Classified

Chapter 14 - "How did you know?"

Something was wrong. The final bell rang, Mr. Miller called the class to order, but Carter wasn't there. Link swiveled around in his seat and pointed to Carter's empty spot. Donovan shook his head. Carter wasn't the type to hide away from a conflict. From the little he'd known her she was more likely to get in someone's face or pretend she didn't care at all. If this was true, where was she?

Donovan knew he shouldn't care, shouldn't even be spending time thinking about it. But as the class rolled on and eventually ended and no Carter, he couldn't get his mind off of her absence. It annoyed him. After all, what she'd done to Link whether she was in class or not shouldn't matter to him.

"Why isn't she here?" Link asked as Donovan joined him at the doorway.

It seemed Carter's absence held Link's attention as much as it had for Donovan.

"I don't know," Donovan murmured, scanning the hallways for Carter.

He didn't find her.

A niggling apprehension tugged at Donovan as they entered history class and he still didn't see any sign of Carter. Link found distraction in talking to Maddy, but Donovan had none. Frustrated that this girl claimed any of his thoughts, he roughly dragged his hand through his hair.

Donovan watched the doorway, taking in the flow of students but again, Carter didn't show. When the bell rang, his apprehension had grown almost impossible to ignore. Mr. Philips took up his lesson, but Donovan found it hard to focus on what he was saying.

Halfway through the lesson, the door opened and Philips paused in the middle of his sentence. Carter stepped inside. Donovan had been right, something was wrong. Her face was haggard and there were dark circles under her eyes. Besides that, she looked like someone had emptied her of all emotions. He'd seen that looked before on shell shocked Marines coming to his mother. What had happened?

"Carter," Philips said, "I'm glad you could make it. Please take your seat so I can continue."

Carter made no reply, which reaffirmed that something wasn't right. With a blank look, she slid into her seat. Though Link watched her, puzzled and Donovan looked over at her, but she never felt either of their attention. It was a harsh contrast to the day before and how much she'd wanted to talk to them. Today it was as if she wasn't aware of him at all.

Mr. Philips continued his lesson. Like the day before, Donovan found himself irritatingly aware of Carter. Throughout the class, she showed no sign of hearing a word. There was a worn-out slump in her shoulders that rattled Donovan. This wasn't a girl who was easily defeated.

When the bell rang, Carter picked up her bag and left. Link sidled up to Donovan, his brow creased.

"What's wrong?" he asked.

Donovan met Link's gaze. "Do you care?"

Link paused and Donovan could see him remembering the exchange he'd had with Carter. It didn't matter how beaten Carter looked, Donovan would ignore it if Link wanted to.

After a moment's hesitation, Link nodded.

At the door, Maddy gave some mention of needing to talk to a teacher and walked off. Link didn't seem to register her statement. Together, the pair cut through the packed hallway, trailing Carter, going to find answers.

They didn't have to go far. Carter stood before a group of boys, all of them wearing taunting looks while they laughed. But Carter didn't react which unnerved Donovan even more. He'd seen her verbally take down students simply because she was nearby. Something was really really wrong.

Donovan pushed forward and heard Lucas clearly above the din.

"What?" he said. "Did you discover your daddy doesn't love you and left you?"