Chapter 18

Daron's POV

Tree after tree. Same mahogany tree after another the only difference was their size and foliage. The car drove past them on the side of the road. I lost count of it an hour ago, and just stared at them as they flew past my vision.

I wish we had our own car, I wish I had my own car. But we don't. Instead we're here inside my uncle's car. My father rode shotgun, my mother and my aunt sat in the passenger seat. Me, I'm stuck with my cousin here at the back. I never liked him that much. He's too much… how do you put it… too gay? No, that's not right, he's too effeminate.

I cannot imagine how his parents would allow him to act this way. As far as I know his parents are as religious as they can be. So how can they allow this kind of act.

We never really talk about that. Whenever we were together we just sat quietly, not even a single word out of both of us. Well I think we used to play together when we were kids, but it suddenly stopped.

I wish my brother was here to break the silence. He always has something to say. A joke or a story, a little conversation to break the silence. He didn't come with us, he still had classes and a part time job which left him no time to come with us.

Droplets of water on the window from the rain earlier started gathering and leaving lines looking like roads on a map. I stared at it following it with my eyes to the edge of the window.

It wasn't raining yesterday or earlier in the morning, the rain started to pour right after we had our lunch.

"If you're tired you can sleep for a while." Mom

"I'm fine, maybe later."

I reached for my phone and searched my backpack for my headphones. Music can kill this silence, at least for me. I turned on the headphones o and connected it to my phone, browsing through the songs on my phone. As I browsed through the songs I remembered that I should memorize the lyrics for the music video.

"What song was it again?"

"Song?" Clarence

"Nothing."

Well that's awkward. I remember Grey sending it on our group chat, I quickly searched for it. "She Looks So Perfect" by 5 Seconds of Summer and "Hope Less Romantics" by Make Out Monday. I played it on my earphones and tried to memorize the lyrics.

The songs were on repeat for at least five times when I suddenly fell asleep. A notification on my phone woke me up. A news about a car crash, I clicked it and it went to a news page. I read it trying to find where it happened.

"Wait, Zaider lives near here…"

I scrolled the news article and I saw a picture of an overturned car. Apparently a truck crashed into it and sent it tumbling. I continued scrolling down and saw Vin's picture. "A high school student named Vin Santos helped the police solve the case." is placed under his picture.

"So he did it again."

I smiled, feeling proud? Maybe, because I'm his friend. Even though we knew each other for a while now, I'm still amazed by how he solves cases so easily. I somewhat envied him for what he can do.

It was dark outside now. The moon is full and is shining bright. It reflected beautifully when we passed by a lake. The sky is clear now and the stars are visible. I tried to make out some constellations from them.

I saw the Big Dipper and the Small Dipper. Embarrassing as it is, those were the only constellations I knew. I never paid attention on our field trips at the Planetarium. I don't even know where my Zodiac sign constellation is.

Our house is still miles away from where we are now. I still feel tired from what happened yesterday and didn't get enough sleep from the hotel room last night. It was dark inside the car so it'll be perfect for sleeping. I placed my backpack on top of my thighs and hugged it as I leaned back to the headrest of the seat. My eyes felt heavy and my eyelids started closing. Then I drift into sleep.

I thought it was a dream. A hand travelling from my knees up to my thighs and into my stomach. I thought it was a dream but it wasn't. The hand touching me woke me up. The hand caresses my stomach down to my thighs and back up again. Although it was dark inside the car I knew whose hand it was. I don't like what he was doing to me. I waited to see if he'd stop, but he didn't. So I gathered my courage and grabbed his hand. He jerked as I grabbed him, he quickly tried to get loose from my grip. I looked at him, he was scared. I don't want to hurt him so I just let go of his hand and pretended that nothing happened.

Vin's POV

The sun is up, my body ached from what happened yesterday. I should really up my cardio. Groggily, I went downstairs and into the kitchen. There was bread on top of the table, I took it and ate it. I boiled some water, took out a bag of tea and placed it in a cup. After the water had boiled I poured it in the cup.

I'm lucky today's a holiday, if it wasn't I'll be running late to class. As soon as I finished my tea I went upstairs to fetch my towel and some clothes. Amarah saw me walking down the stairs with the clothes in my hand.

"Where are you going?" Amarah

"Just going for a walk."

"A walk, huh?" Amarah

"Yes just a walk nothing's going to happen."

"I hope you're right. I still can't believe what happened yesterday. How cruel can a person be? Using a human as a murder weapon and a façade to mask the murder." Amarah

"People can be much worse than a wild animal, with a false sense of justice, they can and will do anything to achieve that justice."

I walked past her and went inside the bathroom. The water was cold enough to fully wake me up. I quickly finished my bath and put on the clothes I brought with me.

"I'll find who he is and where he lives."

To Be Continued…