Chapter 3 - Chapter 3: The Search for LaJon

LaJon woke up to hear his parents arguing...again. This time worse the the last. He looked at his Teen Titans alarm clock. It read 4:26. He groaned and pulled his blanket over his head and his Cyborg doll close to him. "Try to ignore it...try to ignore it." he whispered to himself. "It'll be over soon." He sniffled and closed his eyes tight. "Go back to sleep. It'll all be over soon."

"Whoa, you look rough." Jesse mused as LaJon walked into the class room that morning. "What happened?" Joey asked. LaJon groaned and rubbed his eyes. "I don't wanna talk about it." "Hey, Chocolate." LaJon looked up to see Corey and Mick standing in front of him. "Go away, Corey." he said with a yawn. "I'm not in the mood for your crap." "Oh, but I am." Corey smirked. "Looks like you had a rough night." He cracked his knuckles. "How about I make it a rough day to go along with it?" Jesse glared. "Don't you know when to quit?" "Yeah," Joey agreed. "Leave him alone." "Shut up, you little brat," Mick growled, "before I make sure you have a rough day too." "Settle down, guys." Mr. Lee said with a sigh. "Okay, we're gonna watch a movie about.." Mr. Lee's voice faded away in LaJon's head. This is the sixth day in a row that he had had a bad night. Since his mom lost her job, she had to cut back on certain things. His dad didn't like that. He just lay his head on his desk and fell asleep.

Rob had brought a few Jolt colas and passed them out at lunch. "You look like you really need this." he said as he sat one down in front of LaJon. He rubbed his eyes and yawned. "Yeah. I don't wanna fall asleep in class, but..." "I'm not allowed to have sugar." Vinnie cut in. "It makes me hyper." "I'll take that." Corey replied from behind them, snatching the cola from Vinnie's hand. "That's not yours!" Jesse yelled. "Whatever." he replied. He opened it and took a gulp. He looked at LaJon and smirked. "Here, I think you need this more then I do." He laughed and poured the whole can of soda over LaJon's head, who was so tired, he didn't respond. "Aw, whazza matter, Chocolate? Bad stuff, hapeening at home?" An evil smirk crossed his face. "Mommy not love you anymore?"

Corey was taken to the nurse bleeding and bruised. LaJon sat angrily in Mr. Osbourne's office. "Usually, I'd say Corey has it coming." Mr. Osbourne said with a deep breath. "But beating him up that badly, I don't think you'll have to worry about him bothering you again." LaJon smirked. "Nonetheless, I'm sending you home early. You're mother is on her way, and she doesn't sound too happy with you." LaJon looked at Mr. Osbourne in horror. Oh god...that means... The door flew open and in walked LaJon's mom, who was clearly angry. "Young man, I can't believe you would do something so stupid! Let's go home, NOW."

The arguing in the living room was louder then ever. LaJon lay in his bed, sobbing to himself. He was sick of this. Now it was his fault. He knew it wouldn't go away this easliy. Mom was furious at his actions, Dad thought he did the right thing. He listened to the arguing for another ten minutes before he grabbed his book bag, emptied his books on the floor, and grabbed a handful of clothes.

Joey was sitting at the dinner table with his mom and his baby sister when the door bell rang. "I'll get it!" Joey exclaimed as he ran to the door. He opened it to find Jesse and his dad. "Jesse! What's-" "Has LaJon been over here?" Joey looked at Jesse in confusion. "No, I haven't seen him. Mom?" His mother walked to the door. "No, I haven't. Why?" Mr. Snider took a deep breath. "I just got a call from LaJon's mother. She went in his room to talk to him and he was gone. She's hystrical. We're gathering the parents for a look out if no one has seen him."

Cristina opened her door to see Morgan. "What do YOU want?" she said with a frown. "Have you seen LaJon? His mom can't find him." The frown disappeared. "No, I haven't. Mercedes, have you seen LaJon?" "No." she said as she came out of the living room. The phone rang and Cristina's mom answered. "Oh, man! Where did he go?" he asked, his eyes welling up with tears. "Girls," her mother said, "grab your coats. We're meeting at Mr. Snider's house."

The parents were gathered in the kitchen, the kids in the living room. They were talking about the areas they would cover as the kids shook their heads. "They don't know those areas like we do!" Jesse exclaimed. Everyone agreed. They were talking about checking out the kid hangouts. "Hey," Mick chimed in, "How bout we go look? We can find him better then they could." "Yeah!" Rob agreed. "We can fit in the small places they can't!" So the kids lowerd their voices and formulated a plan. They would find LaJon themselves.

"Hey, Joey?" "Yeah, Mick?" he took a deep breath. "I'm really sorry for picking on you guys. It's just that Corey is stronger then I am and-" "Don't worry about it." Mick looked at Joey in surprise. "We'll talk about it later. I'm worried about LaJon." "Okay, guys, listen up!" Jesse said. "Okay, Mercedes, Cristina and Morgan, check the park. Mick, Vinnie, and John, check the toy store. Sonny and Rob check the neighborhood. All the parents are at dad's house, avoid that one house and you should be fine. Joey and I will check the lake. You all have your talkies?" Everyone pulled out their Teen Titans Walie-Talkies. "Ok. If one group finds him, call the rest of us. Ready?' Let's find him!"

"Cristina, anything near you?" "Sorry, Joey, nothing." "Mick?" "No, Joey. Don't see him. "Sonny, have you?" "Not him personally, but I did find one of his jelly bracelets. He's been here. Walking toward the lake, I think." Jesse and Joey looked at each other. "He HAS to be here then!" Jesse said with a nod. Joey nodded back. "Okay. Thanks guys. Keep looking." He took a deep breath and stuck his walie-talkie in his pocket. They walked a short while further when they heard something near the bridge. It sounded like crying." LaJon?" Joey asked, hopefull. They heard a sniffle. "You can't make me go back." Joey happily fished out his walkie-talkie. "Guys we found him! Everyone meet at the lake under the bridge!

"I'm sick of the arguing. It's all my fault." LaJon said tearfully. Cristina wrapped her arms around him. "Shhh. It's not all your fault. Parents are strange. " "Tell me about it." Jesse groaned. "Dad wants me start taking baseball lessons." "That's nothing!" Rob exclaimed. " Mom got this shirt that has...Teletubbies on it!" "Ewww!" everyone said with a laugh." LaJon smiled. "Look," Jesse said with a stretch of his arms, "let's get to my house and talk to the parents. They've probably realized we're gone."

"Jesse Blaze Snider, don't you EVER sneak out of this house agai-" "Dad, we found him." Mr. Snider looked at Jesse in disbelief. "What?" LaJon walked into the house, head hung low. "Oh, my goodness!" LaJon's mom exclaimed. "Thank God that your okay! What posessed you to...oh, nevermind. We'll talk about this when we get home." LaJon looked at his friends before saying "I'm not going home." "What? Of Course you are." "No, I'm not!" LaJon screamed. "Not until you and dad stop fighting!" His mother and father looked at each other. "I'm sick of it! You wake me up at night and I can't sleep! You don't pay attention to me anymore, all you do is argue! I'm not going back until you stop fighting!" "He thinks it's his fault." Mick broke in. "That's why he ran away." All the parents took a deep breath. "We need to talk." Mr Snider finally said. Can you kids PLEASE stay inside the house?" "We'll go to my room." Jesse said. He headed up the stairs with his friends behind him.,

"That was cool how you stood up to your parents like that." Mick said as everyone sprawled out on Jesse's floor. "I wish I could stand up to Corey." "You can!" Rob chirped. "We'll help, won't we?" "Yeah!" Joey agreed. "After what LaJon did..." he laughed. LaJon smirked, then yawned. "I have the new Teen Titans DVD! Who wants to watch it?" "I DO!" Everyone exclaimed. They all streched out and started to watch the t.v.

Mr. Snider looked at all the kids, passed out on Jesse's floor. A smile crossed his frace as he walked downstairs. "They're all asleep." He looked at LaJon's parents. "If LaJon wants to, he's more then welcome to stay here until you guys get your problems straightened out." "That would be very helpful Dee. Thanks." "Should we get our kids up and take them home?" Rob's mother asked. Dee looked up at the door to Jesse's room and smiled. "Nah, I think they're okay for the night."

Joey woke up and looked around the room. He looked over at LaJon, who was clutching his Cyborg doll to his chest and snoring softly. Probably the best he's slept all week., Joey thought to himself. He smiled, pulled his Raven doll to him, and went back to sleep.

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