"Albus?" Ms. Madden called, checking off names.

"Present," replied Albus.

"Nadir?"

"Here, Ms. Madden," answered another boy.

"Claire?"

"Here."

"Mace?"

"Yep."

"Alia?"

"Present."

"Lea?"

"Here, Ms. Madden."

"Ethan?"

"Right here."

"Jake?"

"Present."

"Freya?"

"Here."

"Seth?" She waited for Seth to answer but there was silence.

"Seth?" Ms. Madden called again, but still no answer.

"Has anyone heard from Seth?" she asked the class, but no one answered.

"Jake?" she asked, turning to Seth's friend.

"I'm not sure why he's not here, but maybe he's sick," Jake replied.

"Please tell me if you hear anything," Ms. Madden requested, moving on with attendance.

Jake discreetly checked his phone, ensuring it was out of Ms. Madden's sight.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

'The message still hasn't gone through,' he thought as he stared at the unsent text he'd sent Seth in the morning. It seemed as if Seth's phone was turned off. 'If he doesn't respond before school ends, I'll go to his place,' he decided, slipping his phone back into his pocket.

Four hours passed, and Seth still hadn't shown up.

'The message is still undelivered,' Jake thought as he headed to the dining hall. 'This is unusual. Seth's phone is never turned off, and he usually responds quickly. I'll try calling him,' he decided, searching for Seth's contact information.

Riing… Riiing… Riiing… Riiing… Riiing… Riiing…

~We are sorry to inform you that the person you are trying to reach is currently unavailable, please leave your message after the tone or try calling later. New World Telecom, for a brighter future.~

Beep… Click

Jake hung up, pondering, 'I wonder what happened to him.'

"Hey, Jake," Viktor called as he entered the dining hall, Ilya reading a book beside him.

"Hi, guys."

"Where's Seth?" Viktor asked.

"I'm not sure. He didn't come to school today, and he's not answering his phone either."

"That's weird. He's always at school. I can't remember a day he missed," Viktor commented.

"Well there was that time he got seriously sick," Ilya said. "But that was like three years ago," she added.

"How do you have such a good memory?" Viktor asked, surprised.

"Why do you both have such bad memories?" Ilya replied.

"Perhaps something happened to him," Jake said, worry in his voice.

"I don’t think so. The crime rate is so low that it's almost nonexistent," Ilya reasoned.

"But there's still crime, besides, what if he got into an accident?" Viktor noted, his face serious.

"I guess you're right, but you're being pessimistic. We should go visit him and make sure he's okay before jumping to conclusions," Ilya suggested.

"Jake, what time do your classes end?" Viktor asked.

"I still have two more classes to go."

"Great, we have two classes left as well. Let's meet at the academy entrance after class, okay?" Viktor proposed.

"Okay," Ilya and Jake agreed.

With that settled, they changed the subject and chatted until the bell rang and they went back to their classes. During the final two classes, Jake's teachers asked about Seth, and each time, he checked his phone and saw that his messages were still undelivered.

'Still not delivered,' Jake thought, checking his phone as he left his last class. He messaged Viktor, then headed to the academy entrance. Viktor and Ilya arrived a few minutes later.

"No news yet?" Viktor asked. Jake shook his head. "Well, I was thinking maybe we could get him something. If he’s sick it would be a nice detail," Viktor suggested.

"Good idea. Let's buy him some food. Do you know any restaurant that he likes?" Ilya asked.

"Yeah, there's a restaurant a couple of blocks from here that he usually goes to," Jake replied.

"Let's go," Viktor said.

A few minutes later, they found themselves in front of Seth's favorite restaurant. After checking the menu, they ordered a meal for Seth, planning just to wait until it was ready and then leave. However, the aroma wafting from the restaurant was too good and tempting, and they ended up ordering meals for themselves as well. After tasting the food they understood why Seth usually came to this place. The food was just so good.

When they finished, they took Seth's meal and left the restaurant, but they froze as they stepped outside, a realization sinking in.

After a few moments of silence, Viktor spoke up, "So… umm... Jake, which way to Seth's place?"

"I, uh, kind of forgot where he lives," Jake admitted, a sheepish look on his face.

"You guys are something else," Ilya said.

"Well, what about you? Can you show us the way then?" Viktor asked.

Ilya, avoiding eye contact, replied, "A-and why should I?"

"You don't remember either, do you?" Jake asked, raising an eyebrow.

"I remember! I just can't recall... right now," Ilya replied, looking away.

"So, what now?" Jake asked.

"Has Seth responded to your message yet?" Viktor asked.

Jake checked his phone and shook his head. "It's still undelivered."

"Well, I'm out of ideas," Viktor admitted.

"Should we head home, then?" Ilya suggested. "If he's sick, he might come to school tomorrow."

"Right now, we have no way of knowing where he lives," Jake said, feeling a bit down.

"Before that…" Viktor began, "let's eat what we bought." He looked greedily at the plastic bag in Jake's hand, making Jake and Ilya roll their eyes.

“Hey, don’t give me that look. You also thought about it.”