Chapter 31 Every media
COURTNEY
I rushed down to the school, driving past the speed limits
“Tyler?” I called as I entered the principals office.
His eyes instantly met mine, and his face stretched into a relieved smile. I pulled him into a hug and ignored the principal sitting right opposite him.
“Are you okay? Where is Leah? Is she okay?” I blurt out, feeling his body for any sort of injury, but he didn't give a reaction — at least not a painful kind.
He shook his head sideways negatively, and I exhaled in satisfaction. “Alright go get Leah, okay? Tell her I brought snacks, her favourite” I say, winking playfully while he jogs out of the office.
As Tyler closed the door behind him, every hint of smiled disappeared the moment I turned around to face the principal. “I want to hear everything, and don't leave out anything ” I say without blinking.
As if she's been dying to do so, she nods in agreement. “Very well then” she says calmly. “According to the classroom teacher, the kids were having a fun time doing some school exercises together, except Leah and Tyler, who separated themselves from the rest of them”
Her gaze stayed on me with a knowing glint as she continued, “as you know, the school has a classroom for a reason, and that is, to bring the kids together. The teacher decided to separate them and pair them up with different people. But she didn't think Tyler would be unhappy with the arrangement, thus making him start a fight with the other kid”.
A brief silence ensued between us, leaving just the low rumble from the air conditioning right above her head. “So your conclusion is Tyler started a fight because he couldn't stand to be separated from his sister?” I asked, glaring at her in disbelief.
Her lips parted a few times but closed again in hesitation.
“Did you for a second think to ask him what truly happened?” I ask again, unable to hide the snarl forming on my face.
“He's just a kid for crying out loud. Would you really believe a kid over a grown adult?” She asked in response, leaving my mouth hung open until I'm able to make some words out of my whirling emotions.
“For an adult who cannot respect a kid enough to find out the truth? You're a disappointment.”
“Don't you da—”
“I would believe a kid who's constantly bullied by his classmates for not having a father or a mother in the last few weeks” my glares turned fierce as I stood to my feet, unable to feel anything but hatred for her unfair judgement. “I would trust a kid to protect his sister way better than you do your students, principal”
There was no single trace of remorse or soberness in her eyes, only more resolve as she lifted her chin towards me. “This is school grounds, Miss Courtney, so Tyler would have to face some punishments for breaking school rules” she pauses, her strict gaze landing on Tyler and Leah standing behind me “One week suspension”, she drops the bomb, “just so he can be back in time for his upcoming exams”.
The narrow lines between my eyebrows knit tighter as I move towards the kids, covering their ears with my hands before replying her, “Fuck you and your school rules, bitch. They aren't coming back!"
"Good luck finding a school who would accept them at this time of a school session." She smirked.
I led the children out of the office and then slammed the door as loud as I could behind me.
As soon as we reached the garage, I paused in my tracks and gave a stern look, "Now, want to tell me what really happened, Tyler?”
"I'm sorry, Aunt Courtney. He was going to hurt Leah, and our homeroom teacher wouldn't agree to switching them." He muttered, lowering his eyes in guilt.
I moved closer and held his cheeks in my hands. “Hey, you didn't do anything wrong, little champ” I softly assured him. “I'd do anything for a brother like you when I was your age”.
The tension slowly leaves his face. He nods slowly and lifts his eyes to meet mine. “But you don't have a brother” he said, sounding both certain and intrigued at the same time, making me grin and walk ahead while they both struggled to catch up.
“Do you have a brother, Aunt Courtney?”
“where is he?”
“How come we've never seen him?”
I only smiled in response to their questions, finally shutting them up with some ice cream, then we headed back home in comfortable silence.
After settling the twins down for a quick afternoon nap in their room. I went to mine for a cold shower, but a knock on the door paused me in my tracks and made my heart skip a beat.
Could that be—
I hurried to the door and flung it open.
“Miss Courtney?” The British-looking man who obviously isn't Zora or anything remotely similar asks, and I grudgingly nod in response, trying to hide my disappointment.
It's been like that for the past couple of weeks— since the day after her disappearance. Every freaking person with similar hair, similar height, similar face, and now it turns out every knock on this door or ring the fucking doorbell has to be her.
“How can I help you?” I ask, hating the tears clinging to my eyelids as if waiting for my permission to fall, embarrassing me in front of the stranger.
“Yeah, I'm Officer Wilkons”, he stretches out his hands for a handshake, but I only blink in confusion. “Your personal investigator in charge of the case” he explained, and then it all came back to me.
I hurriedly take his hand like he's a life saver, leading him inside and offering him a seat. “Has there been any news yet?” I ask, feeling a mixture of hope and dread settle in my grumbling stomach.
“I'm afraid there's no positive news yet” he announced, “but there might be one soon if only we have a clue as to who her abductor is and perharps any records on him”.
I blink twice, recalling the weird, looking angry guy in a black silk coat who'd barged the doors open and snatched Zora from our lives. My eyes remained tightly shut, trying to conjure up even a glimpse of his face.
“Fuck” I angrily cursed, after seeing nothing but the image of Zora's panicked expression.
I'd only been too focused on Zora and the children's safety at the time. “N-nothing seems to be coming to my memory at the moment, officer” I say, lowering my head in disappointment.
“That's alright then, we'd make do with the information we have and get back to you if we have any questions,or better still made progress, okay?” He replied, standing up and heading towards the door.
I offer him a tight smile until he's out the door.
To his underlying statements that Zora can not be found with those bits of information, ‘He's absolutely right’.
That is exactly why I'd be taking matters into my own hands from this very second.
That was the best option.
What was I thinking? The so-called investigations were only going to cover the little square town of Idaho. What if Zora was somewhere on the other end of the world? And someone, anyone, in fact, might have crossed paths with her.
Sorry in advance, Zora, but your pretty face is going to be on every freaking social media platform