so bothered about this award?", asked Spencer.

"He said it was because of his family", said Rowan.

"I know, but can his family really be that bad?", questioned Spencer.

"Family's can be complicated", said Eloise.

"Yeah, I don't know, I'm with Spencer on this one", said Atlas.
"No matter how much your family annoys you, you can always talk things out."

"Not every family is like yours, Atlas", said Zee.

"I-I think I'm going to go for a walk", said Irene.
"Clear my head."

"I'll come as well!", exclaimed Rowan.

His eyes widened, and a tinge of red appeared on his face when he realised how over-enthusiastic he sounded.

"Uh... you know, if you want."

Irene shrugged.
"Sure."

Elliott quietly chuckled as Rowan hurried after Irene.
If his observations told him anything, it was that Rowan had a big crush on Irene.

He first noticed it when he'd bring her food items his mother had made. Rowan always brushed it off and said that she just made too much food, but Elliott wasn't stupid.

Then there were their library 'dates'.

Elliott couldn't get a read on Irene though.
Whether she felt the same, or she just saw him as a friend, was impossible to tell.

That all changed a few years ago though.
The library meet ups dwindled, and the spare food had stopped making an appearance long before that.

It wasn't uncommon for friends to drift apart.

History became their only class together, so that probably had something to do with it too.

With the others still talking about Mr. Patel, Elliott decided that now was the perfect time to get Zee on her own.

"Weird few days huh?"

"I guess."

"Look, I was wondering if you wanted to go to that new ice cream place?
I think it's like a five minute walk from here."

Zee furrowed her eyebrows in confusion, ans scowled at him.

"Why would I want to do that?"

"Uh... I don't know.
Thought it might be fun."

Zee turned so that she was facing him, but she didn't unfold her arms.

"Listen here, Ethan.
You know that I am aware that people give me things so I keep quiet about their secrets, right?
Well I can promise you this, getting ice cream with you is not on my wishlist."

Elliott opened his mouth to respond, but Zee had already turned away.
She grabbed her phone and stood up.

"I'm gonna head home", she announced, before nodding her head at the others, who waved goodbye to her.

Ok so that was a fail.

But it's ok.
All Elliott needed to do was rethink his strategy.
He needed to make Zee think he was asking her out because he liked her, not because of the influence she had over the students.

But how the h*ll was he supposed to do that?

◆◆◆

"She's really pretty", said Jo.

Aahan turned around, his eyes widening when he saw Jo looking at the photos in the album.

"Jo!
You're supposed to be helping me clean!"

"I got tired."

Aahan scoffed in disbelief, before throwing his arms up.

"Go on, tell me.
Who is she?"

In the picture, there were three people. Two boys and one girl.
Both boys had dark skin, though one was Ghanaian and the other was Indian.
The Indian boy had black glasses on with thick frames.
The girl had long blonde hair, and a bright smile.
Her right forearm and hand were missing.

Seeing that picture was like a walk down memory lane for Aahan.
So many years—the majority of his years, in fact, had those two in them.

He smiled fondly as he looked at their faces.

"She was one of my best friends.
So was he.
We were like an inseparable trio.
If you wanted one of us, you'd only have to look for the other two and they wouldn't be far behind."

Jo grinned.
"Aww, that's lovely.
What are their names?"

"Kofi and... Allison."

He said Kofi's name like he was remembering every funny memory they experienced together, but Allison's name was said with a pause, like it meant everything and nothing to him at the same time.

Or rather, like there was a far more complex story there than he was willing to share.

◆◆◆

"I uh, I really liked your cookies, by the way", said Rowan.

"Thanks.
Your brownies were really good."

"Yeah, they turned out well.
I mean, there was a point where we almost burned them, but that was because Elliott gave us a tour of his house."

Irene raised an eyebrow at this.
"How would that make you almost burn your brownies?"

"He's got a big house.
We got lost three times", he said, making Irene laugh.

"Oh boy, that sounds rough."

"It was!"

"I forgot how funny you were, Sterling."

Rowan smiled.
"Yeah, it's been a while, hasn't it?"

Irene nodded.
"Well, we'll be spending a lot more time together now that we've got all these missions to do, won't we?"

"Yeah, that's true."

Irene smiled.
"I'm glad."

◆◆◆

Everyone started to pack up, but not before being forced into giving Eloise their numbers to put into a group chat.

Atlas gave her Zee's number, so if anyone knows the number for a good bodyguard, send it Atlas' way.

"Hey Atlas, wanna walk home together?", asked Elliott.

"Uh, sure.
Didn't know you lived near me."

"I don't, but I wanted to check out the park near yours", he lied.

"Oh.
Ok, cool."

After a few minutes of painfully awkward silence, Elliott decided to just ask him what he wanted to know.

"Why are you friends with Zee?"

Atlas' eyes almost fell out of their sockets.
He stopped abruptly, and turned to face Elliott.

"What kind of a question is that?", he asked, before laughing a little.

"Uh, yeah I just... I wanted to kind of, become better friends... with her.
But I don't really know her, you know?"

"That makes sense.
Uh, I guess I'm her friend because she's funny."

"She is?"

Atlas laughed.
"Hey, I know it doesn't seem like it, but when you get to know her, you'll see that she's harmless really."

"So you like her because she's funny?"

"I like her for loads of reasons.
She knows who she is, and I think that's cool.
She stands up for what she believes in. And she doesn't abuse her power.
I mean, think about it, she knows so much about so many people at the school, but for the most part, she keeps quiet."

"That's cool, actually."

"Yeah, I guess the bottom line is that I like being around her.
And even though she doesn't say it... I know she's got my back.
Like I've got hers."

___________________

Hi!

I'm slowly starting to work out the dynamics between the students. The connections have helped, but I need to figure out how to fit it in with the plot points.

We've heard a lot more from some characters than others, but that will even out, and every character had atleast one storyline. I'm just trying to figure out where to place them.

We got to see a little bit of Aahan's backstory! Kofi and Allison clearly mean a lot to him, but where are they now?

Also, any theories you have about Aahan's past can be commented at any point! It'll be cool to see what you think might have happened when he was younger.

The students are starting to realise just how crazy their situation is! Will they do something about it, or are they in it for the long haul?

Rowan and Irene clearly have some history, with it being of a romantic nature from Rowan's side. Now that they'll be spending more time together, could Irene find out about Rowan's feelings?

Elliott has all the information he needs to try again with Zee, but he's right, he really doesn't know her. Will he be inspired by Atlas to try and get to know her more, or will he take the easy way out?

What are your thoughts on this chapter?

starryeyedturtle

DoodleYeet

LeMystical-Puffle

1-800-SHAWNHUNTER-

Tornado-Jockey