Artemis was hurrying towards where the sound seemed to be coming from before Abe could stop her. Those boys had been missing for days now. She wasn't about to ignore the chance to find them and bring them to safety.

She didn't even pay attention to if Abe was following her. She just needed to rescue them from whatever was keeping them away from everything.

But she couldn't seem to find the source of their voices.

Once she thought she was getting close to it, they fell silent and she couldn't pinpoint the direction exactly. She slowed down. If she wasn't careful, she could walk past them without realizing. She looked around carefully.

It turned out Abe had kept up with her in her rushing. She didn't even have to say anything to him. “If you're that worried about them, then I'll help. It sounded like they're perfectly fine, but I'll look with you if only so you can confirm with your own eyes. It's what friends do… help each other.”

And that's how their general exploration became more focused as they spent the next half hour looking around the area for anywhere the two boys could be nearby.

When Abe looked like he might be starting to get tired, he suddenly called out to her. Arty hurried over to find what looked like a cave. Abe pointed towards the soft ground at the entrance that had multiple footprints going in and out, more than could be identified. “This looks promising…”

She agreed entirely. Without another word between them, they started in. It's only after the first few steps that Arty realize she probably didn't want to spook the boys if they were in the cave so she called out. “Hello? Matt? Ricky? Are you in there?” She got no answer but continued in.

She almost kicked an empty food container as she went further in. After that, there were more items scattered around, particularly items one would bring when camping. Lanterns, a cooler of food, even a tinder kit. And then the two exploring students found the missing freshmen. The two guys were just peacefully napping in sleeping bags near the back of the cavern. It was as if they didn't have a care in the world and hadn't been missing for half a week. “What the fuck?” Arty was feeling a mix of anger and relief. She kicked the bottom of Matt's sleeping bag in her frustration and the boy seemed to start to wake back up.

“Come on, Artemis… it's pretty clear they were already playing hooky from classes and their responsibilities. Probably decided to hang out here for the extra privacy.” She didn't want to just leave them here. There was something weird about it all that she couldn't quite put her finger on. 

“No, I'm gonna bring them back even if I have to drag them.” She leaned over to shake them both awake. “Ricky has a girlfriend he was always going on about and Matt is very vocal about being straight. As in borderline objectifying most of the women around and talking about how much he wants to get with them… I can't imagine either of them getting freaky with the other, so… where's the girl or girls they were with when we first heard them?” Matt seemed to be rousing slightly quicker of the two.

“Mmm… come give me another kiss, Angel.” He weakly reached out towards Arty but she just barely moved out of his hand’s path.

“Fuck no. Wake up, Dude.” She slapped it out of her face. That seemed to help him wake more and it wasn't long before Matt was sitting up, even if his eyes were still glossy from sleep. “What in the world are you two doing out here?”

“None of your business, Art. We're grown men.”

“You want to fail out, that's your choice, but you had the whole team worried. Captain cancelled practice yesterday because no one felt up to it with you both missing.” She might have been exaggerating a touch, but she was pissed and wanted him to understand the effects of their actions.

“Fine, fine… we're both okay so will you stop yelling already? …Who'd ever want such a nagging person for a girlfriend?” That was ironic coming from Matt considering how many times he'd hit on her before disappearing.

Ricky was coming around too so she decided to turn her attention to him in hope of getting better information. Unfortunately, that's not what she got.

“Arty? What are you doing here?”

“You two have been AWOL for days now and the two of us happened happened to come across this cave while out exploring.” Her words had the effect of causing both woodsmen freshmen looking past her at who the other person was.

“Trying to find your own love nest, huh?” Before she could deny Ricky's words, Matt noticed who the other person was.

“No way, the ultra nerd? I didn't know you two were a thing… Or are you just trying out different flavors as part of the college experience?” Artemis slapped him with her whole strength.

“Apologize to Abe right now. We're friends. He isn't someone that I'd get close to for something as primitive and shallow as just sleeping with. He's above someone like you who only thinks with their-” She stopped herself with a huff of frustration. His words made her see red but she needed to make sure not to lose control. “...You aren't even worth it. If you're not going to take things seriously, at least come back to quit the team and let everyone know you're not dead.” She took Abe's hand as she stormed out of the cave.

Abe still didn't say anything as the walked farther away from the cave and towards the main part of campus. It was like he knew she needed time to cool down. Finally, Arty spoke.

“Maybe I shouldn't have just left like that. Matt pissed me off, but it still feels like something weird is going on. He was a misogynistic jerk that seemed more focused on girls than class or practice at times, but he didn't seem the type to put others down like that before going missing. It was more just going on about how attractive certain girls were and flirting with any he thought he had a chance with. Sure, he would say some borderline inappropriate things once or twice, but it was never at the degradation of another person. It was more crude jokes about he wanted to do if he got a girlfriend.”

“Maybe you just didn't know him as well as you thought.” Abe didn't say it as if putting her or her judgement down. In fact, it almost seemed like he was trying to comfort her. “It was only a few weeks since the school year started, after all. People can usually hide their worst qualities well at the beginning of getting to know them.”

“We have known each other for even less time…”

“And you should definitely not blindly believe that who you've seen so far is entirely who I am. I could still turn out to be weird or a psycho or something. Don't just trust that I'm showing my true self from the very beginning.”

Arty smiled. “You giving me such advice is exactly that sort of thing that makes me believe you're exactly how I perceive you to be… A kind and smart person that cares a ton about your friends.” She knew she at least made a good judgement when deciding to befriend Abe. He proved it with his actions all the time.

“I could be tricking you for some personal gain. Acting so nice to cause you to lower your guard for some nefarious purpose.”

“You aren't. I'm not so oblivious as to not notice at least a few cracks in your mask if you meant me harm.” She shot him a smirk. “And I can probably kick your ass if I turned out to be wrong.”

“I could drug you.”

“You won't. You had the chance in the past and didn't. It would be a ton of unnecessary effort to run such a long con when you had the opportunity near the beginning.”

“I could be the type of sicko that gets something out of gaining your trust first.” Arty was getting irritated at this point.

“Why are you suddenly so set on convincing me that you could be a bad person?” Abe fell silent. She just couldn't figure out what had triggered such a push that she should distrust him. “Oh, gonna give me the silent treatment now, huh? Well, then this is on you…” Arty with no other warning suddenly picked up the shorter boy and jokingly slung him over her shoulder. She chuckled. “If you're so set that you're gonna stab me in the back, here's the perfect chance for you. Closest you've even been to it before.”

When Abe finally spoke up, it was so soft that she almost didn't hear him. “...They were talking badly about you just because I was there with you.”