26 Unexpected help

Veronica would have died instead of asking help from Rebecca. She had a mental debate with herself and felt her feet were suddenly fitted with deadweights making her difficult to walk. She muttered, "Ok V, you can do this."

She huffed a little and walked towards Rebecca's car and saw her talking over her phone. Rebecca was speaking coyly and batting her eyelashes even when there was no one around to see. Maybe, she had the flirty mode on autopilot.

She heard Rebecca say, "Sure, you need not worry. Everything is under control."

She couldn't hear the reply from the other side but she saw Rebecca blush and giggle like a schoolgirl. She thought she would puke if she heard her one more minute. She cleared her throat but Rebecca stayed engrossed in the conversation.

Veronica gagged loudly, which made Rebecca jump, "Go somewhere else to puke, you idiot."

When Veronica continued to stare at her, Rebecca grew irritated, "What is it? You want to rob me for pocket money?"

Veronica tried to speak sweetly, "No need to show-off your money. I need your help-"

Rebecca didnt let her complete the sentence and slammed the door of her car hard as a signal for Veronica to get off her face. "Will you let me complete. It is an emergency."

Rebecca asked the person on the other side to wait, "Hold on a minute". She then turned to Veronica, "What is it?"

Veronica was nervous and Rebecca could see her wiping her hands on her jeans and got curious, "Is everything ok?"

Veronica blabbered, "Zara was reading a book and she suddenly screamed and fell face forward. I tried shaking-" If Veronica had been shocked to find Rebecca in the parking lot as the only help she could receive-she was stunned to see her fly out of the car before she could finish. Veronica stood rooted to the spot for a moment before hurrying behind her.

Rebecca opened the cafeteria door and barged inside, searching for Zara up and down. She turned to Veronica, "Where did you leave her?"

Veronica blinked, "She was at this table before she passed out and I came looking for you."

Rebecca was suddenly all business, "You look that way" she said pointing to the left, "and I will look to the right."

Veronica's brows furrowed, "Maybe she got up and went looking for me."

The way Rebecca was acting seemed weird to Veronica. She knew that Rebecca hated her and Zara more so. "Are you okay? You are very eager to find a girl you hate from the bottom of your heart."

Rebecca didn't utter a word but went to the right so Veronica had no choice but to go to the left. She called out Zara's name but there was no reply. This was strange, Zara wasn't good at hiding. When Veronica and Zara used to play peek-a-boo, Zara used to hide at the same old places that Veronica would find her in ten seconds flat.

There was a loud bang on the far-right end of the cafeteria and Veronica immediately rushed towards it. She was growing very nervous given the sudden turn of events and she was worried sick of her best friend. She reached the patio to see Rebecca coughing as dark plumes of smoke surrounded her, making it difficult to see what was going on.

Veronica headed towards her and helped her get out of the smoke as both of them fell on the floor, coughing furiously. Their eyes were watering due to the black cloud of gas. In between coughs, Veronica managed to ask, "What was it? What happened here?"

Rebecca tried to speak, "I don't know..I saw someone walk away and when I tried to follow them suddenly there was this smoke that engulfed me."

Veronica was now trembling, "Did you see Zara? Is somebody kidnapping her? I need to dial 911." As Veronica took her phone out of her pocket, Rebecca snatched it, "Wait. There is no need to call anyone, yet. Let us find her first. she must be around here somewhere."

Veronica was getting angrier at Rebecca by the minute. What had gotten into her? She was about to smack her when she heard the familiar voice of Jake. He came sprinting in through the gate, "V, are you okay? What happened?"