Daunting

I looked out from my balcony and observed the clear blue sky that met with the tall green mountain and at its feet a sea of buildings and houses all of different sizes and colors.

That’s what i saw almost every morning before going to school. Deep inside i knew that the picture perfect view i had wasn’t so perfect up close. It was a possibility that in one of the streets someone was being robbed, others were eating from the trash and others were just sleeping on the streets.

As I walked from the balcony to the kitchen table i could hear my grandma’s radio announcing the news.

" A couple was murdered last night in Liberty avenue. The two were robbed before being brutally murdered, but what the thieves did not notice was the victim’s daughter hiding in the back seat. The poli-” I turned off the radio before the reporter could continue with the story and sat down on my usual spot and began to eat my cereal.

Seconds later i saw my sister walk over to her chair at start eating without pronouncing a word. After a while of silence my younger sibling finally spoke

" Have you spoken to Dad lately?” She asked

I let my spoon down and looked up from my plate and stared into her dark brown eyes. I shook my head no and went back to eating my cereal.

“Me neither” she said ” Do you think he’s okay?” she asked me once again

Just as i was about to reply my mom peaked her head out and told us to hurry up since we were going to be late for school.

The drive there wasn’t long since my house was relatively close to school. Once we arrived we jumped out of the car and walked up the stairs and went to my locker where i usually met up with my friends.

As i made my way there i could see a tall figure with long strawberry blonde hair. I walked faster and jumped on her back yelling

" Averie!”

" Ahh What the hell Maya” she yelled as she jumped while i laughed at her reaction.

As i continued to laugh our other two friends, Virginia and Maddie made their way to us while they gave me an awkward stare. Just as they got closer the bell for class rang and as a usual reaction all the students that were on the hallways of Elmore High made their way to their different classes. Like every Thursday morning, Virginia and I made our way to History while Averie and Maddie walked to chemistry.

Once we walked inside the classroom we went to our usual seats; at the back of the room way in the corner. Minutes after we both walked in and took our seats, our teacher Mr.Royers walked in wearing his usual tweed jacket, white shirt, red tie and black pants, but there was something different about him today.

His smile.

Mr.Royers always had a big vibrant smile that was beyond contagious. His happiness made him into one of the most caring and loving teachers the school had. He never had a frown on his face so seeing this new feature on him was weird for all of us.

" Mr.Royers , is everything okey?” one girl called Natalie asked as she stared at the teacher, as if she was trying to figure him out.

" Yes , everything is fine” he answered back in quite a shaky voice as he nervously tried to fix his tie.

After the strange scenario that had currently happened, our teacher began his lesson trying to make the situation less awkward for us. Soon enough the bell rang and we were all dismissed. Everyone began piling out while Virginia and I stayed in our seats waiting until we were the only ones there so we could talk to Mr.Royers alone.

As soon as the last person left the room the two of us rushed to our teachers desk and began to bombard him with questions, which made it less easy for him to understand what we were saying.

" Girls! one at a time ” he said as he released a slight laugh

Virginia began to ask him questions to which he answered only no. On the other hand I studied the man a he replied every question my friend was making as I asked myself what could be making our teacher so upset.

That’s when it came to me, a thought that was so frightening but at the same time possible. My mouth went dry the second the thought crossed my mind and a bit of breath was stuck.

When I finally let it out, my face showed not only worry but fear as I was about to ask a question whose answer I may or may not know.

" Its Charlie isn’t it? The Ranglers got him”My voice was shaky and low as I pronounced these words

The Ranglers were this extremist group that went after whoever was against or spoke against the president. For the past eight months the Ranglers had been chasing all the members involved in a bomb explosion that was meant to kill the dictator president Banks . But the mission failed miserably and a bunch of the ones that were involved got captured at the moment. Charlie, Mr.Royers’s son and a few others were able to escape, becoming refugees and staying on the down low in order to not get captured. Mr.Royers gave me a slight frown and nodded his head as tears began brimming into his eyes. Charlie was the only family he had left since his wife was killed by the Ranglers a few years back .

" They took him , last night” he said in a croaky voice

Both Virginia and I turned to look at each other as our teacher finished pronouncing those words. I felt a pang of sadness knowing that Charlie was in great peril, not only because he was my teachers son but also because Charlie was a friend of mine, a very close friend. The rest of the day I tried to avoid the though of Charlie but it was impossible, the more I though of him the more worried I got.

Weeks passed and Mr.Royers wasn’t getting any better. You could perfectly see that Charlie’s capture had affected him greatly and soon enough he began to stop coming to school. Days passed and no one knew a word about what had happened to Mr.Royers, not until today.