No point hanging around

You took Emma by the hand and went back down the stairs to start wandering around, finding the empty halls and classrooms quite peaceful when you weren’t having to rush for class or manoeuvre your way around dozens of classmates. The posters for prom still coated the walls and it felt like there were even more of them compared to the last time you checked.

It did make you appreciate the time you had left at the school and while you had a lot of reasons to want to leave this place behind, there were a few things you would miss. The main one being the biggest excuse you had to go and see Rebecca regularly. You hoped that you could clear that up at dinner on Tuesday but you had to start dropping hints or start texting her soon to avoid missing your chance and keeping contact.

There was no way you were letting her go without a fight and the fact that you were wandering around the school after hours looking for her hopefully showed your sincerity about that.

You and Emma checked a few of the science classrooms but she wasn’t in any of them, leading you to the staff room that was usually empty most of the time, the teachers choosing to work out of their offices instead of staying in a communal area.

Hearing Rebecca’s voice from inside made you breathe a sigh of relief at actually finding her but when you heard the other voice that accompanied her, you felt a lot less eager to enter the room, signalling to Emma that it might be best to eavesdrop first before you marched into the room unaware of the situation.

“...And you have everything ready for the catering and the music?” the principal’s voice harshly rang out, clear enough for you to hear the conversation even while you were still standing outside.

“The food was arranged and sorted weeks ago. The music as well, that's being set up by some of the students the night before and being tested with a teacher in attendance” Rebecca answered, her voice monotone as she spoke.

You were sure that this hadn’t been the first time Rebecca had told her mother all this information but that didn’t seem to stop her from asking them again.

The questions continued and you turned to Emma to see that she had also been able to hear the conversation rolling her eyes at the situation and taking a few steps back along with you when you decided to get away from the door.

“Any ideas how we can save her?” you whispered, asking Emma first before you considered any possible escape route for Rebecca.

Emma didn’t have anything straight away and the two of you stood in silence for a few moments, all the while hearing the principal continue to drone on. You did have Rebecca’s phone number that you could probably use but if the principal happened to overhear you then it could raise some unnecessary suspicion on the two of you.

“Okay I think I’ve got an idea, come on” you told Emma, directing her further away from where you were still standing near the door and heading to the nearest bathroom.

You went in first just to confirm that there were no men in there before taking Emma inside, needing some privacy for what you had planned.

“Ugh, I knew this place would be bad but this is just…” Emma complained with a look of disgust at her surroundings.

“We can be out in a second, I just need you to ring Rebecca with this number and tell her this” you replied, giving Emma some details to pass on.

Emma rang Rebecca using the number you had saved and waited as the call was connecting, each ring upping the tension as you both waited for her to pick up, you standing right next to Emma so you could hear both sides of the call.

“Hello?” she quizically greeted, not recognising the number that had rung her.

“Hi, I’m calling from Mr. Cooper’s catering service and I was wondering if I could speak to a Becky?” Emma replied back, the silence on the other end of the line lasting for a few seconds, long enough that Emma moved her phone to check the call was still going.

“...This is her” a response finally came through, her words sounding shaky.

“I was hoping to talk through some of the details of your order you have placed with us, are you free to discuss this now or should ‘We’ call back another time?” Emma asked, emphasizing that she wasn’t alone even if she was putting on an act.

There were some hushed voices on the other side of the call but eventually those quieted down and the sound of high heels walking down the corridor in your direction echoed throughout the corridor.

Even though the steps carried on straight passed the bathroom without any hesitation, you and Emma still breathed a sigh of relief when you realised the principal wasn’t coming to find you, the thought irrational but still enough to spook you.

“Emma is that you?” Rebecca asked down the phone as the sounds of footsteps got even further away.

“Yeah sorry, here Max wants to talk with you” Emma answered, shoving the phone in your direction when she felt guilty for putting her on the spot.

You gingerly grabbed the phone off of her and went to immediately apologise.

“Hey, I’m sorry for doing that. We saw you were stuck with her and…” You said starting to explain, Rebecca cutting you off before you could go any further.

“No, don’t apologise. You did save me and I swear, if she had mentioned the music one more time I don’t know what I would have done” Rebecca joked down the phone, lightening the mood considerably as Emma looked guilty on the other side of the bathroom.

“You didn’t have to tell Emma to say Becky though…” Rebecca mumbled, not loud enough for Emma to hear now that she had moved away.

You still gave Emma a thumbs up to say she wasn’t mad at the phone call but the quiet voice did make Rebecca sound **** in this moment.

“That I will apologise for then. I promise to be the only one to call you that in the future… unless you say otherwise” you replied, not knowing if she would open up to the name with your other subjects further down the line.

“Where are you by the way? You said you saw me” Rebecca questioned, knowing you must have had line of sight on her at some point.

“I peeked my head into the staff room but left pretty quickly to avoid the principal. We’re hiding at the moment but we can come meet you and walk up to your office?” you suggested, taking a glance at Emma to confirm she was still okay with that.

“Yeah, sure. See you in a minute” Rebecca replied, the call ending and letting you pass the phone back to Emma.

You didn’t want to leave her waiting so you told Emma some of the details she missed and made your way back toward the staff room.