The teacher in Sabrina's second hour class was droning on about political science, but Sabrina wasn't paying attention to a word. Her thoughts were too scattered by the morning's events. It had started with an early morning phone call from Trevor's father. He had asked her if Trevor had stayed the night at her house. She replied groggily that she hadn't seen him since school yesterday, and asked if anything was wrong. Trevor's dad apologized for waking her and said he must have misunderstood what his son had said, then abruptly ended the call.
When she was a little more awake, she seemed to recall that Trevor's father had sounded genuinely concerned. She texted Trevor, "Hey, your dad called asking where you were. What's up?" Normally Trevor would text back within a couple minutes, but her phone remained silent. This caused a cloud of worry to slowly envelop her brain, and when she got to school, she actively looked for her friend and asked her classmates if they had seen him that day.
Sabrina thought Max might know something or at least be of some help tracking Trevor down, but he showed up minutes before class started. She tried to give him a quick hello and ask questions, but the moment he saw her, he ducked into the nearest restroom. When that happened, worry blended with confusion as she wondered what the hell was going on. One of her best friends was missing, and the other had avoided her. She played back their most recent interactions in her mind and could not see how she might have offended Max. She teased him as much as usual and didn't feel like she had crossed a line. Trevor on the other hand had, well, he had acted a little odd yesterday, especially after that asshole Lance had knocked him down in front of everyone. Maybe his pride had been hurt, or maybe...maybe it was something else. She couldn't forsee him doing something stupid though, not intentionally anyway.
Sabrina's mind swirled these thoughts about during first hour and midway through second, when they were interrupted by the soft buzzing on her wrist. Phones were not allowed in class, at least, not openly. They could be in your pocket, bag, or purse, just not out in the open where they were seen as a hostile enemy towards educational development. But thankfully, someone had invented smart watches. Sabrina tilted her wrist casually, which only looked like she was checking the time, and saw that she had received a text. Her heart sped up when she saw that it was from Trevor. Her first thought was relief that he was okay, but then she read his cryptic text.
"Emergency. Meet me at Second National Bank in 30."
Sabrina glanced away at her watch, stared at the teacher for a few seconds, then looked at her watch again. Why the hell did Trevor want to meet her at a bank? Maybe he really was doing something stupid and was in trouble. If he needed her, of course she'd come but, this was bizarre. She raised her hand to get the teacher's attention. He stopped his lecture abruptly and acknowledged her.
"Yes, Miss Patterson? Do you have a question that pertains to the topic at hand?"
"No, I'm sorry. I just need to be excused. Lady stuff." Her candid response caught a few snickers, but she couldn't waste time arguing with her teacher, not if she was going to be at that bank in 30 minutes.
The teacher did not appear flustered by her request. He didn't even respond verbally, just pointed to the restroom slip on his desk and resumed talking. Sabrina got up and took one, then retreated from the room. She immediately took out her phone to examine the message again, and saw that it had been a group text. The other name on the list was Max. That was good. She could ask him why he was acting weird while they drove to the bank together, for their friend, who was acting weirder. Why couldn't she have normal friends?
Sabrina stopped by her locker and retrieved her purse, then walked down the long hallway where freedom beckoned at the end. There was a possibility a teacher or administrator would try and stop her, but she was a senior. Underclassmen were kept on a tight leash, but when you were a senior, you could get away with more and more as the year went by. Not one person blocked her path though, so she confidently strode out the double doors and into the sunshine. Her eyes squinted immediately at no longer being in artificial light, and she used a hand to block some of the sun's rays. She kept walking towards the parking lot, scanning not just for where she parked her car, but if Max had somehow beat her outside. It was a forgone conclusion that Max would come. Of course he would. But then where was he?
When she got behind the driver's seat of her car, she thought about leaving without Max. Maybe he hadn't been able to receive the text in his classroom like she had. She'd give him another minute, then would take off. A minute passed and she turned the key in the ignition. A second later, she saw him. He hadn't come out the door she had, but had exited from another part of the building and was heading towards his car. She backed out and headed his way. She laughed as she saw him react like he'd been caught in the act of skipping. But then he recognized her car and relaxed, but didn't get in. Rather, he continued towards his own. Sabrina shifted into reverse, rolled down her window, and yelled, "What are you doing? We're going to the same place. Get in."
Sabrina watched Max hesitate, like her car was infested with bees or something. Then his head lowered in defeat, and he opened the passenger door. Sabrina was now trying not to be offended. "Dude, are you avoiding me this morning?"
Max wouldn't look her in the eye, but squeaked out a soft, "No."
Sometimes Sabrina liked a little mystery or adventure in her life, but she wasn't feeling it at the moment. "Yes, you were. I saw you this morning. You ducked out of sight the moment I saw you. What's up?"
Max gave a deep sigh. "I just...I just don't want things to be awkward."
Sabrina gave him an inquisitive look. "What are you talking about? What would be awkward?"
Max was about to answer when Sabrina ventured a guess. "Is this about whatever's going on with Trevor? Did his dad call you too?"
Max's facial expression seemed to register that she was close. "He did call me. I told him I hadn't seen him since yesterday at school."
"And that was the truth?"
"Yeah, why wouldn't it be?"
"I don't know. I just hoped you had seen him, because I hadn't, and his dad sounded worried over the phone. And then he wants us to meet him at a bank, during school, I mean, is there something going on I don't know about?"
Max gave a low chuckle. "It has been a strange twenty four hours."
Sabrina focused on blowing past a yellow light before digging into that statement. "What else has been strange?"
"...you know..." Max said in his quietest voice yet.
Sabrina managed a glance that she hoped conveyed how lost she felt. "No, I don't know much of anything right now. Anything you could tell me about what's strange I would love to hear."
"Well, I'm glad you didn't think it was strange. It was just a little out of the blue for me. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'm glad it happened, but..."
"What happened? You're speaking a foreign language right now. What the fuck are you talking about?"
Max looked hurt by this. "Us, at my house yesterday. Hooking up."
Had she not recently merged onto an expressway, Sabrina would have slammed on the brakes. Instead, she gripped the steering wheel very tightly and growled, "Excuse me?"
Max watched his friend tense up, and assumed she was also having second thoughts about yesterday's tryst. "Uh, you know. At my house when we..."
"No, I really again don't know what the fuck you are talking about? When did this make believe fantasy of yours happen?"
At this, Max became angry. "Don't act like it didn't happen. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine. We never have to bring it up again if you don't want to, but don't deny it."
