Chapter Thirty-Seven

Skylar's POV:

I kept on pounding on the door but to my absolute horror, nobody responded. All I could hear at that point was my own racing heartbeat.

I inhaled deeply and stopped the failing attempt to shout out 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 still scared and out of breath. I was basically panicking. And I didn't even think there were any windows in here for fresh air.

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 down. I immediately 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, it all was making me feel extra jittery. It wasn't helping at all.

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. I was sure that I heard the bell ringing for the next class. Why wasn't anybody coming?

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 had ever been this much 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 deep breaths to calm myself.

I was out of there. I was fine.

"What...happened?"

I jerked up my head towards the familiar blond guy right in front of me, the same one who had opened that locked door. I had been too busy thanking God that I hadn't even noticed him.

It was Jesse.

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

"Were you trapped in there all along?" He asked, looking over at the door.

I didn't know what he was doing here when he didn't even study at this school. He was 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 back at me, still looking confused. "Really?"

I gave him a disbelieving glance. Did he think I trapped myself in there? "Yes." I stated out and realized that my voice sounded squeaky when I raised 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 traveled 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 Creed 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 out with a hint of exaggeration. If I wouldn't have been panicking few minutes ago, I would've scrunched up my nose at his words. "But why would anyone lock you inside?"

I blinked and looked around the locker room. 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.

"Do you have friends who like to prank you?" He asked with a suggestive grin. "Because that's a really good prank."

I just gave him a look which hopefully told him that I was in no state of taking any sorts of jokes right now.

"Well," he said. "Somebody mustn't wanted to scare you."

"It did scare me."

He grinned. "I can see that from your face."

"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.

"I needed to see Caden." He replied with a small 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, not like a real DVD.

"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 less genuine, especially judging by the way his brows furrowed a little.

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

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

"Did you see Caden anywhere?" He asked, 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 felt like a struggling mess right now. I had just been locked inside a storeroom, seen Jesse out of nowhere, and now he was asking me about Caden?

Everything was happening way too 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 were indeed close pals since years.

I didn't stop myself from scrunching up my nose this time. "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 that there was something he wasn't telling me about it.

He started looking around the entire locker room, and then 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 had locked me inside that 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?"

He shook his head again and walked towards the camera. And it took him just 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 a black tape in his hand, my eyes widened in horror.

"I'm guessing the same person who locked you inside did this." He said. "So that the identity would be kept a secret." I felt a bit more horrified at that. Had it been someone from the school?

Jesse scrunched up the tape into a tiny ball and threw it away. I inhaled a shudder and tried breaking out of my thoughts.

"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 extremely forbidden. And since I didn't really want to stay here any longer, I started walking away.

Jesse joined alongside me not long after. "Why were you in the boy's 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 like I was?

"Because," I scowled. "I like it better than the girl's 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. These past few hours had been extremely creepy, so much so that I couldn't help but glance over my shoulder every single time, 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 another class. The last one.

"I'd better get going." Jesse passed me a small nod, turning 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, 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. If his own friends didn't know where he was, I wouldn't know either. I'd be the last person to know actually. And the fact that they didn't know where he was, that made me worry a little.

I shouldn't worry. He probably did this disappearing act often.

"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 Literature or History 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?"

I didn't know what answer I was supposed to give for that question. Right then, I remembered something else.

"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 say that to him.

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

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 the class again, Skylar." I was grateful that he hadn't gone all mad on me. He was kind enough to lend me the extra assignment and let me go without a detention.

When I was out of the school premises, I started searching around for a cab. I had told Alex that I'd get a ride back from someone else. But the only problem was, there was nobody else left in the school.

In the meantime, I heard my phone ringing. It was mom again. This time, 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?"

She was silent for a while. "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. "Did you not see the voice mails 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 that she was going to say something I wouldn't exactly like. That's why I spoke up before she could say anything else, "I'm angry, mom." I stated. "You both always ignore that talk without an excuse." Why, I needed to know why.

"We had a good excuse, dear." 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?

"I forgot to tell you about the security cameras." She added.

"I noticed." I muttered, walking alongside the street.

Mom seemed to ignore the lack of enthusiasm behind my voice. "We know it's not much of a security system, but that's the only thing we could’ve thought of at the moment; a motion detect system."

"I don't get what you're saying, mom." I stretched out my words, adding more emphasis so that she'd get it that I really was tired right now.

"The alarm system sends us an email if there's any intrusion, or break in." She said. "And even if I'm hoping that doesn't happen again, it might still help."

I perked up a little at that. What about yesterday when Blake came in my house? The alarm had gone off then as well. What if they found out about Blake?

I decided that I needed to change the topic then. "So, what good excuse were you talking about earlier?"

There was a strange silence that followed after my question, a type of silence that nags at the 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...admitted in the hospital."

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

"It's nothing serious 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 almost to a whisper by now. Thankfully, she heard me. I didn't want to repeat this one question.

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

"Is he—"

"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?

"Which hospital?" I asked her abruptly.

"We're in Pennsylvania right now."

"It's only hours away from New York, 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 was strange.

"Mom—"

"I want you to open that locker."