~Althia~

"Is Justin not at school again?" I asked the gang as we were having lunch and Justin wasn't there for the fifth time this week

"Why do you care?" Zach asked me

I looked at him and he sighed

"Sorry" He mumbled

Zach and I's relationship is still a bit rocky and I can tell that he still doesn't fully trust me

Whenever someone mentions Justin, he scoffs then apologizes

"I haven't seen him around at all this week" Jessica answered

"He hasn't been at practice either" Zach added

I looked at Montgomery and Jeff

"I have no clue" Jeff shrugged

"Monty?" I said

"I think he's staying over at Bryce's" He told me

"Which means he's getting drunks and high and playing video games all day" Alex spoke

Jess smacked him

"Hey, it's true" Alex protested

I grabbed my phone to text him and Zach casually looked over my shoulder to see the screen

Althia:

Hey Jus

Althia:

Once again, I'm worried about you and I just want to make sure that everything is ok

Althia:

You haven't been at school all week and we're all getting really worried

Althia:

Please just let me know if you're ok

{Seen at 12:30}

I sighed and flipped my phone over

"Are we still on for today?" Zach asked me

"Mmh, of course" I answered as I leaned my head on his arm

"Hey Thia, remember when you promised me that you would find me a girl? How's that going?" Jeff spoke

I looked at him and rolled my eyes as he cheesed me a smile

"Can I help?" Jess questioned

I nodded

"I'll stop rushing you but can you at least find me someone that I can ask to Winter Formal?" Jeff asked

"Alright" I agreed "Winter formal is still a month and a half away, that's plenty of time" I added

The bell rang as we all made our ways to the lockers

//

"Where are we going" I asked Zach as he turned onto a street I didn't recognize

"We're going to Bryce's" He answered

"And we're going there because...?" I questioned

"To check up on Justin" He replied

I smiled

"I'm starting to worry about him a little and coach will kill me and him if he isn't at practice next week" Zach said

He turned into a driveway and parked the car

We got out and made our way to the front door

I knocked on the door

Bryce opened the door and one look at me put a huge smirk on his face

"Ahh, and to what to I owe this pleasure to?" He asked

"Where's Justin" I asked him

"Justin? He isn't here" Bryce shook his head

"Bull fucking shit, where the hell is he?" I asked him again

"Oof, you really do got yourself a feisty one" Bryce said as he looked at Zach before looking back at me

Zach wrapped his arm around my waist and pulled me closer to him

"Cut the shit, Bryce, we want to see Justin" Zach told him

Bryce held his hands up and chuckled

"He's in the guest house" He finally told us as he opened the door wider to let us in

Bryce led us to his backyard where the guest house was

"You can leave now" I told him once we reached the house

Bryce smirked again as he shook his head and chuckled before walking away

Zach knocked on the door but nobody came to answer it

He turned the doorknob and we walked in

I saw Justin on the couch playing a video game with a bunch of takeout containers on the coffee table, as well as beer bottles and a bong

"Jus?" I spoke

"What's up?" He responded not taking his eyes off the screen

I looked up at Zach but he was too busy looking around

"You haven't been at school or answering my texts" I said

"Yeah, I'm well fucking aware of that" Justin replied

My jaw dropped

"Hey! Yo, back off man" Zach spoke

"Oh great, you're here too" Justin rolled his eyes

"Alright what the fuck is this, Justin?" I snapped

He paused his game and looked at me

"What do you mean 'what the fuck is this'?"He mimicked me

"This!" I exclaimed waving my hands around "What are you doing?" I questioned

"I'm taking a break" He raised his voice

"You are unbelievable" I shook my head

"What? I can't have a couple days to fucking chill? It's been a rough fucking week!" Justin said

"No! You can ask for help from your friends who are all there for you and willing to help you out" I told him "You can't skip a whole week of school without letting anybody know if you're okay or not just to get high and drunk and play fucking video games" I continued

"Well maybe all I need is a break from you! Jesus fucking Christ, just because I told you some things and stayed over at your house does not fucking mean that I need to tell you everything" Justin spat "You can be so fucking annoying sometimes" He continued as he stood up

"Alright that's enough" Zach said as he got in the middle of us "You need to wake the fuck up and realize that you have a ton of people who care about you and if you want to spend your days getting high and being besties with Bryce again, go right ahead but just know you'll lose us all" Zach added as he pointed his finger to Justin

Justin just shook his head and sat back die on the couch

"If you're not at school Monday, I'm telling your Coach where you are and good fucking luck with that" I told him

Justin simply rolled his eyes and took another sip of his beer

I glanced at him one more time before walking out, Zach following close behind me

"You're not staying?" Bryce asked me as we walked through his house to go to the front door

"Leave us the fuck alone" Zach said as we reached the door

We walked out and got in the car

"You ok?" Zach asked me as he backed out of the driveway

I nodded as he grabbed my hand

"It's just shitty" I sighed

"I know but you said what he needed to hear and now it's up to him" He told me

"Let's just enjoy our last few minutes together before you need to leave me" I said as I stuck out my bottom lip

Zach looked at me before looking back at the road, a playful smile on his face

"I don't need to go right away after I drop you off" He told me happily

"Really?" I asked

He nodded

"Wait, shit. My parents will be home" I told him

"Oof" Zach responded making me laugh "Spend more time with you but also see your scary mom or spend less time with you and see my scary mom. Decisions, decisions" He added

"Spend more time with meeeeee" I decided for him

"Well of course, it wasn't that hard of a decision" Zach replied

We continued the drive to my house where stayed over for a bit more before having to go to his house.