Work Text:
"Shame" - *Angie*
I SWEAR TO GOD
???
ARASHA
I CAN'T WITH HER
THEY NEED TO TALK AGAIN IDC ANYMORE
i've had enough shayne
Pls.
Hello to you too, I guess.
What's this about?
SHAYNE TOPP ISTG
arasha and trevor ffs
Are you serious?
YES BRO
DON'T TELL ME HE DOESN'T MISS HER TOO
I'd be lying if I said he didn't...
OH MY DAYS
ok i have an idea
Angela.
IDC
im gonna lock them in a closet together.
ANGELA!
bro i have no choice
i can't see her like this anymore
im sliming him out atp
YOU'VE SEEN HIM LOOK AT HER!!!
Okay, yeah I have to admit that it's true.
But that's such a dumb idea!
How are you gonna possibly pull that off?
Yk that one tiny room next to the classroom where i have english?
Nobody goes to that classroom, so who's gonna find them in that tucked away closet?
You'd be so dead because a teacher WILL find them.
OMG DON'T BE SUCH A DEBBIE DOWNERRR
so, i was initially thinking during a period, bc i know arasha has a free and trevor obviously is down to skip
but then
we also have rehearsals after school
nobody will be around, more time locked up, and Mr.P wouldn't gaf that much???
Wow.
ok so which option?
NEITHER
NOT AN OPTION
maybe i'll go ask spencer
Bro.
"Spen" - *FeralAnn*
during class or during rehearsals
idk what you're on but i pick during rehearsals
thank u spenca
"Shame" - *Angie*
DURING REHEARSAL
oml shayne y cant u be more like spencer
Many reasons, Angela.
This is so stupid
I am NOT participating in this!!
Well...
THE SHOW MUST GO ON!!
thanks 4 the help my goat
or lack of
wtv
SEE U LATER!!!
Angela peacefully waltzed out of the third floor bathrooms with her lip-combo freshly applied and a beautiful encounter with her trusty vape in a bathroom stall as break finally begun. Siouxsie and the Banshees sang in her left ear while her other wired earphone hung by her chest, pulled up from the inside of her shirt. She hung by the side of the staircase, leading up from the second floor as she waited for the best two people she knew for this operation.
Immediately, the thump of basketballs hitting the sleek wooden floorboards echoed from the stairwell, mixed with the embarrassingly loud stomps of teenage boys' footsteps and their annoyingly loud chattering. Angela grinned as she saw her two targets for the moment rising up, with the big T himself unfortunately trailing right behind him with the rest of their group.
"Grossman!" She waved a painted hand in both black nail-polish and pen ink. Silver rings shined under artificial light, and bracelets clanked together as it shook. "You too, Keith!"
A tall man hurried up the steps, stopping before the goth. Noah, wearing baggy sweatpants, and a fitted formal tee stood in front of her. Slicking a loose curl out of his face, he looked at her with a smile. "What's up, Ang?"
"I need you, and Keith to help me out on something." She pointed at his partner in crime, standing beside him, wearing the same baggy sweatpants and formal tee.
"Does it gotta be now?" Keith asked, leaning on Noah's shoulder nonchalantly.
"No," She grinned, shaking her head. "Just want some assistance with something I know you'll be down for." She glanced behind the duo, seeing Trevor watching them from afar, by a corner, waiting for join him and others on the court. She raised a stern eyebrow, her matte lip twitching. "Go away, Evarts!" She flicked her wrists at him, shooing him away.
The tall, lanky jock shook his head as he lingered against a wall with his arms crossed, before letting them drop and walking away.
"I wanna guess where this is going..." Noah spoke slowly, pushing a hand through his hair.
"Shoot."
"Actually- I got nothing. You could be up to anything, and we're down for anything."
"Keith, your chance to steal the points, any ideas?"
Keith looked between Angela and Noah, racking his brain for absolutely anything but truly nothing comes to mind. "Pass. What is it?"
"Jesus, guys..." Angela murmured, pinching her nose in playful disappointment. "You two are really something else this morning... Whatever!" She waved a hand, signaling the two to lean in close to hear her whisper. "I'm locking Arasha and Trevor in a classroom together during rehearsals."
"What!?" Keith exclaimed, leaping backward and practically falling down the stairs if Noah didn't catch him.
"Quiet!" Angela hushed, standing back up straight. "So are you in or are you in?"
"We're in!" Noah called excitedly, but keeping it low in case Trevor or someone else was right around the corner, listening in. "What room? We can get Trev in there easily."
"You know that one classroom next to where we have English?" She watched the duo slowly nod as she spoke. "I'm planning on using that small, tucked away closet room inside it. Good plan, right?"
"Angela, I think that's perfect." Noah grinned, shaking Keith beside him who was immediately on board anyway. "We'll have him in there by the time everyone has left after school ends."
"You have our word, Angela." Keith nodded, extending his hand for Angela to shake. "We'll see you later."
"Good chat, lads. See you two later!" Angela exclaimed as she strongly shook his hand, speaking quickly with enthusiasm. She let go of Keith's hand, releasing her firm grasp, letting them leave. The two quickly jogged away, disappearing around the corner and into the gym as Angela walked down the stairs, finding Arasha by the lockers.
Angela peacefully wandered down the stairs leading to the first floor, seeing a good portion of their year-level hanging around their locker space. Luckily, Trevor and most of his lousy friend group have gone elsewhere for once, which made the air seemed oddly lighter for once. Olivia, Amanda, and Arasha were all seated around a small rounded table in a nearby classroom.
"There she is!" Amanda called, pointing toward the approaching Angela. "Where have you been?!"
Angela pulled a seat out from the table, leaning back comfortably as she joined the group. "Just wandering around, you know?" She smiled, "So, anything new?"
"Keith pissed me off so much during math just now!" Olivia exclaimed, shaking her palms in anger.
Arasha chuckled, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "It was the worst rage bait ever. She got him back, though!"
"Awh, Liv..." Angela sighed sympathetically, "He's an ass but you know he's just messing with you."
How interesting, Angela thought to herself, if only she knew what was coming.
"Jackass gave me a headache." Olivia mumbled angrily, crossing her arms together.
Angela reaches across the table, placing a hand as close to Olivia as she can get, even if it meant lying on the desk. "Hey, we'll slime him out for you. Okay?"
Olivia couldn't help but crack a slight smile, her aura of sunshine slowly returning. "Thanks, Angela..."
"You're good." She retrieved her hand, pulling back into her seat. Switching the subject, she clapped her hands together. "So, what's class do we all have next? I know I got English, with you, Rasha!"
Amanda looped an arm around Olivia's back, "We got chemistry together! Chemistry with both meanings!" She called happily with a wink to Olivia. "With Courtney, of course, but no clue where she is..."
"She's with Shayne, obviously! She'll come down and join us eventually." Olivia sighed, rolling her eyes as she brought her head down to rest on her elbow.
"Careful, say their names three times and the group will appear and ruin the peace." Angela joked, twirling a strand of hair as she chewed a piece of gum.
"Don't jinx it." Amanda muttered, shoving a spoonful of homemade salad in her mouth.
"Yeah, yeah, I know. I'd really hate to ruin this peace." Angela sighed, "Notice how the air's so much lighter now?"
"Yeah, it really is." Arasha smiled, beginning to finally relax where she was for once without the constant presence of Trevor's group around her.
The group spoke in a comfortable, carefree conversation with inside-jokes, banter, and things that happened in class. From Noah and Keith's "shit burger" in Food Tech, to Marcus and Spencer's surprisingly half-decent assignment video in Media, and an insane side-eye from Bailey and Erin. Angela shared her insights from the girls in the bathroom stalls as they passed around the vape, with new unexpectedly couples and insufferable men in homeroom. Olivia shared more about how Keith pissed her off in every class possible, and how he started blasting music and ear-piercing sounds in homeroom, which got him kicked out. Amanda shared how annoying Spencer and Shayne's friend group is in classes, mentioning Chanse, Tommy and Damien with his horrible narration.
Somewhere during the flow of conversation, some members of said friend group came down to linger around their locker area. Courtney finally appeared, bouncing toward the group.
"Hello, hello!" She swung her arms around Arasha and Amanda's shoulders. "What's going on, here?"
"Literally nothing, anything with you?" Amanda asked, taken slightly aback but the sudden surprise.
"Nothing much either, Shayne just got me something from the canteen so I'm SET for Mr.Hecox's Chem class. I mean, he's a great teacher but I really needed something in my system if I didn't want to lose my shit from the guys in my class. Right, Arasha?"
"Hah, right." She replied in a false excited, monotone voice, nodding slowly.
Arasha didn't dislike Courtney, not in the slightest. She was a great friend to her, even if she constantly bounced between her friend group and her boyfriend's, Shayne. Don't get her wrong, she was certainly strong and independent, but she missed interacting with her when she was constantly around him, especially when Shayne began to really despise her around the time she ended things with Trevor, among other small hiccups, that she constantly hated herself for, and seeing such a healthy couple like them made those feelings a whole lot worse.
Guilt and regret would stir in her heart whenever they were around, and it hurt. She'd hate to admit it, but seeing the all the couples in this circle made her sick. It didn't help that the only thing she had to blame was herself.
She couldn't admit that, not to anyone, especially not in front of Courtney.
Speaking of, she was already immersed in conversation with the rest of the group, and as long as it stayed just that way, she'd be fine. Just fine.
In reality, she found herself staring at Angela, who was looking at her with large, knowing eyes. As her best-friend, they knew exactly what the other was trying to say.
"Well!" Courtney stood up straight, clasping her hands together. "I'm gonna go find Shayne. I'll be back!" She smiled boldly, rocking back and forth on her heels.
"No need." Amanda scoffed, gesturing behind her. "He's right there."
As she spoke, two firm arms wrapped themselves around Courtney's body, and he appeared. She giggled in the embrace, smiling at the group as she was swept away, leaving the rest in an odd silence.
Angela cleared her throat, uncomfortably glancing at each of her friends. "Awkward~"
Olivia exhaled a long, heavy breath with a chuckle, "Good on, Ang."
Arasha relaxed her shoulders, sliding her elbows on the table and placing her hands in her arms. She looked at Angela across from her, the girl sitting opposite her in large black track pants, and bold jewelry on her white formal tee. She herself was sitting in the school sport uniform, in track pants instead of a skirt today from the shitty weather. As usual, she had her hair up in a ponytail, held up in a bow turned ribbon, and Angela had rough, messy hair dyed with red streaks. Among it all, she noticed her best-friend's eyes widening at something approaching from behind her. Before she could turn around to see, react, or anything, Olivia let out a squeak from surprise as large, firm hands clasped on her shoulders.
"Don't- Don't jump up on me like that!" She exclaimed, raising up fists slightly. Olivia shook Trevor's arms off her torso, "What do you want?"
Arasha kept her focus on Angela, her expression frozen with wide eyes. She was completely fine with Courtney popping in whenever she couldn't be around Shayne, that's fine, and she could just barely cope when both of them were around their group. She could just step away and use her locker for the moment with Angela, or just walk off and return in a minute. But him? Only a few times, she could last with him being around their group, and as much as she wanted him to catch some sort of hint to buzz off, it was really like he wanted her to feel something. Boy, did she.
What a moron, a loser, a sore piece of white boy shit. An idiot, an insufferable boy, an incel who blindly believed he could have her without trying. He was hot, funny, and really sweet, and Arasha could never admit that she missed him.
Like usual, she let Amanda and Olivia do all the talking while she sat in silence, like usual. Angela never really interacted with him since, thankfully.
The other's conversation kept going, and Arasha pushed it to one side of her head to listen in and scrutinize Trevor's pathetic bullshit as he stood there right in front of her while the other side completely ignored him, as usual.
A while ago, whenever she'd see him around her group, her heart would begin to twist and sting, her stomach would swirl with remorse, and she'd be miserable for countless months on end. Since the year started, she was fortunate to only have one class per week with him, to which she skipped every week until recently. Arasha decided to suck it up, to join the only other girls, who are really the only good people in that class, and see what happens. She didn't look at him as she bold strut into the room, through the very front of the class, while the teacher announced her return so loudly. She sat peacefully in a seat right in front of him, and barely acknowledged him as he walked past her later in the class when she moved with her friends to sit elsewhere. She hoped he felt the absolute worst.
The most annoying bell began to suddenly blast from the p.a. system, marking the end of their lunch break. Immediately, Trevor broke away from their group and joined the rest of his friends by the lockers.
Arasha looked at Angela with cold, wide eyes. Her lips parted, opening and closed without sound, but mouthing words that were louder than they were. 'What the fuck.'
Olivia and Amanda began to stand up from their seats, pulling Arasha and Angela up with them too. This was just another lunch break, and Arasha has already put up with this for months now and it began to bother her less and less for the last little while, but now that feeling was back.
She hated how it reminded her of that guilt, the way she forced herself to break off something good. She loved their relationship, and she felt so pathetic for cutting it off so easily, so quickly. They way she was struggling mentally, and couldn't persuade her mind to believe the truth instead of the fabricated lies from her poor mental health. She felt evil. But then the way he didn't fight for their relationship, and just let it all happen. The deep hole that she constantly dug herself further and further into, and was currently begin to suffocate her.
She dragged herself behind her friends as they walked the few steps to their lockers, her mouth feeling like it was glued together. Her footsteps felt odd against the ground, like her legs weren't truly hers. This whole feeling is weird, usual and odd, and she needed it gone immediately.
Olivia's locker slammed closed in front of her, snapping her back with a jump. Amanda was grabbing her chemistry book, laptop, and unbelievably large metal water bottle. Angela was rummaging through her's and Arasha's locker, as they were sharing one, books hitting the sides as she searched for a suitable notebook.
"Liv and I are going to head to class now, alright? We'll see you guys later." Amanda spoke, shutting her locker door a lot more carefully compared to Olivia's, already turning on her heel.
"Cya!" Angela called after them, finally pulling out a beat-up, drawn over notebook and stepping aside.
Arasha approached her locker, easily grabbing her notebook and a pen that was neatly waiting for her in her bag. She glanced at her laptop, figuring that she'll probably need it, but keeping it in there as an excuse to leave class earlier. Her classmates and others in her year-level trickled out of the area, leaving for class while they lingered there for a moment.
"You alright?" Angela asked, leaning against a locker next to her.
"Fine. Why?"
"No, no, it's just-" Angela fumbles with her sleeves as Arasha slowly closed her locker door. "You looked a little off…"
By then, Arasha's heart had stopped beating at her chest, almost exploding out of her chest. She sighed, her fingers still wrapped around the door-handle. "You know already… It's just bothering me a bit more than usual." She released her grip, hand dropping to her side. "It sucks, but I'm coping. I just want to be done with this. Do you know where our class is?"
"I'll check." Angela responded, fishing her phone out of her pocket. In a way, she was hoping for an opening to grab her phone and text her accomplices for their plan, but it would be too risky to do such as Arasha was right beside her, but she figured she wouldn't really look at her phone anyway. Unless…
"Keisha" - *Beth*
ok ho good news and bad news
i need u to see this
what bro
r u in class yet
fuck no
ok wtv
we're on our way there rn
english where we usually have it
that means i need to get her out of there asap so u and noah can bring in the big t
but i need an excuse to drag her back in
u got it??
yes bro
r u coming to class??
eventually
"We're where we usually have class." Angela spoke, not looking up from her phone and praying Arasha wasn't peeking at her messages before she swiftly switched to her class schedule. Arasha nodded, walking beside her as she probably figured by now where class was as they were walking up the stairs to the second floor.
"Keisha" - *Beth*
ok great
do NOT give ts away bro
i trust u
yes bro u can trust me
OK GOOD
i'll let u know when im bringing arasha back up after class
u know how to lock it yeah??
obviously
yk how it is right??
hurry up and get to class
i could say the same to u
youre lucky ms selina has obvious favourites with u guys
get better
im omw to class soon meet u in there
UGHHH
ok dont give it away
Arasha and Angela takes seats in a back row of their small classroom, their go-to spot for the classroom. Pretty much the rest of their classmates have sat down by now, chatting or playing games until their teacher, Ms Selina walked in and started the class. The front-left corner of the classroom had unfilled seats, chairs at a group of desks where Keith and his group were about to claim, with an expectedly bold entrance. The few other girls in the mostly male class were seated too, Erin, Bailey, Emily Rose, and Lizzy. Apart from them, the other students with them were irrelevant, sometimes lowlife weirdos, and other randoms that just stuck to themselves. Like usual, Keith and Noah strut into the classroom, holding a soda from the canteen and a small pack of lollies. Followed by Marcus, Brennan, Ollie, and Peter, coming in as duos at a time, or separately just moments apart. Arasha relaxed in her seat, with her book and pen ready. Angela made herself comfortable, playing music softly in her ear and taking off the lid of her black pen to start doodling. As she mindlessly swirled her pen on the sleek, wooden top of the desk, she glanced to her right, to the neighbouring classroom with other people in her year level having class. Through the door, she couldn't see much due to the walls of the room, but was able to see a few desks through a large, glass window. Some seats were unfilled, others had some people visibly seated, one had Trevor himself sitting at a desk, Angela's eyes widened at the sight, seeing him talk with his friends without realising who was in the other room, and what was soon to happen in the other room too. Ms Selina was just walking into the room at this time, placing her laptop on her desk near the whiteboard paired with a projector, connecting her device to the screen. It was easy to sneak her phone and type in her class, she didn't really notice until she was walking down her way, but the only thing worrying her was Arasha noticing him, and noticing her text Keith.
"Keisha" - *Beth*
oh brother
guess who's in the room next to us
r u kidding
whatever
it's fine
i got this
The minutes of class painfully dragged past, Arasha was invested in her work luckily, like she student she was, while Angela couldn't stop stressing. Arasha didn't notice him, Keith knew what was going on and she was praying that he wouldn't mess this up, and she was hoping that she could pull herself together. Angela glanced at her phone, a group selfie of her, Arasha, Olivia, and Amanda lighting up her lockscreen, with 2:55pm right in the middle. She had a plan, she knew that her and Arasha would leave the class immediately, and she trusted that she'd have enough time to get downstairs and come back up with Trevor being exactly where he needs to be. Nothing could stop this, hopefully.
Three minutes ticked by, most students who were doing nothing much at all had already shut their notebooks and sat on their phones, while others were on their laptops watching basketball games, or carelessly playing games that were unblocked on their school wifi. Arasha, on the other hand, was working away drafting an essay for their upcoming assessment for the class at some point next week, like the A+ student she was. Angela's eyes darted endlessly between Arasha, Keith at the front of the room who was calmly on his phone, and Trevor in the other room who was talking unwittingly with friends, unsuspecting of anything. Angela held her pen firmly, pressing it into the sleek wood of the desk before her, carving lines and holes.
2:58pm. Angela's mind churned through endless possibilities, 'what if someone got to him first, or dragged him away from Keith?' No, she trusts him to have a plan for that though, even if it was both likely and unlikely for that to happen. 'What if Arasha didn't want to go back upstairs with her?' No, she wouldn't say no, right? She's usually down for these minor things, especially when Angela does the same for her too. 'There was no way that anyone would be in the room. but there might be a possibility…' NO! Stop! The plan will go on uninterrupted; nothing will stop her.
"Keisha" - Beth
DON'T mess this up
oml stop stressing
dont u trust me
yes but
ok
u trust me
relax
ffs
The slam of notebooks and laptops jolted her from her haze of thoughts, as the class was wrapping up and her classmates were getting ready to leave as soon as possible. Arasha leaned back in her seat, putting back on the lid to her pen, and shutting her notebook with a deep, exhausted, exhale. This was it, no time to mess anything up, not like she will or even let herself to do so.
"Alright everyone, see you next week for your assessments!" Ms.Selina called from her laptop, seated at the front of the room. The easy thing about this English class with her, is that she only wandered around the class checking on people in pretty much the first half of the period, and when she sat down on her laptop, everyone was able to slack off without much worry of being caught. But even then, she didn't care to much to scold everyone too much, especially her favourites. It was whatever though, and now that she was dismissing everyone, Angela just needed to grab Arasha and leave. Seats were being pushed back as people rose to their feet, but only half of those chairs were tucked away with their tables. Angela caught Keith's eyes as he stood up from the front-left of the classroom with his crew, and he caught hers with a reassuring wink. Hastily, Arasha and Angela quickly left the classroom, as they were the ones seated closest to the exit. Angela swore she heard a voice call out from behind her, "Hey Trevor!" As they neared the stair-case leading down to her locker and could only hope it was Keith's, and her mind wasn't lying.
Angela and Arasha returned to their locker right as Olivia and Amanda were walking up to theirs, just conveniently next to them. Tucking her stuff into her bag as Arasha joined into the conversation with the girls behind her, unknowing in what's to come. Angela took this as the opportunity to rummage through her belongings, shuffling through sheets of loose paper in a 'search' for a missing item. Before she could asked Arasha to go upstairs, a notification pinged her phone.
"Keisha" - Beth
big t is in the room
can only be unlocked from the outside
;)
Thank everything. Angela silently sighed in relief, shoving her phone back in her pocket. Now it was time to put her acting skills to the test.
"Hey 'Rasha?"
"What's up?"
Angela turned her head slightly to see Arasha stepping toward her, notebook cradled in her arm. Olivia and Amanda have moved to the side, going into their own lockers to put their stuff away.
"I think left my headphones in the classroom… Do you mind coming back upstairs with me…?"
"Of course! I don't mind."
Angela was glad, for the most part, but her nerves weren't settled quite as yet. As they walked toward the staircase leading back up to their classroom, saying that they'll be 'right back' to Amanda and Olivia, Keith made his way back downstairs, seemingly totally calm like nothing happened, with raising no suspicion. Noah was right by him, and ally, and he looked fine for the most part too. They shared a knowing, assuring quick glance at her, before returning their gaze elsewhere. Angela figured they'll talk about it all right after.
Angela's heart beat faster and faster with every step she took leading upstairs. This was, more than she wanted to admit, stressful. She needed to get them back together, talking or anything, and anything wrong she did could ruin everything. But she inhaled in a deep breath, exhaling like she could push all her doubts away.
"Sorry to drag you up like this-"
"No- No! Don't stress it. I really don't mind." Arasha jumped in quickly as she walked up the stairs beside her. It was crazy how Arasha didn't notice anything by now, even though no hints were being dropped for her, but even just a gut-feeling. Or maybe she did, and she was hiding it, like the excellent liar she was.
It was whatever, truly was, too late now to turn back. Even if she knew, Angela could fathom that she wouldn't mind this happening as much, even if it was a secret and this was like some sort of kidnapping, Arasha would be relieved, to say the least.
Before she knew it, she'd had already stepped into the classroom with Arasha just a few steps behind. Swiftly, Angela slipped her earphone case out of her sleeve, a little white case, covered in black Sharpie doodles, slides onto the plastic gray chair she was sitting on previously.
"Got it!" She sighed in her best false-relief she could muster, standing up straight with the bx in her palm. "Thank everything no loser took it."
Arasha smiled softly, "Yeah, that's lucky."
Now all that was left, was to get her into the closet. Luckily for her, Mr.P was a great excuse, using a little white lie of a think he wanted her to do. Due to her classes, Arasha wasn't able to take Theater Studies like the rest of her friends. The closet next door had no windows, with a large steel door. Sure, there was a small glass panel in it, like some sort of window, but it was more blurry than clear. Perfect.
"Before I forget!" She exclaims, turning to face Arasha with slightly widened eyes. "Mr.P asked me to grab something for Theater Studies next door. He'd kill me if I forgot-"
"Don't stress it." Arasha stopped her with a kind tone, looking at her with a gentle face. "Let's go grab it."
Angela's lips drifted into an ease, a slight smile on her lips. She nodded, walking out of the room and into the next, completely abandoned. There was one large, long table. Two desks would come together on each side, then repeating with two other pairs. There were empty seats all around, and a whiteboard up the front, and a moderately sized TV on the wall beside it. Behind the whiteboard, was a little glass room, used as a small office or private studying space, Angela assumed. She's never really seen a class held in her, and she doesn't know when the last time anyone stepped foot in there was. Finally, there it was, a lone, gray door at the far back of the room. Quiet, usual, and seemingly undisturbed.
"Just in here, come on. I might need help find it, we'll be quick."
Quick. She would be quick. Push her in, and leave. Come back eventually, not long, eventually.
Angela's breath quickened as her heart began to beat again, although trying to maintain her composure. Arasha stood beside her, practically shoulder to shoulder as Angela reached out to grab the door handle. It was a shiny metal, seeing her reflection distorted under her fingers, the material pressing cooly on her skin. The handle pushed down with a click, the lock giving way as the door opened. In the same moment, Angela's free hand came up behind Arasha's unknowing back, like back-stabbing her. A gust of wind poured out the room as Arasha stumbled in, her feet landing on the ground in unstable steps. The moment was so quick, yet felt like slow motion. Angela pushed the door shut with all her might, the lock snapping shut immediately.
"Sorry 'Rasha! Be back soon!" She called into the door, moving her mouth close to the crack between the doorframe and the door to get the message through. It was hard to hear anything for a moment, with the thick door and the walls. A heavy thump hit from the other side, making Angela jump back suddenly. Arasha was bashing on the door, then she stopped. Angela heard her voice, loud and commanding, but quiet and scared.
"What the fuck."
"Keisha" - Beth
it's done
she's in
i'm at the lockers
The thundering stress finally subdued as she dragged herself quietly out of the room, walking down the hall and down the stairs to her locker. It was an out of body experience, in a way. Her body moved, but her mind felt like it was on auto-pilot. As she neared, she spotted Olivia and Amanda with Keith and Noah. Amanda and Noah were actually having a half-decent conversation to each other, while the opposite could be said for the other two. Olivia was pissed off, maybe jokingly, with Keith was playing along, laughing and feeding the fire. Angela's boots were the only sound in the now quiet school, majority of students except for the theater group for the upcoming school musical were gone. Keith turned his head to look at the cause of the footsteps, seeing Angela trail down to greet them.
"Ang!" He called, waving an arm up to call her over. "How'd it go?"
"How'd what go? Surprise test?" Amanda asked, readjusting the strap of her large handbag on her shoulder.
"I guess you would say that…" Angela mumbled, swiftly moving toward her locker to grab her beat-up messenger bag, covered in pins and patches.
"Ahh… surprise quiz." Olivia sighed sympathetically, shaking her head. "Must've sucked."
"Eh, it was stressful, but at least it's over." She spoke, cautious of the lie but deciding to calm down and go with it.
"At least it's over." Keith called, dramatically throwing himself to lean on the lockers beside Angela, the metal doors thudding with impact.
Angela shot him a dirty look, a way of asking if he's trying to make this obvious and blow it all or not. Who knows if he got the hint.
"Ahh that's the worst. Sucks that you don't Mr. Tran though. He's the best!" Olivia smiled, pressing her lip gloss stick to her lips, painting them in a tainted deep red.
"Oh whatever, just don't complain when you fail your assessment when you slack off too much and he cant grade you properly!" Keith argued back, twirling a finger at her.
"Keith, you know you're in the same boat as them, right?" Angela joined, slamming her door shut with her bag over a shoulder.
"And you are too!" He leaned back to stand straight on his feet, placing a hand on Angela's shoulder. "We both slack off!"
"Ok, whatever!" She exclaimed, placing her hand on Keith's, shaking it off her shoulder. "At least I can pass without having the teacher willingly help me cheat in test conditions!"
Keith scoffed dramatically, making himself stumble melodramatically toward Noah, who was still standing with them, silent and watching them in amusement. He let himself collapse into his arms, placing a hand against his forehead, swooning against his friend like a safety net. "Noah! Would you believe this?!"
"Yeah, actually. I do-"
"Agh! Blasphemy!" He exclaimed drastically, leaping forward to stand alone, his deep brown eyes darting between Angela and Noah in joking disbelief. His eyes landed on Olivia and Amanda, standing close together, watching this entertainment in pleasure.
"Blasphemy, that's a new one." Angela chuckled, crossing her arms. "Do you even know what that one means?"
"Maybe try asking Ms. Selina-" Noah joined, his corners of his lips pulling up into a playful smile. Before he could finish his jab, Keith springs toward him, tackling him and sending him backward a few steps. Noah bursts in uncontrollable laughter, his shoes finding a firm landing on the floor and steadying the two of them before they could fall backward together. "Hey!"
"Alright bud, we're wrapping this up!" He called, his voice filling the silent hallway around them with no other student nor staff-member in sight. He grabbed Noah's arms, dragging him toward the stairs leading downstairs without turning back.
The remaining girls, still standing by their lockers in while a shared amusement, silence, apart from giggles from each of them. Knowingly, they all decided to follow behind the two energetic boys. They were all apart of the school musical, landing the lead roles. Rehearsals were on that day after classes were over, starting in thirty minutes. Enough time to wonder out in the near-by area outside for snacks.
Arasha tumbled into the dark, cold room that was the supply closet. In a flash, a heap of emotion and thoughts rushed through her heart and head. What the hell was that? What did Angela do that for? Who's body did she just fall against?
Something firm, but soft, collided with her back as she gained her footing. In the second she stood there, she felt something warm, something beating, like a heart, and the gentle rise and fall of a torso that was breathing.
In horror, Arasha leapt forward, spinning 180 and hitting the door. Adrenaline pumped through her veins as her heart raced, stabilizing herself. As her eyes adjusted to make out the seeming figure in the dark and her surroundings, her hands pressed against the door, fingers fiddling on the dark to find the handle and open the door to get out. Her hand found it, the cool touch on her skin, and pushed it down hoping to slide out and run. Her arm pressed down, then rose up, then pressed down again hard. The door didn't budge, the handle only rattling in her attempt to escape. She turned on her heel, slamming her fist into the door so Angela, or anyone outside and hear and let her out. She hit, and hit, to no avail. Defeated, she stopped, and turned around to see the room she was trapped in.
It was dimly lit, with the only somewhat window being small and blurred, and a ceiling light above her head being close to dying. It was close to ceasing, with the light bulb growing duller and illuminating her surroundings less and less. It barely flickered, luckily, which could ease the undeniable horror of being trapped in such a small room but didn't. There were tall shelves covering all the gray, cement walls. Covered in numerous boxes with no labels, majority being filled with books and dated files. There were maybe a few stacks of paper here and there, an old and broken plastic seat pushed in a near corner, and a tall figure before her. The person wasn't collapsed on the floor, unresponsive and all, but instead, standing right before her. The silhouette was much taller than her, and lanky, and instead of a manikin, it's body was like it was breathing, and alive. It had the school's uniform, the sports one to be exact, a cold, dark blue fitted tee, followed by black sweat pants. She looked up at the humanoid figure, skin appearing at the collar, a black and white shell necklace hanging around it's neck. It's face, chiseled and firm, deep eyes looking down at her, and strawberry blonde ruffled hair. It was too realistic, and a cruel prank if it was a detailed fake, but this was certainly a true human, a real student.
"What the fuck!" Arasha exclaimed, putting a name to the face, attempting to step backwards but hitting the solid, cool door. The man she dreaded the most, but couldn't help but miss the most as well.
"Hey." He spoke, his rough voice filled the empty environment. It was gentle and calm, weirdly enough, which made Arasha realize that this was all on purpose.
"This is sick, Trevor." Arasha barked, annoyance in her tone and her expression falling into anger. "Get me out of here."
"Can't."
"Fuck do you mean, 'Can't? Joke's over, this isn't funny!" Her voice rose in outrage, glaring at Trevor who just stood there plainly, this seemingly didn't bother him.
Trevor shrugged, his lanky shoulders rising and falling. "Trapped in here, can't you tell?"
"Yes, I can tell! Tell your dumb-ass buddies to let me out!" She yelled, hands scrunching into fists. Her muscles becoming firm, her manicured nails digging into the flesh of her palms by her sides.
"'Rasha…"
"Don't you 'Rasha' me!"
She screamed, cutting him off. Her voice bounced off the walls around them, filling the space before it faded into silence. The silence was deafening, and without a sense of time, it felt like it stretched for hours. Arasha stood there agitated, fuming with rage, while Trevor stood there, as calm as ever.
"So you're telling me, we're both locked in here?" Arasha murmured softly after what felt like an eternity in the suffocating quiet.
"Yeah." He responded is a monotone voice that Arasha couldn't decipher what it truly meant. For months now, she couldn't get any true answer from his body language or anything around her, or what her friends told her. He could either be overjoyed that they were both trapped in a tiny room together, or just as angry.
Arasha's legs gave out, sliding down the door and sitting on the cold, concrete floor. The fact that she was wearing her cheerleaders' skirt wasn't helping the fact her thighs were freezing from the ground. Her knees tucked up slightly, her hands coming up to her face in hopelessness. She sighed, trying to figure out what to do.
Trevor decided to finally make a move, stepping forward toward the exhausted girl sitting before him in despair. He tried to crouch down, extending a hand to her.
"Don't touch me."
Obeying, he retracted his arm, bringing in to rest on his knees as he continued to crouch. Seeing her, the girl that he previously yearned for, and fumbled terribly, he knew he had to at least try something. If this went south, then they'd go back to complete no-contact, and maybe he'd withdraw from being around her group.
"Rasha."
"What."
"Can we please talk?"
Great.
Both Arasha and Trevor were taken slightly aback for the sudden interest to talk again.
Arasha was angered, all this time to come up to her between classes, in the locker area, pull her aside at break, text her, even even tap her on the shoulder in the few times they actually had class together but he decided to trap her and practically force her unwillingly. But it was whatever, she wanted to talk to him anyway for a while now.
Arasha lifted her face from her hands, glaring at the boy in front of her. Trevor moved from his crouching position, to fully sitting on the group. She watched him expectantly, waiting for him to speak first.
"You know, I've been wanting to talk to you for a while now." He breathed, trying hard to not break their eye-contact.
"How come you didn't say anything sooner?" She muttered, her hope completely dissolving into the shadows around her.
"I didn't know how to." He shamefully admitted, defeated. "I-"
"Seriously?"Arasha spat, her heart growing numb instead of anger and disappointment. She grew to expect something like this from him, but it still hurt. "I- Forget it, continue to explain yourself."
Trevor quietly cleared his throat, fiddling his slim fingers. "I- Okay. I don't even know where to start but, before you cut me off again, I just want to saw that I'm sorry." He extended a hand in front of her, like a way to somehow hold her back from interrupting. "I know you're probably pissed and all, but just, we're stuck in here until whoever trapped us in is happy with what's happening in here." He stopped for a moment, looking up to see Arasha, hoping to get something from her frozen expression. She was cold, scary even, and hard to read. Trevor took that a sign to keep talking. "It hurt, it really did, but I get it. I wasn't good to you at all. I've wanted to make things right since but, there was never the right time. It's pathetic, having people to plot and lie to us and lock us both in here as a way to finally talk but it still doesn't feel right. I don't other people to intervene, I should've done this sooner. I can't even say that, if this goes well, we'll find this romantic or something, we'll look back on this and find it so stupidly beautiful, because I know that you won't take me back." He swallowed hard, stopping, and looking at Arasha with a somewhat both embarrassed and hopeful expression.
After a long, and uncomfortable silence, she spoke. "You don't get it? Do you? You never will. What I did what I did, how I felt and why, and how the constant reminders of it continue to eat me alive, and I can't do anything about it." Her voice got sterner, angrier, and words began tumbling out fast. She pointed a finger at him, waving it dramatically. "Seeing you waltz around, all happy fun with your friends, and acting like this doesn't bother you at all! With your stupid grin, and the nerves you have to hang around my group and I, like you want me to feel like crap. I do. I have been feeling like crap! I hope you're happy, I guess. With some 'I fumbled' bullshit, bet you feel some pride for that for me." She screamed, clenching her fist. Fearful, Trevor shuffled a few paces backward, which urged Arasha to continue.
She exhaled, "You know, I have to really congratulate you for moving on, like that, so quickly. We didn't even last that long, just another part of the statistic that high-school relationships don't last that long." She closed her eyes, lashes fluttering down as she smirked. "I can't even be mad. I can't. It was me, all my faults, and you made that so clear. I tried to justify myself, you know? I believed that we weren't meant to be, that you deserved better. Maybe you actually did, someone that would be listening but could actually reply because she'd also know exactly what you were referencing, since I couldn't. Someone who could stand your corny jokes, stupid, disgusting things that you found amusing, but I found sickening." She growled, standing up and crossing her arms, staring down at him with fiery intensity. "I hated it, and I realized that maybe I should say something, shut it down and tell you to be different from all the other immature teenagers boys in our year, because I thought you were different from all the other immature teenage boys in our year. Boy, was I wrong."
She towered over him, watching him as he sat helplessly, his mouth trying to open once every few seconds to say something but he couldn't bring himself to. Arasha felt her heart pound, and it felt nice to he about to yell, to lecture someone like this. It felt powerful, and righteous.
"That night," She exhaled, her strong tone growing weak with exhaustion and tears welling from her inside out. "When I asked you if you wanted to give us the official dating label, and you said yes. I wanted that to reassure me with all the negatives washing away. But with it, maybe everything washed away. I don't want to admit it, assume it, or even think about the thought that maybe you believed that you had the green light to step away, to let go. The label that was 'dating' was your sign that you could relax, and stop everything that I used to love feeling from how we were before." Her voice began to break, she hadn't spoke about the extent of her feelings like this before. Being able to really spill everything, all the feelings that nobody truly understood when she vented, felt so freeing.
"I don't know what I was expecting then, I had the power to do something, but I didn't. Because I hoped... I really hoped it would be better..." She croaked, "There's not a day that I don't see you and hope, don't hear you and hope, don't even think of your face and hope. That things could've been, how things would've been. But I hoped, and hoped, that maybe we could try again." Her speaking began to slow, tears forming at her eyes as her voice cracked.