Skylar's POV

I don't exactly know how long I kept pounding on that door, waiting, hoping for someone to open it up and let me out. But no one did. All I could hear at that point was my own racing heartbeat.

I inhaled shakily and stopped the failing attempt to shout for help. Stepping away from the door, I took out my phone from my back pocket, not failing to notice how much my hands were shaking at that moment. I knew I could simply call anyone and get out of here, but I was scared to death. I was out of breath. Someone out there had locked me in here on purpose. To scare me? To kill me from mere suffocation alone? There were no windows or any source of light in here. It was dark--pitch dark--and I couldn't stop panicking.

Scrolling through my contacts, I tried searching for Alex's name. But my hands were sweaty and trembling and it wasn't a surprise when my phone slipped out of my grasp, falling on the floor. I fell down on my knees and picked it up.

I hated this. I hated this so much.

I couldn't help but take shallow breaths. The darkness around me and the lack of fresh air, not to forget the packed up atmosphere, all of it was making me feel nauseous. Nothing seemed to be helping. I was trapped. What if I remain trapped in here forever?

I tried my best not to dwell on that. I'd surely get out somehow. Somebody has to open this door, right? I was sure I'd heard the bell ringing for the next class. Why wasn't anybody coming then?

I had been trapped in here for a whole period.

I was about to press onto Alex's name, trying my best not to freak out too much, when I heard the doorknob turning. My eyes widened in response and I stood up just as quick, hope filling up inside me out of nowhere. And I felt way beyond relieved when I saw the door opening.

"Oh my God." I rushed outside the next instant, fresh air hitting me from almost everywhere.

I don't think I'd ever been this grateful in my entire life. Willing my heart to stop beating so loudly, I pushed back my sweat-drenched hair away from my face, taking in loud, deep breaths to calm myself down.

I was out of there. I was fine.

"What...happened?"

I jerked my head towards the familiar blond guy right in front of me--the one who I think had opened the door I was trapped behind. I had been too busy trying to breathe that I hadn't even noticed him.

It was Jesse.

From Caden's gang. The one who'd tossed Shane's phone and broken it when I'd visited the huge mansion secluded in the middle of the woods.

Instead of replying, I went farthest away from the door I had just been trapped behind and found myself leaning back against the nearest wall.

"How long have you been in there?" He asked me, looking over at the door.

I stared at him with wide eyes. I didn't know what he was doing here. He didn't even study at this school and was probably the last person I was expecting to see here. But since he had practically saved me from an extreme mental breakdown, I wasn't complaining.

"I--somebody locked me in there," I whispered, pointing over at the same door.

Jesse stared at me, still looking confused. "Really?"

I gave him a disbelieving glance. Did he think I trapped myself in there? "Yes," I stated out in an urgent whisper--it sounded squeaky if I tried raising it above a whisper, probably because I was still left a bit shaken.

"I mean, of course." He overcame his confusion at last. "Are you okay?"

I was nowhere near okay. Locking someone inside a completely dark room wasn't okay. Why had somebody even done that? This was truly mortifying.

"How--" I stopped and cleared my throat when my voice came out a bit raspy. "How did you open it?"

He raised his brows at my question, before his gaze travelled down towards the floor, stopping at a thin metal rod. "That was keeping the door from opening." He said. "I just took it out."

I kept my eyes trained at the metal rod, totally creeped out. "And you still didn't believe me?"

He leaned down and picked up the rod before glancing up at me again. "Relax, tiger. I believe you." He stated that with a hint of exaggeration. "But why would anyone lock you inside?"

I blinked and looked around the gym. It was still empty; there was no one in here, not even Coach. Why had Coach even asked me to come here?

"I-I don't know," I whispered.

"Could it be any of your friends just pranking you?" He asked with a suggestive grin. "Because that was a good one."

I gave him a look of utter disbelief, which thankfully wiped off that grin from his face.

"Well," he said. "Somebody must've wanted to scare you."

"It did scare me."

He grinned. "I can see that."

"What are you even doing here?" I asked him, wrapping my arms around myself. "You don't study here." That's what I had thought about Blake too, and then I found out the exact opposite. Was this Blake's doing? No, no, I thought. Not after last night. Why would Blake do that? Why would anyone do that?

"I needed to see Caden." He replied with a shrug, his words lacing with that unmistakable accent of his. "I thought he'd be here. But when I came here, I heard some damsel in distress. That someone turned out to be you."

I didn't like how he said that.

"You didn't see the person who locked you inside?" He asked, turning around and facing the door this time, almost as if inspecting it. When he picked something up from beneath the door, I stepped a little towards him and tried taking a peek at whatever it was.

"No, I didn't," I replied. "What is that?"

He turned around and eyed me, before showing me a small and rusty metal disk in his hand. It was smaller than my own hand.

"What's that?" I repeated, a bit more quietly this time.

He shrugged as if he had no clue, but for some reason, it seemed a lot less genuine, especially since his brows furrowed a little too.

"You must know what this is." I glanced up at him, hoping he would tell me something.

I cautiously took the metal disk from his hand and ran my fingers over the metal surface. It was sharp and looked highly unbreakable. I hadn't ever seen anything like this before. "What is this even for?"

"Have you, by any chance, seen Caden anywhere?" He asked me, and I was a bit surprised at the way he just dodged my question.

"No," I replied, frowning at him.

"Oh well, I thought you would've." He took the rod that had been keeping me from opening the door and stuffed it inside his dark brown jacket.

"I haven't seen him." I carefully stated it out and I wouldn't be lying if I said my mind seemed to be struggling right now. I had just been locked inside a storeroom, seen Jesse out of nowhere, and now he was asking me about Caden?

Why was everything happening so fast?

"Aren't you two close pals? You should know where he is right now." He gave me a pointed look as if Caden and I had indeed been close pals for years.

"Why would you say that?"

"He trusts you enough with the gang's secret." He whispered.

I shook my head and gave him back the disk, even though I knew there was something he wasn't telling me about it.

He started looking around the entire room and his eyes stopped at something--something on the wall. I turned around and followed his gaze, only to see a very tiny camera, just like the ones in my house.

And then realization hit me. "Do you think the school staff would let us see the camera footage?" Maybe that way, I could see who'd locked me inside the equipment room.

Jesse narrowed his eyes ever so slightly. He was silent for the next few seconds and I was almost about to repeat my question when he shook his head. "I don't think so."

"Really? Why not?"

He shook his head again and walked towards the camera. And it took him just a few seconds--since he was obviously taller than me--before he reached up towards it and ripped off something, something that was covering the front of the camera lens.

When Jesse turned back towards me with a small piece of black tape in his hand, my eyes widened in horror.

"I'm guessing the same person who locked you in did this." He said. "So that the identity would be kept a secret."

Jesse scrunched up the tape into a tiny ball and threw it away. I inhaled a shudder and tried not to fall apart right there. It's going to be fine, I told myself. It has to be.

"If Coach sees you here, he'll go ballistic," I told him, changing the topic. Coach had a rule where bringing outsiders inside the gymnasium was forbidden. And since I didn't really want to stay here any longer, I started walking away.

Jesse joined alongside me not too long after. "Why were you outside the boys' locker room anyway?" Since he was right beside me, I didn't fail to see the smirk on his face. Why wasn't he freaked out, not even a bit?

"Because--" I scowled. "--I like it better than the girls' one."

He grinned and nodded almost understandingly.

When we were finally out of the gym, I couldn't help but breathe out a sigh of relief. And I thought yesterday had been bad. I still felt paranoid, so much so that I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder every next second or so as if expecting someone to be following me in the school hallways.

At the same time, the bell rang and everyone rushed out of their classrooms. Soon enough, the entire hallway was once again swarming with people.

And I missed out on another class. The last one.

"I'd better get going." Jesse passed me a small nod, starting to turn towards the exit.

"Thanks for helping me in there," I spoke up before he could've left. "And not leaving me."

He grinned at me then. "No worries." He said. "But hey, if you see Caden anywhere, do let me know."

I nodded even though I had no idea how I'd let him know. But then again, I was pretty sure I wouldn't be seeing Caden anytime soon either. If his own friends didn't know where he was, I wouldn't know as well. I'd be the last person to know actually. It was worrying though, that even his closest friends had no clue where he currently was.

I shouldn't. It wouldn't matter even if I do worry.

"Hey." I almost jumped when I heard a voice right behind me. I had no time to turn around when Alex came beside me, slinging an arm around my shoulders. Fortunately, he wasn't in my Chemistry or Literature class to know that I had skipped them.

"Hey," I replied, trying to act just as causal as we walked towards the parking lot. "Um, did you see Caden anywhere?"

"No, why?"

"You know what," I stopped, making him stop too. "I'll catch up a ride with someone else back home."

"Why?" He asked, a bit confused, and then his gaze trailed down to my hands. "Where's your bag?"

"I forgot to pick it up," I told him. "Besides, I've got to talk to my Literature sir. There's this assignment I forgot to ask him for." Which wasn't exactly a lie, except that I hadn't forgotten. I had been locked inside the gymnasium to actually attend the class. But it's not like I could've said that to him.

"You sure you'll be fine with another ride?" Alex asked a bit sceptically.

I gave him a reassuring nod before heading back inside the hallways, not wanting to stay inside an empty school for much longer.

•••••

There were five missed calls from Mom when I checked my phone again. Which was a surprise since I had checked it back inside the gym. There weren't any calls back then.

Still angry at her, I ignored her calls.

"These are the assignments." Mr William said. "Make sure you do not miss out on the class again, Skylar." I was grateful that he hadn't gone all mad at me. He was kind enough to lend me the extra assignment and let me go without detention.

When I was out of the school premises, I started searching around for a cab. I did tell Alex I'd get a ride back from someone else. But the only problem remained was that there wasn't anyone else left at school.

At that exact moment, I heard my phone ringing. It was Mom again. This time, however, I did answer. "What is it?"

"Skylar! Why weren't you answering?" She asked, and she sounded a bit annoyed.

I rolled my eyes, still looking around for a cab. "Do we have anything to talk about?"

"Sky, I know you're angry--"

"Yes, Mom, I am," I stated, squinting my eyes under the bright sun.

"Why didn't you call me earlier?" She asked me. "Did you not see the voicemails I left you?"

"I did," I grumbled. I didn't know why we were even talking. I had sworn to myself not to talk to either of my parents until they came back. And here I was.

"Sky." She sighed and I had a feeling she was going to say something I wouldn't exactly like. That's why I spoke up before she could've said anything else.

"I'm angry, Mom," I stated. "You both just left. And I know that's exactly what I said in the morning, that I wouldn't freaking care if you both left, but I did care. I do care. You both have been avoiding me and I thought...I just needed you guys around, you know."

Mom was silent on the other end. I could hear her soft breathing, though.

"You left without an excuse." I muffled a laugh, rubbing my face.

"We had a good excuse, honey." She sounded sad for some reason and I did not like that. I was tired of this mess. I was tired of being targeted by these stupid circumstances.

Couldn't we just have some normal family time?

"Yeah?" I sniffled. "Okay. Which client was it this time?"

There was a strange silence that followed after my question--a kind of silence that nags at the very back of your head. I almost thought I had accidentally ended the call. But then she eventually spoke up and I did hear the obvious strain she was trying to hide.

"Your father got...We had to take him to the hospital. He's admitted here for the time being."

For a whole wide minute, I was just quiet. I wasn't even looking for the cab anymore. "What?"

"It's nothing serious, and your dad asked me not to worry you, but I-I just wanted to be honest with you, dear." She said.

Honest.

I could feel my gut clenching at that moment. "What happened to Dad?" My voice had dropped down to a whisper by then. Thankfully, she seemed to hear me just fine.

"His migraines. They got a bit severe these past few days." She didn't sound like her usual self. Her voice was always so stern, never so sad. And that freaked me out. What if this was serious?

"Mum, is he going to be--"

"He's going to be fine, Sky." She cut me off and I heard the reassurance in her voice. But what if she was lying?

"You could also be lying to me." My voice wobbled a little.

Mom laughed softly. "I'm not. Really, Sky."

"Which hospital?"

"We're in Pennsylvania right now."

"It's only hours away from here, Mom! I could catch a train from here--"

She interrupted me once again and this time I knew I won't win. "Don't, Skylar. Stay where you are. That's not why I called you." Her voice came out soft and I was so not used to that. It made my eyes well up with tears of frustration.

"Mom--"

"I want you to open that locker."

_____

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Crystal 🌿