Trapped

..::Parker’s P.O.V::..

It was hard for me to sit through and listen to Harper’s speech. It was hard to know that she blamed herself for our past. She had no idea. I shouldn’t have lied to her about it, and then she would have known. Furthermore, I should have gone to the police when it had happened. I felt like I was about to cry when she apologized to me, but she had hurt me more than she realized. You can’t unspeak words, and these particular words changed a lot of things for our relationship. When I thought that I wouldn’t possibly get anymore hurt, Matt started speaking. I was listening to every word, like knowing them was a life death situation, until he started talking about Jimmy. I had broken his heart, and because of me, he’d probably be dead. Everything after that had left my mind completely as I played those two sentences over and over in my mind. The pain was getting far too much for me. I watched Matt leave, as a silent tear went down my cheek.

I would kill him if he did anymore harm to my sister. I promised myself that much. I could see Jimmy out of the corner of my eye, but I avoided looking at him, just like he seemed to avoid looking at me. I’m sure he caught what Matt had said, as well. I stood up, and walked over the table, next to Harper, “I need to talk to you alone,” I said, and headed towards the bathroom. We got in, and I locked the door. I waited a few minutes, then kicked the door, hearing the grunts of pain from the 4 boys who were listening into our conversation, “If you’d like to keep your hearing, I’d suggest nonchalantly walking around the opposite end of the store,” I threatened them, and I heard their whines as they all headed away from the door. I turned back to Parker, who was leaning up against one of the stalls.

“Listen,” I said, and we made eye contact, “I’m not mad at you,” she smiled at these words, and was about to speak, but I cut her off, “But I don’t forgive you, and right now, I’m not sure I will,” I told her, and the smile fell off her face.

“I’m so sorry Parker, I wish I could take those words back,” she apologized again.

“I wish you could, too, but that’s the thing. You can’t, and you won’t ever be able to. It changed a lot of things for me,” I told her, and started heading towards the doors. I had to say that to her, but I didn’t want to say it with an audience, which I knew we had anyways. I unlocked the door and swiftly opened it, watching Jimmy, Brian, Johnny, and Zack fall on top of each other. I smiled sweetly at them, and then stepped over them, heading towards my little room. I sat down on the couch I dragged in, and lay down, staring at the blank TV. I wish everything could just be okay. I was tired of all of this fighting, all of this hate, all of this reminder of our past. It didn’t help that Harper kept blaming herself. I wish I could just come out and tell her the truth. I wasn’t ready to talk about it though. Nobody needed any more secrets coming out right now, anyways.

“Aw, come on, Matt,” Johnny said, “At least talk to us. We didn’t do anything,” he shouted out, and I never heard Matt say anything in response. I noticed then that Jimmy had come in.

“Matt’s back,” he said, and sat on the arm of the couch, and I snorted.

“Where could he have gone,” I said, as I rolled my eyes.

“I have not fucking clue, but he’s back,” he said, and looked at my TV, noticing I was staring at it, “Is there some secret channel on that I can’t see?”

“TV’s off- Wait, when can I kill Matt, by the way,” I sat up, begging him to let me do Matt harm.

“Okay, once again, can you please not try to kill him. He’s still my best friend, along with the other guys,” He said.

“Fine. But know this. If he touches Harper again, I will cause him a lot of pain,” I said, my mind still set on that.

“If you have any of Harper’s abilities, I wouldn’t hold that against you,” he said, causing me to laugh a little, “I’m glad I succeeded in my attempt to cheer you up,” He said, sitting down next to me.

“I still don’t think I deserve your forgiveness, James,” I looked down, meaning it.

“Well, don’t start talking me out of it now,” he laughed awkwardly. There was now that tension from what Matt had said and I knew he felt it, too.

“What Matt said-“ I started talking, trying to throw that out of the way.

“I, um. You were very special to me,” he seemed as if he chose his words very carefully. Then, something in my mind clicked together. Everything absolutely had to be fixed. But it would take time, and no matter what plan I made, it wouldn’t change that. We were in far too deep.

“I had no idea,” my voice was almost a whisper, though it came out a lot louder than I had thought it would.

“You really hurt me- us, Parker,” he said, and a film of tears glazed my eyes.

“I know,” I said, and stood up, “But I’m tired. Do you mind if….can I have some privacy?”

“Absolutely,” he stood up too, and started walking away. I couldn’t let him just leave, not after what he just told me.

“Jimmy,” I said, and I ran up to him as he turned around, and wrapped my arms around his torso. He hugged my back just as hard as he put his head on the crown of mine.

“I’m sorry,” the few tears I tried to hide fell out as I apologized to him, “I want to tell you everything so bad, but-“

“But what, Parker,” he asked, and my heart dropped more.

“But I can’t. Not right now,” I untangled myself from him, and wiped my eyes, “I will, though,” I promised him.

“You can tell me anything, Parks,” a corner of his mouth went up.

“I know,” I attempted to smile back.

“Well, I’ll – um – I’ll let you go,” he smiled once more halfheartedly, and left me alone with all of my hurt and pain. I went and crawled under my covers as I wished again and again that all of this would just go away. Eventually I would have to talk to Matt, things had to be fixed with him, there’s no way out of it, no matter if I do it right now, or next year. First, the need to shoot him in the face with the many guns we had supplied with us. I couldn’t talk to him calmly with the urge to kill him staying there. He wouldn’t even talk to his friends, so something was up. It seemed as if he was changing a little. I tried so hard to just fall asleep, but I ended up lonely in my bed. I turned over and closed my eyes, trying to escape from any thoughts I still had. Finally, my mind escaped me, and I peacefully drifted off to sleep, which I wish I didn’t have to wake up from.

‘I love you, babe,’ Zan said to me. I could see him looking at the busty waitress, though.
‘Love you, too,’ I mumbled. Over time, I actually had started to, but I wanted nothing more than to just get away from him forever. Not to mention, nobody ever saw the other side of Zan. There was the popular guy who only beat up on the outcasts, then there was the one where he was still the popular guy, who beat up on his girlfriend. Yeah, he abused me, and you would be surprised to know that that’s not the worst thing he’s ever done. The first time he hit me, I went and made sure that Harper wasn’t getting the same type of abuse from Terrance.

‘He treats me great,’ she said, ‘Though I don’t really like him,’ she said. She still loved Zacky, I was willing to bet on it, but she would never admit it. We never talked about them, it was silently forbidden between us. We always regretted it, hell, I could see it on her face every time one of our dumbass boyfriends were picking on them.

Zan started snapping in my face, ‘Earth to Parker,” he said, and I forced a smile on my face.
‘Sorry, I just remembered I had this big project to do, and I was mentally working on it,’ I lied to him.

‘Oh, well, good thing you’d rather spend time with your boy,’ he said. Yeah, whatever helps his self esteem. We got up and went back to his house since his parents were gone, ‘one second, gotta piss,’ he said, and set his stuff down. He quickly ran up the stairs, and I started pilfering through his phone, not at all surprised to find recent texts from other girls telling him just how good he was. I heard the bathroom door close, and I quickly set the phone down. I prayed to god the phone’s light would go off before he got downstairs, I really didn’t need another episode. I was relieved when it did. He sat down next to me, and started putting his hands all over me. Suddenly, I felt disgusted, and he noticed.

‘What’s wrong,’ he asked, not that he cared.

‘I know you’ve been cheating on me. That wasn’t in the deal,’ I said, harshly.

‘You went through my phone?” he said, more of a realization then a question to me. I stood up, and backed away, trying to get away from him. He stood up, and started walking towards me. I turned around and started running. He threw me on the ground, and sat on top of me as he started hitting me. He pulled my pants off, and shoved length into me. I cried out in pain and I kept asking to get off.

‘Parker,’ he started yelling my name. He said it over and over again, and I couldn’t manage to start screaming.

“PARKER,” Jimmy yelled out, and slapped me across the face. I gasped and immediately sat up, “Are you okay,” he asked, and I noticed Brian and Johnny behind him. I nodded yes, hoping to shake off the horrendous nightmare. The worst part about it was that it wasn’t so much a nightmare as it was a memory. I was so glad that was over.

“That scared the shit out of me, I thought that one of those things broke through,” Brian put a hand over his heart, as he was breathing pretty heavily.

“Let’s go, Brian, the giraffe’s got her,” Johnny put a hand on Brian’s shoulder, and they turned away.

“Are you sure you’re okay,” Jimmy asked in a soft voice, and I nodded my head in response, though he could see right through my bullshit, “Let’s put you back in bed, hopefully you’ll get some peaceful sleep. There are some people around here that need that,” He helped me back under my covers.

“Thanks,” I croaked, wishing I could say more.

“Alright, well, I’ll just-“ he started, but I cut him off and grabbed his hand.

“Please stay,” I begged. I didn’t need another one of those nightmares.

..::Jimmy’s P.O.V::..

My heart leaped when she begged me to stay. She needed somebody with her right now. Nightmares are the fucking worse, especially afterwards when you wake up, and try to go back to sleep. I smiled at her, and she scooted over. I got under the covers with her, and I made sure to keep my distance. I wanted so badly for things to get better with her, better with all of this. The world was faltering to an end, and we were all being selfish jerk offs with all of this bickering. I wanted to hold her, so she knew that she was safe, but I thought it would be best to keep my distance. I made sure I didn’t fall asleep because I knew if I did, I’d probably end up on top of her. Unfortunately, things never go as I plan them, and my eyes started feeling really heavy, until I decided to close them. Hey, they were like fuckin’ 90 pound weights.

A shrilling scream went throughout the whole store, and I woke up, tangled with Parker. I got myself out of the mess, before I could freak her out. The scream was from Brian, so I ran to his little room, where he was standing on his bed, looking frantically at the floor.
“What now,” I asked him, wanting to laugh, since he was only in boxers.

“Bug,” he managed to say, and he looked terrified. I couldn’t hold in my laughter as it erupted from my mouth.

“You’re such a girl,” I teased, starting to look for the bug.

“Roach,” he corrected himself. A screamed ripped through me as I joined him on top of his bed. Parker came in and saw the sight of us, and I was happy to see that a smile cracked her face.

“Roach?” she asked, “It’s how my sister reacts,” she said, as she seemed unthreatened by the bug, completely. If she killed the pest, she would be my goddess forever. She broke that however, when she felt something on her foot, and jumped five feet in the air, also joining on Brian’s bed. The bug crawled out of the space, and then I heard Johnny yell out.

“GOT IT,” he confirmed. We all sighed of relief as we left Brian’s room, only to see an evilly laughing Johnny chase after us as he held the living roach by its antenna, “Come on wittel Jimmy, it wants a kiss,” he said, and I noticed Parker slip back into Brian’s room, and I was on my own, running from Johnny. I ran past a pistol that we had set down on a counter, and turned to him, pointing the gun at him, “You wouldn’t shoot me, dumbass,” he said playfully as he was now walking at me. I threw the weapon at him, and it hit him in the chest, and he dropped the bug, which I used Johnny’s foot to step on.

“Eat Roach guts, dude,” I smirked, and walked off to my little area. Things were starting to look up, maybe soon we would all just be happy, aside from the zombies right on the other side of the wall that wanted to kill us. I went back to Parker’s room, and she wasn’t there. I mentally frowned, and walked back to my room. Maybe I could get some sleep this time, and hopefully everybody else was, too.

..::Brian’s P.O.V::..

I was paranoid after the insect left my room. If there was one, there was more. Jimmy and Parker had left, and after I heard Jimmy scream, Parker came right back in.

“They’re chasing each other with live pests, which I want no part of,” she said, and sat down on the recliner.

“You can come lay down with me,” I offered, and she seemed to juggle this around in her head.

“I could,” she smirked. I hadn’t seen this side of Parker for over 5 years. The playful flirt.

“Come on, I’m scared,” I begged her, and scooted back, opening up my blanket to her. She sighed as she got into bed with me, and I wrapped my arm around her waist. I swear I would get with her, right now, it was my goal. Things would start getting better, and things would become very easy for me, as well. I doubt Jimmy still liked her. Hell, I doubt any of us liked Harper or Parker like that, but they were the only two girls here. I smirked as I thought about it, and kissed Parker’s cheek. She was already fast asleep, so she didn’t notice my gesture. I eventually fell asleep myself, my body warm against hers. I didn’t dream of my father this time, in fact, I didn’t really have a dream at all, thankfully.

I got the shit scared out of me as Parker was screaming, anyways. I thought we were all done for. I thought she was getting eaten. Thankfully she wasn’t, and it was just a bad dream.

..::Parker’s P.O.V::..

I woke up in Brian’s arms, his head nuzzled into my neck. Now, with careful movement, I would probably be able to get out of this jungle. I smelled filthy, I noticed, and I would have to find a way to wash up. I slowly got out of Brian’s arms, and went to get a new set of clothes, a towel, soap, shampoo, and a huge bin. I clogged the first three sinks and put the bin under them and as they overflowed, and the bin caught the water. I locked the door and started preparing for my bath.

..::------------::..

I had to carefully put water in the toilets and flush it until the bin was empty. Not the best bath I’ve had, but better than nothing. I put my clothes in a bag. Once I figured out how I was going to wash them, they would stay here. I put it behind the manager’s desk, and I left the small little area. I went to the candy isle, and started on a bag of M&M’s. I guess this was one of the upsides to living in a superstore, free access to everything. I went through the rooms to see if anybody was awake, excluding Matt. I would be avoiding him for a while, at all costs.

Johnny was awake, though, playing Zombies online. He was yelling out threats causing me to laugh.

“Hey bitch,” I called out, and laughed as he jumped.

“Douche,” he said, and smirked, “What do you want?”

“Invite me into a game, I want to join,” I said, and went back to my room to kick up the Playstation 3.