"Hannie! Have you seen Rachy or April?" the first-grade teacher ran down the hallway toward me as I picked up another piece of trash off the floor.
"No," I looked around trying to remember if I had seen to two mischievous little ones. "I don't think so."
The basketball games had just finished, and the gym had emptied out in record time. I was stuck on cleanup crew, like always. Those who did not play sports, cleaned up after them. That was the rule.
"They were supposed to stay with me tonight. I can't believe I lost them." The teacher ran her hands through her hair frantically.
"Calm down," I reached my arms out in case she fell over. "I'll go check outside. They probably just ran out to the playground."
She nodded, thanking me, then ran back into the gym to check again.
Finding the nearest trash can, I dumped my findings inside before walking out of the nearest door.
The brisk night air caught my bare shoulders as I remembered too late to grab my jacket.
I opened my eyes wider in an attempt to see the playground in the pitch-black darkness.
Unable to see farther than a couple feet, I sighed then stepped of the school porch and walked across the parking lot to the playground.
I smiled as I heard laughter from the swings.
"Rachy! April!" I called out to the two snickering little girls.
Suddenly, I heard footstep behind me.
Spinning around, I saw a large burly man in a leather jacket walking toward me.
"Come quietly, and we won't hurt you." His whisper floated through the night, sending shivers up my spine.
I gasped as two other men showed themselves on either side of me.
I opened my mouth to scream, but a sharp pain formed on the back of my head.
Dropping down onto my knees, I fought for consciousness against the blinding pain.
Then everything went dark.
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Opening my eyes slowly, I tried to remember where I was.
The men.
I was kidnapped.
Staying down on my side, I looked around the room, assessing my surroundings.
I was lying on a concrete floor that had walls climbing around it. With no windows, the only light in the room came from a small light bulb that swung from the ceiling.
"You all are cowards! Come and face me!" Someone was pounding on the metal door.
From the inside.
"Yeah, that's what I thought. You're too scared." He pounded harder on the door, as if it would make a difference.
I recognized the voice.
Zach Madlen. Captain of the basketball team.
Of course.
So let me get this right- I was kidnapped. I am trapped in a room with no food or water in sight. And I am stuck in here with Zach, the world's biggest jock.
Was it something I did, God? I'm sorry for whatever it was.
"Oh, you're awake." Zach left his post at the door and crouched near my head.
"I don't know how anyone could sleep through all that." I motioned toward the door, blinking as my eyes adjusted to the light.
He smirked. "Any idea of where we are?" he asked, looking around as if the walls could give him an answer.
"Yep. Ontario. Somewhere in the northern area. Underground."
He cocked his head at me. "Seriously?"
I coughed. "No. I was being sarcastic. No idea where we are." Very few people understand my dry humor. I should probably save my breath with this dude.
I pushed myself up into a seating position but started swaying back and forth dizzily, as the previous pain return to my head.
Zach reached out to steady me. I slapped his hands away.
He sat back, hurt, as if he had never had a girl refuse his touch before.
I rolled my eyes.
"When were you taken?" I asked him, rubbing my eyes.
"The same time you were." He stood back up again. "I was walking out to my car after the game, when these men just showed up, knocked me out, then I woke up here with you."
"Yeah. I went out to the playground to find some of the first-grade girls when they attacked me." I tried standing up, but then thought better of it when the dizziness returned. "Have you seen anybody since then?"
"Nope. I've tried taunting them, but that didn't work."
"I noticed."
The small room fell silent as I was finally able to stand up. I walked over to the door and turned the handle to find it locked.
"Um, yeah. I tried that already." He coughed.
I rolled my eyes again.
"So, what do we do?" I asked him.
"Wait here till someone comes and gets us." He sat down and leaned back on his hand confidently.
"You think everything in life is just going to work out the way you want it to, don't you?" I gaped at him.
"Well, it has so far, right?" He smirked.
I took a deep breath to calm myself. "Well, guess what, life is hard outside of the celebrity bubble."
He laughed as if I was just his entertainment.
Zach was going to kill me if the men didn't get to me first.
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The night continued the same way, with Zach being Zach and me not trying to punch him right in the nose.
We ended up staying up for hours trying to find a way out of the room to no avail.
The next morning, I woke up slowly, hoping maybe it was all just a dream and I was back at home with my mom.
I wasn't. Still kidnapped.
I started to notice the rise and fall of my head, trying to understand what my head was resting on.
Suddenly, I sat up and quickly pushed myself across the room, sliding slightly on my side across the concrete floor.
Somehow in my sleep, my head had ended up resting on Zach's stomach.
Zach pushed himself up on his elbows, laughing. "Sleep well?" he taunted me.
I turned away from him so he couldn't see me blushing and occupied myself with putting my long blonde hair into a braid.
"What?" he asked, smirking. "Are you scared of me?" He cocked his head at me.
"No," I answered quickly. I'm scared of falling in the love. Especially with you. But I wasn't going to tell him that. Ever.
I stood up and started fingering the walls again, as if a gap could have formed overnight.
"Come on, Hannie. Why do you hate me?" he leaned his back against the wall.
I refused to look at him or answer. Cause my mom lost everything because she loved. So, I have promised myself I never would. And you are not going to help with that promise. I took a deep breath.
"If I have done something to offend you, I'm sorry." He looked at me innocently.
"You haven't done anything wrong."
"Then why are you acting like I have?"
I sighed. "You haven't. I promise. I just want to get out of here."
"We will."
"You can't say that. Not everything in life works out the way you want it to." I turned to face the hot, seventeen-year-old basketball star.
"So far it has," he pulled the sleeves of his jacket over his hands.
"Has it really though?" I asked him.
He looked at me, trying to decide if I was trustworthy. "To be completely honest," he began, "I really don't want to play basketball. My dad makes me."
I huffed. "Cliche." I turned back to the wall, looking for any type of gap that was allowing light it.
"I'm being serious," he promised.
I looked at him again to find his face reflecting that he was telling the truth.
"If you don't want to play basketball, what do you want to do?" I asked him, crossing the room and sitting down next to him.
He pressed his lips into a thin line. "I kind-of want to join the math club." He looked at me as if he expected me to laugh at him. When I didn't, he continued, "I've always loved geometry."
I smiled. "Well, I can tell you from personal experience, the math club is pretty awesome. Especially with yours truly as leader."
He laughed. "What about you?"
"I'm already in all of the clubs. There's none that I want to join." I look at him confused.
"No, I mean, what do you want to do with your life?"
"Oh." I lean my head back on the wall. "I want to be a nurse. But that's not going to happen."
"How come?" He cocked his head, but not in the taunting way he used to.
"There is no way I'm going to be able to afford college. I gave up hoping a long time ago."
He turned and leaned against the wall with his shoulder, so he was facing me.
We began to talk. We started to tell the other everything about our lives. I told him more than I have told anyone else. I learned more about him then I could have ever believed.
The entire day went on like that. We talked to relieve the pain of no food or water. We talked to lift our spirits and give ourselves hope.
We talked because we learned that we wanted to know more about the other person.
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The next morning, I woke up to find myself buried in the crook of his arm, my face hidden in his neck.
But this time, I did not push away.
We stayed in that position for a long time as both of us tried to find some motivation to stay alive.
Suddenly, the room started to shake.
It took us both a moment to realize what was happening.
"It's an earthquake!" he yelled in my ear.
Of course! We live in California. Earthquakes happen where we live all the time.
But this was a big one.
The walls started to creek.
Dust started to fall from the ceiling.
The floor continued to tremble.
I screamed as I heard a wall crumble.
Then everything went dark. Again.
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"Hannie! Hannie, wake up! Please don't be dead!"
I started to slowly open my eyes, but all I saw was darkness. "I'm not dead, you idiot."
"Aww. You're so sweet." He grunted as he shifted his weight.
He was lying on top of me. We both were surround by rubble that blocked the light.
Zach started to push up, trying to find what was pinning us down.
"If think the ceiling fell on us." He had his arms out the side, trying not to crush me with his weight.
"No way." I huffed. "I thought the floor came up and swallowed us."
"Shut up," he teased me back, then tried to push himself back up again.
A big chunk of the ceiling that was lying across his back started to groan.
After multiple attempts, he was finally able to push the rubble off of him and stand up.
He reached out a hand to me. This time, I accepted it.
Letting my eyes adjust, I looked around at our previous prison.
All that was left now was a pile of rubble that sat at the edge of a forest.
"Really?" Zach spun in a small circle. "They just dumped us in a concrete block in the middle of nowhere?"
"They were probably just going to take the ransom money, then run off to Mexico. And they left us here, so they didn't have to deal with us."
"They were just going to leave us here till we starved to death?"
I shrugged. "Look!" I pointed away from the forest.
He followed where I was pointing. "A road! It's got to lead somewhere."
He grabbed my hand and lead me toward the road.
We were finally going home.
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Ok yeah. So here it is. I had much more in mind, and I do think at some point I will expand the story. There was more conversation when they were trapped, this whole problem they came across when they found out the road was just an old dirt driveway that led to nothing, and something along the lines of Zach betraying Hannie when they finally get home. But I already bored you with 2000 words, so I will leave it at that. Thanks for reading!!!
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