Fontaine Academy

Chapter 22

Jules

“Have you guys heard the latest Maisie update?” Ken asks as we sit down for dinner.

“No what?” Mara says digging into her mash and beans.

“So apparently the cops haven’t found any evidence that Maisie left campus. Which either means she is still here somewhere or she used an exit that isn’t covered by security cameras.” Ken says.

“Like the woods?” Amandla asks.

“Exactly. The cops turned the whole school upside down trying to find her but no luck yet. So they started asking around trying to find her closest friends so they can give them an idea of where she could have gone. But as we all know, last year she mostly hung out with the cheerleaders and the only thing they care about are the boys they drool over. They were no help.”

“You drool over them just as much Ken.” Mara says with a chuckle.

“Not all of them, some of them are literal human garbage wrapped in pretty wrapping paper. Besides I am not that as obvious about it and I definitely don’t act like a Neanderthal if someone so much as breathes in their general direction.”

“True. You are too classy for that.” Mara deadpans causing us all to laugh.

“Back to my story. The cheerleaders where no help but they asked around some more and found out she was close to Andrea Simmons. She is the only other scholarship kid she still hung out with. So the cops go to talk to Andrea and find out she is missing too.”

“Wait what?” Mara exclaims.

“How do we have two missing girls without noticing?” Amandla asks.

“When did she go missing?” I ask.

“That’s the thing, no one is really sure.” Ken says.

“How is that even possible? Surely the school would notice a student missing class, especially one on a scholarship. And what about her family?” I say.

“From what I heard, Andrea didn’t go home for break. She told her mom and her friends that her boyfriend had invited her to vacation with his family. They kept in touch over break but once school started up again, it was radio silence. It was only after her mom called the school she found out Andrea hadn’t returned from break.”

“That’s insane. How can she just let her 16 year old go off to who knows where with people she hasn’t even met?” Amandla says.

“People have always joked that the mom only send her here so that Andrea could bag a rich husband. Apparently she did the same thing when she was around her age. She was probably just happy her daughter was following in her footsteps.” Mara says.

“Wow.” I say.

“Also she might not have met them but she knew exactly who her daughter was spending the holidays with. The Fontaines.” Ken adds.

“What?!” Mara exclaims earning a few head turns from nearby tables.

Ken shushes her.

“Andrea was dating Patrick? How did I not know that?” Amandla asks.

“Apparently they were keeping it on the down low so only a few people knew. Her closest friends including Maisie and her mom.” Ken says.

“That must be why they called him out of class today.” I wonder out loud.

“Oh I heard people talking about that. Where you in that class?” Amandla asks.

“Yeah. Everyone was speculating what it was about. Now we know I guess. I wonder how he explained her disappearance.” I say.

“I am not sure what he told the cops but seeing as he is still walking around and not in custody, I guess he must have been very convincing.” Ken says.

“I bet his family’s money and status did most of the convincing.” I mutter.

“Don’t know about that, I heard it was only him, the detective and the dean in the meeting. But someone did ask Tiago about it and he said Patrick spent the break with him and his family so Andrea probably lied.” Ken says.

“Maybe he is just acting as an alibi for his friend?” Mara asks.

“He has always been the nice one compared to the others. I don’t know if he would do something like that.” Ken says.

“Yes he is fairly nice compared to the others but let’s not forget he has never actually stepped up to stop his friends from doing half the messed up stuff they get away with. Besides this is Patrick we are talking about. Tiago might not do it for any of the others but I wouldn’t be shocked if he made up that alibi to protect his best friend.” Amandla says.

I am conflicted. Tiago has been the nicest to me out of that group, going as far as even apologizing on their behalf. But I can’t help but notice he never apologized for Patrick’s part in what happened to me. He only said Patrick is complicated.

Did he really make up a fake story just to protect Patrick? Even knowing that might mean delaying the cops finding Maisie and Andrea? Does that mean Patrick had something to do with Andrea’s disappearance and maybe Maisie’s too? What about Tiago, is he really just protecting his friend or is he an accomplice too?

_

A/N

Do you think Patrick and Tiago are involved in the missing cases?

Thanks for reading. Don't forget to vote, comment and share!
-Oli 💌