"…" Claude glanced at him without saying a word. He didn't shrug Len's hand on his, either.
"Guys…" Eugene's urging voice suddenly came to Claude's side. The best friend scooted close and almost sandwiched Claude against Len. However, he wasn't looking at them. He just spoke with the back of his hand on his mouth, "You guys are getting photographed. Why don't you put space between yourselves now?"
Claude swept his eyes across the room, catching a few people hiding their phones. Some even kept their phones up to take more pictures. He looked at Len. "Aren't you moving?"
Len only pulled back and laughed. "Not really. I don't want to get hit if the teacher decides to shoot down sleeping people."
"At least move a foot away. You're too close. You'll make the teacher shoot down indecent people instead." Claude used his arm to push Len back. However, when he moved, he realized Eugene hadn't moved away from him yet. He caught the other person reading through Len's message list. "Hey, punk, did you find what you're looking for?"
"Why is my name 'Daddy's Lap Dog'? That's clearly the rude text he sent me after hanging up without saying a word." Eugene pressed the message, which showed Len and Eugene's messaging history. For three texts from Eugene, Len would only respond to one. The time stamps even sliced the screen a lot, showing a painful sight.
Claude only chuckled and covered his mouth. He then fiddled with the name as well. "Let's put something better. Quick, think of something that isn't offensive."
Eugene typed on the keyboard on his own. "Why not? He's not going to take things seriously. They are just contact names, right?"
"What are you two doing over there?" Len hummed and lifted his glasses to read the screen clearly despite the distance. It was his eyes' turn to narrow. He slid his gaze to Eugene's proud face. "You can pretend I can't change it again, Supreme Ancestor."
"When?" Claude snickered as he saved it and locked the phone. "You'll never have the time."
…
Even if Claude could make do without their existence, the whole school still noticed their absence. The notable first-year school queens never showed up again. Some gossip girls would run to Courtney and Reina for answers, but they couldn't give any. By Thursday, the police had already been called in for a formal missing persons' investigation.
Everyone who had contact with these girls was questioned. Eugene didn't escape the rumors, but he was outside the city when the girls went missing. Claude's name also came up, they didn't need to speak to him to rule him out.
"Dang, I can't believe they're asking us not to leave the dorm until the investigation ends." Eugene sighed and fiddled with his phone. "I don't even want to use my phone. They can tap this, right?"
"I don't think they care if you open some porn sites," Claude whispered as he mounted the violin on his neck. However, he couldn't picture playing the next second. "Len and the others skipped classes again. Having the police involved must have made them nervous."
Eugene lifted a brow and put his phone down. "Hey, dude… should we be nervous? They won't suddenly pin this on us, right?"
Claude brought the violin down and sighed. "No, but I'm worried. Something must have happened to those girls. I just hope it has nothing to do with me or you."
Ring! Claude and Eugene looked at the latter's phone, seeing the light seep from underneath the face-down device. Eugene picked it up and saw a blocked number calling him. He glanced at Claude and answered the call, "Hello?"
"Hey, Daddy…" A woman's shaky voice answered him. However, she cleared her throat before saying more. "Eugene, are you free? I just… I just want to see you tonight."
"The hell…? Don't you think this kind of call is so last, last week? You're not even telling me who you are." Eugene scowled at the space before him. He glanced at Claude, who grew close to listen in. "Why don't you start again and tell me your name this time?"
Shuffling noises came from the other end. The girl spoke again, "I'm sorry, please don't hang up! I just… I just thought you'd recognize my voice. That's all. It's me… Steph? Uhm, Stephanie Hunnigan? We met at the group date. You remember me, right? Purple top, red bra? Please… It will break my heart if you say you don't."
Eugene glanced at Claude again. His face couldn't help but twitch at the disgust welling up inside him. He wanted to decline, but this was one of the missing girls. A sigh came from him.
He spun and leaned on the nightstand. "Don't worry, baby. I remember you. Why are you calling me? Are you planning to pull a Gracie on me, too? You're pretty and all, but you gotta promise a few things. I could have died, you know."
"Yeah, I… I heard about what happened. Gracie was a complete bitch for thinking about that." She giggled, but they could catch the hitches of fear in her voice. "Don't worry, Daddy. I want to do the other kind of bad things with you. Can you meet me? Let's skip the city and find a private place of our own. How about that? Let me ride your motorbike."
"Oh…" Eugene stared at Claude, showing off the horror in his eyes. "Sure, baby. Where are we meeting? You mean, tonight, right?"
The call ended after she gave an address. It was more of a place just outside Lunavida City than a house. Eugene placed the phone down and looked at Claude. He took a deep breath before speaking, "I don't want a repeat of what happened that night. Should we tell the police? Damn, I would have to tell them about that night if I came to them, wouldn't I?"
Claude took his phone and called Len without hesitation. The phone had already rang once when he remembered Len's phone would divert calls to another number at this point. He was about to end the call when Len picked it up from the other end.
"Baby, how can I help?"
"You can start with saying that in the right tone." Claude almost blushed at the words. However, Len said it too fast and almost coldly. "Never mind. Do you have a minute?"
The phone seemed to have been taken away. Courtney's voice came next. "We're on a sensitive mission right now. Stop calling until you hear back from Len. Don't try to call again."
Click.
Claude looked down at the phone and saw the home screen wallpaper. He turned to Eugene. "I'll try again. We shouldn't go there alone."
"Let me." Eugene called Len next. It only took two rings before someone picked up the call. Eugene went off fast, squeezing as many words as he could in a few seconds. "Bastard, you don't hang up on him! Listen up, Hunnigan called me, and we're fetching her. She sounded kidnapped. Find us when you're no longer fucking your side bitch!"