locked in || midas & nor

n o r w a y

I didn't tell them that I was going to be late for class because I knew they wouldn't care. They knew I'd be late. Maybe I wouldn't even make it; no one would look for me.

I pressed my palm against the door of the janitor's closet, listening to the sound of Dane's laughter as he and Andrew retreated. I'd heard it clearly as they'd locked me in and my stomach had managed to fall anyhow. I'd been excited for class this morning. We were supposed to get our test marks back and I was pretty sure I'd done well. Calculus was one of the classes I didn't do as well in but I'd studied hard.

I stood there until the bell rang, fingers tapping out a hesitant question on the wooden door. No one would miss me.

With a sigh, I sat down on the ground, tugging a biology textbook into my lap. It was a heavy one, my teacher had given it to me the day before in case I wanted some extra reading. It was interesting so far, based solely on the physical interaction between a predator and its prey.

Ten minutes hadn't passed into the second class when the door was flung open and someone dashed inside. I was too surprised to do anything, I cursed myself quietly for not telling them to hold the door as they slammed it behind them, locking us both in. Acid ate at my throat as a wave of nerves hit me. Social interactions were already difficult enough without being alone in a tiny closet.

Before I can say anything, the person falls to their knees hard. I wince, biting my lip slightly. It looked painful. They push their face into their hands and their shoulder's shake. I can't tell if he's crying. As my surprise falls away I start to recognize who it is that's just locked themselves in here with me.

Carefully, so as not to be noticed I push myself backwards against the wall. It's Midas Rowe. He's a friend of Dane's and Andrew's. All of those guys that like to tease me.

n o r w a y

He's really handsome.

I lower my gaze when his hands fall, fingers curling ever-so-slightly tighter around the edges of my book. I've been watching him of course, since that time in the hall when I walked right into him and instead of pushing me onto the ground he steadied me. He'd been so gentle.

He makes a fist and slams it against the door. I remain still, having learned long ago to quell my flinches and to hide my fear. Bullies like to play with you even more if they can see that you're afraid. Midas hasn't ever hurt me though, out of all of the boys he hangs around with, he's never even said one word to me, let alone touched me. It's almost surreal hearing him speak directly at me.

I lick my lips, uncertainty always pulling at the corners of my mouth, always making my words tumble out in a confused sort of way. "S....s...s...s...s...s...s...ssssince..since thi-this morn...morning," I say softly. I ignore the rest of his question as it's meant for an idiot to answer.

Mustering up my courage I raise my eyes again to meet his. My heart stops for a full moment. He's got really strange eyes, sharp and angry. They stare right through me, I'm of little interest.

"A....a...are y..you..." my voice trails off and I try again, "Y...y..you o...o...ok?"

n o r w a y

He tosses a candy bar at me and I catch it more out of surprise than skill. It's got a weird slogan on it, something about peanuts and nouget and wafers.

"Eat."

He commands me. I'm not one to ignore instructions- my life is a list of them- but I'm not hungry. Not at the moment. My stomach is eating itself with nerves. Other people scare me. It was always Nigel that did the talking and always slightly in front of me, protecting me and never fully conscious of it. I don't know how to interact without him.

I unwrap the bar carefully and nibble a bit off of the corner. It's sickly sweet and makes my jaw ache. I drop my textbook, putting my hand over my lips as if to stop the aching. I almost feel the piece of candy make its way through my body to land in my empty stomach. It occurs to me that I haven't eaten since last night. I take another bite of the bar. I haven't been allowed to eat candy since my mother was alive.

I eye Midas. I know I have an advantage right now, that I know who he is but he has no idea who I am. I don't think he cares less. Though it's weird to just give a kid he doesn't know a candy bar. He wasn't surprised by my stutter. I wonder if he does recognize me, if he realizes that he's talking to his friend's favourite toy. I decide not to push it.

"Y...y...you're st...st...st..stilllll breathing p...p...p..pretty qu..quick."

He's kind of a shit liar.

He's got nearly five different tells.

I muster up my courage, knowing that any moment here he might flip out on me. "W...w...w...wanna t..t...talk about....about...about it?" I ask.

n o r w a y

I thought that Midas was really cool and reserved but now that I'm actually talking to him I realize he's kind of not.

He glares at me but if glares could actually hurt me I probably would have died from the amount of them that I receive in a day. I blink back at him, expression carefully neutral. I'm good at hiding how I'm feeling. My dad taught me how to mask my expression. The smaller a reaction he gets, the more bored he gets.

He tugs on his hair in the same way that I've seen insane people do it in the asylum my dad made Nige and I visit when we were little. It had been terrifying and I'd hidden behind my brother the whole time. More bullshit spews from his mouth and I wonder if this kid ever says anything that isn't a lie.

He asks me who I am, says he's never seen me around. That figures. People tend not to notice me unless they're looking for me. people are only ever looking for me so that they can mess with me and since Midas has yet to ever mess with me, it's no wonder that he has no idea who I am.

"I... I sit th...th...three r...r...r...rows in...in in in....front of you in... in in in in calc-calculus."

I'm also in his biology class as well as his Literature class but I don't bother listing them off. He won't remember that anyway.

"Y...you fail....fail a a a a a a a lot of tests..." I say, knowing I'm setting myself up to get hit, "Wh...why c c c c c care about...about...about this..thissssss one?"