Noah ~ POV

After arriving home, I locked myself in my room. I was so pissed at dad; I get he just wanted me to be safe. But what the hell; mom and him were fighting downstairs now. I can hear them arguing through the walls. Mom texted me earlier saying it was ok for me to hang out with Ethan. But I guess dad had other ideas; he tried making excuses during the car ride. How he said he was looking out for me I didn't pay attention. Right now, I was sitting at my computer looking over what I could find on Mr. Davis, or Theo I guess. I mostly found old photos of him working in the cyber crimes division of the New York Police Department.

I managed to do a little digging into Deputy Ben; turns out he transferred out here a few years before he met his current wife. Most people don't think about what they post on their social media so finding and learning about them is easy. I saw Theo's old wife; her posts spanned a few years before suddenly stopping about three months ago. The posts leading up to the end were about dealing with a divorce. Some evidence was posted by her followers; most of them were text receipts from her to her husband. As I was reading through them, I couldn't help but notice the texts themselves seemed a little off.

I think it was the wording that threw me off in the beginning. It seemed way too robotic and professional; like there were no shorthand words or emojis. I mean, text receipts can be forged; or edited so this being fake is possible. I looked through the rest of the posts and some pictures. One showed a close-up bruise on the upper part of an arm. That was all the picture showed; there wasn't a face or anything to identify the person in question. The background was blurred out too; the best guest was inside a dirty room. Looking at everything, I couldn't help but feel this was only surface level. Though the following picture I came across threw me for a loop. It was a picture of Nathaniel, bruised; he looked down with the camera flash highlighting large bruises along his body.

I closed the picture as it twisted my stomach looking at it. This wasn't making sense; I kept trying to think about what could happen. Until I got a phone call from Ethan. I answered it, hoping he might have some answers to clarify this mess.

"Hey, Ethan…" I began to say but soon got interrupted by him.

"Noah, we were wrong… Mr. Davis… Ben and, and…." He began rambling on.

"Hey… hey, breathe," I said over the phone, trying to calm him.

I could hear his fast panting breath calm as it slowed down.

"I just ran into Deputy Ben again… he broke into the motel room before that woman came back." I went silent as I listened to Ethan.

"Noah… I don't know what's going on. But that woman, she wasn't right in the head. I swear she had this feeling around her like she saw everything as a game." Ethan explained as I transferred him to my headphones.

"Ethan, did you get her name?" I asked as I began doing a quick search.

"I think Ben called her Megan…. Why do you ask?" He asked as I did a quick search.

Social Media only shows one side of something. They don't show everything directly. After a quick search, I found Megan on a small social news article. It said that a police officer was fired for misusing city resources. I double-checked and noticed this happened a month before the posts about Theo's abuse stopped cold; not even her friends posted about it anymore.

"Hey, Ethan, listen to this… I looked into Mr. Davis's life before he and his son moved here… Up until they disappeared, the wife… Megan kept updating her social media regularly. But then it suddenly stops. About a month later, she got fired. Is it just me, or does that sound like…" I began to explain, and Ethan picked up where I was going.

"That something didn't go the way she liked?" Ethan said, finishing my thoughts.

I sent Ethan a shot of some of the posts I found.

"I just sent you some pics I found from her social page. Tell me what you think." I asked as I began looking through them again.

Ethan went quiet for a moment. My guess was from looking over the pictures I had sent him. However, I soon got a reply from him.

"Hey, can you clear up some of the pics? The ones with the focus solely on the bruises." I uploaded the pictures into a basic photo editing program.

"What am I looking for?" I asked as I began clearing up the pictures.

"I thought I saw something in the background right along the edge of one," Ethan explained; I quickly picked up what he was talking about.

This novel's true home is a different platform. Support the author by finding it there.

One uploaded picture showed a bruise on the upper part of a person's arm. But just under the arm peaking out was the marks of a tattoo. The following picture showed a bruise where the tattoo would have been. But there wasn't a tattoo; I'm no tattoo expert but wouldn't you be able to make out some of the tattoos through the bruises?

"Ethan, did you look at the picture with Nathaniel in it?" I asked as I looked over that picture.

Ethan went quiet for a few moments before he let out a sigh.

"Ya… I saw it… I don't think Mr. Davis…." He didn't say but we were both thinking it.

"Ethan, either way, Mr. Davis is hiding something," I said as I leaned back in my desk chair.

"It’s not him!” Ethan shouted over the phone.

I was scared when he shouted. I flinched a little and held the phone away from my ear for a second.

"Ethan… even if the pictures are fake… Mr. Davis still looks bad." Honestly, it needed to be said.

Even with the fake pictures, it doesn't explain away the image of Nathaniel or Ezekial. Whatever he's called, bruised and beaten. I mean standing there with white background. I felt a little sick to my stomach. Especially since he looked younger than he is now.

"I'll… we'll talk tomorrow," Ethan said, bringing me out of my thoughts.

I didn't say anything as I hung up the phone. Why was Ethan so set on protecting Mr. Davis? Why did he want to find him and Nathaniel so bad? Did he really like Nathaniel that much? And why was I so fixated on that? I couldn't help but let out a groan as I threw my head back. Why was I feeling this way? I mean… I wanted to help Ethan, even after he tricked me. He tried stopping me; I forced him into an awkward position that got him in trouble. Maybe… maybe I'm in love with him? I could feel my cheeks burn red when the realization crossed my mind.

I reached over to my bed, grabbed a plushie, and screamed into it. Why did this have to happen again? I thought I would have learned after the first time. Being laughed at publicly and having your face all over the school. First Andrew and now Ethan… what's wrong with me? I went to bed early, though I didn't get much sleep that night. I mostly stayed up thinking what a mess I was for falling for another guy who didn't see me that way. It's not like I can be mad at them; after all, how can I make them love someone they don't? Still hurts like hell though.

The next day at school, I sat alone behind some classroom buildings. I wanted to be alone, though we don’t always get what we want. I heard Ethan call out to me as he walked around the corner. He and I looked at each other; he seemed shocked as he looked down at me. After a moment, he bowed his head to me. Was I in an anime or something now, because if so I don't want to be in a rom-com.?

"I'm sorry…." He said simply, which kind of caught me off guard a little.

"Look… I'm not good with my… emotions… if I can't punch or kick, I'm an idiot… I know that I shouldn't have yelled… I just don't want to lose anyone else."

He said before he sat down along one of the pillars. I watched him; I have to say I felt weird now; after all, I knew he was trying to help a friend.

"Why am I such an idiot?" He asked himself, which made me chuckle.

"Maybe it has to do with one too many kicks to the head from your girlfriend." I joke back as honestly, I wasn't furious at Ethan.

He looked at me confused.

"Girlfriend?" He asked, wondering what I meant.

I couldn't help but smile as I looked at the concrete in front of me.

"You and Rebecca… It was…" I began to say before Ethan interrupted me with a laugh.

I looked at him as his laugh grew louder and louder. The way he laughed threw me off a little. After all, I didn't expect this type of reaction from him.

"Rebecca's a lesbian," Ethan said through the laughs as he looked at me.

It took me longer to process what he said than it should have. Then, as I processed what he said, Ethan began telling me more.

"Rebecca likes girls… she doesn't like being the center of attention hence why she hasn't told anyone. I only know because she told me after I came to her as bi. She thought telling me was making use even. If you must know, she has a thing for Liz, the captain of the track team." I sat there still trying to process what he said.

"But what about the way you two act? I mean, you're so close…." I’m unable to think of any other way to put it.

Ethan went quiet for a minute, still smiling. He took a breath before he spoke.

"I moved in with my grandpa and grandma when I was twelve. Dad had a new family… there wasn't room for me. Living with my mom was a no go after the police found me. So he put me out here…. The first year I was like a ghost around town. At least that's how grandpa described the old me when we talk about it. Then, one day in middle school, I came across Rebecca during art class. One thing led to another… she became my first real friend in years." Ethan spoke as his eyes seemed to wander.

I couldn't help but notice he was holding back his tears as he looked away.

"I… had no idea." Honestly, hearing all this, I can't imagine what's going through his head.

"But ya… me and Rebecca aren't a thing… so don't worry, you still have a shot at me," Ethan said before he stuck his tongue out at me.

Without thinking, I threw my plastic spork at him. I don't know if it hit him or not, as I looked away after I threw it. I didn't need a mirror to tell I was blushing like crazy because of this guy. I knew he was joking, but for some reason, I couldn't help but be a little annoyed with him playing with my emotions like this.