Trapped

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^*Harper’s POV*^
I slowly opened my eyes, my head was killing me, and the left side of my face felt like it had been hit with a fucking rock. It took me a second to remember everything that happened as I started up at the ceiling. I had a fight with Parker, then took my anger out on Matt, but he caught me off guard, and beat the hell out of me, and knocked me out. But how? I-I think I had the upper-hand, didn’t I? I was returning blows but someone yelled something, and it shocked me. Wait it was…it was Vengeance, but it sounded like Zacky. What did he yell? …Harper… He knew… I rolled over, and someone fell into my vision, laying on a couch about five feet away from me.

“V-Vengeance?” I mumbled, my voice slightly hoarse, and the scab on my busted lip splitting slightly as I parted my lips. I squinted through the pitch blackness of the small ‘room’ and he rolled over, and once he saw I was awake he got up, and shuffled over to where I was laying and sat down on the side of the bed.

“How long was I out?”

“Over twelve hours, it’s five AM, and you went out at about two PM yesterday.” He paused. “How are you feeling?” He asked, resting a hand on my arm, and I went to sit up, but my head started spinning, prompting me to lie back down.

“Like I’ve been hit in the head repeatedly with a boulder.” I stated, and he chuckled lightly.

“Well, Matt hit you a good few times before Jimmy pulled him off of you, so that sounds about right.” Jimmy.

“Jimmy?” I asked, trying to be as clueless as possible. He just shook his head.

“Harp, don’t try and hide it, the secret’s out.” He said softly, and I diverted my eyes away from him, feeling tears trying to escape.

“I’m…I’m so sorry Zack.” I whispered, and he sighed.

“It wasn’t your fault, if I had gotten that opportunity- if any of the guys had of been offered that opportunity, even if would have made them look gay, to avoid getting beaten up, we would have taken it too. Don’t blame yourself.” He whispered, his thumb rubbing my arm. But it was my fault, I made Parker come with me, I made her go. She asked me what I thought we should do, and I told her to go for it, but I thought we would have been able to get Terrance and Zan to stop beating up the guys. My good intentions always fuck everything up in the end.

“It was my fault. It’s my fault that we hurt you guys way back then, it’s my fault that Terrance and Zan kept picking on you, it’s my fault that Matt knocked me out, it’s my fault my sister probably hates me, it’s my fault that I’m just a really shitty person.” I muttered, and Zack shook his head.

“No, it’s not. It’s not anyone’s fault. No one could’ve known.” He whispered, and I slowly sat up, accidentally leaning on him slightly as I closed my eyes to wait for my head to stop spinning. I got my head eased, and I stood up, so did Zack, because I stumbled slightly. I don’t know if you’ve ever been knocked out by the Incredible Hulk before, but since I’m guessing you haven’t let me tell you this; it knocks your whole entire system off course for a while; hand-eye-coordination is fucked, head spins relentlessly, nausea sets in slowly after; it’s not like you get knocked out, then hours later your perfectly fine. “Harper, you can barely stand, where in the hell are you going?” Zack asked, and I sighed, leaning against the wall. I felt drunk, and the wooziness and spinning wasn’t helping my stance at all.

“Do you think Matt would like to take another swing, and see if he could kill me this time? I don’t feel like being alive.” I muttered, and Zack put his arm around my waist, and lead me back over to his bed.

“No, you’re staying with me tonight.” He sat me back down on the bed. I laid back down, and he crawled in behind me, and pulled the covers over both of us.

“Are you putting me under suicide watch?” I asked, and he nodded.

“You just asked me if I thought Matt would kill you. I wouldn’t put it past him, and if he finds you alone you’ll be dead before you’ll be able to scream.” He said, and I sighed. I guess I really pissed Matt off.

“Is he that mad about getting beat up by a girl?” I asked, expecting Zacky to laugh lightly, but he didn’t.

“It’s not that he’s upset about. Everyone else has forgiven you and Parker, but Matt’s having some…issues.” He muttered and we laid there in silence for a second until Zacky scooted closer to me, at the moment, with everything going on; a little too close for comfort.

“Zacky,” I started.

“Yea Harp?”

“Can you uh, back up a little?”

“Sure, sorry.” He said softly, and I felt him roll over with his back to me. I smiled lightly and closed my eyes, maybe when I wake up again my head will have calmed down.

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^*Matt’s POV*^
It was dark, and everyone was asleep, and I was still covered in dried blood, and smelt like toxic waste. I made my way towards the clothing section, finding a t-shirt, and then making my way into the restroom to try and get the dried blood from my face. I looked into the mirror and sighed. My left eye was swelling, along with my cheek, my lip was busted, and still bleeding slightly, I had dried, darkened blood in a small stream at the corner of my mouth, and more from my nose. Harper can pack a hard fucking punch, I’ll give the slut that much. I turned on the water, and started scrubbing. Once blood stays on your skin long enough, it gets a little harder to wash off. I got most of the blood off, and more bruises became apparent. One on the left side of my jaw, another on the bridge of my nose, and once I got my shirt off I found another on my side. I was playing it off as if she just got lucky, and caught me off guard, but she actually beat me up. I never thought I’d get beat up by a girl. Unless you count Terrance and Zan. I changed shirts, and threw the old one away, it was history, ripped here and there, and still caked in blood. I made my way out of the bathroom, and I looked around to make sure no one had woken up, but the store was still deathly silent, so I made my way over to the door at the customer service counter, and up the tall stairwell to the roof. I looked around at the grey sky. The sun would be coming up soon. I walked over to the edge of the front of the store, and sat down, dangling my legs over the side. There were a lot more zombies hanging around the front of the building than this morning. I let my mind wander off after a second, the bad part was it wandered off to places I didn’t want to go. Harper and Parker. The two bitches that made my life, and my friends’ lives’ a living hell. If the rest of the guys want to forgive them, then they can -they have- but I’m not about to. They may have said a few words every now and then, to try and get dumb and dumber to stop, but they never really did anything about it. They’re one reason why we all started a band; we wanted to prove them wrong, and we did. They said we wouldn’t ever be able to make anything out of our lives, that we were fucking useless, well, we’ve sold millions of records, and we have made something of ourselves while they’re probably sitting behind a desk as fucking accountants. I really hope Zan and Terrance are dead, and I wish the O’Klimins were too. They used to be such wonderful people, Parker was one of the sweetest people you’d ever meet, and Harper was the craziest. They always stuck together, even when Harper made that bad decision, and left the guys and I, Parker followed in her footsteps. I remember getting that phone call from Harper. The phone call I never told anyone about, because I wanted to believe her.

^*Flashback*^
“Hello?” I glanced over at the clock as I rolled over. Two AM.

“Matt?” I heard Harper’s voice, and wanted to throw up after what she did to us today.

“What in the fuck do you want?” I demanded, tempted to hang up.

“Matt, please don’t be mad, I have a plan.” I sat up at her words.

“And I guess that plan involves treating me and the guys like shit, and clinging onto those two douche bags, right?” I spat.

“Sadly. But listen, I’m going to get you out of this. Trust me, give me a few days, and I can get Terrance and Zan to leave you guys alone. I promise. You can’t tell anyone, I’m not even telling Parker, I just needed to let you know what was going on. I have to go, I’m sorry, Matt.” I was about to question her, but she hung up.

*^Flashback^*

She never kept her promise. I trusted her. I put my faith in her that she would get us out, but she never did. For years we put up with getting beat up by Terrance and Zan, and our best friends. I told myself a week later that I’d never forgive her or her sister for what they did to us. What they put us through is unforgivable. I just need to get Johnny, Zacky, Jimmy, and Brian to see that.

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^*Harper’s POV*^
The next morning my body had mostly returned to normal, all of the side effects of getting the shit beat out of me by Matt had finally faded away. As I was sitting on Zacky’s bed, my head was still hurting slightly, so I had gotten Zack to go get me some Tylenol. I heard someone come in, but I didn’t look up, until I heard my name, not Reject; Harper, but by the time I looked up the person was gone, it was only Brian, standing in the doorway.

“Brian?” I asked, looking up at him, and he looked at me.

“I brought Parker, but she ran off.” He said, coming in, and sitting down beside me. “Matt really did a number on you, didn’t he?” Brian asked, grimacing slightly.

“Is it really that bad?” I hadn’t really seen my face, I had no clue about how much damage was done. Zacky said it wasn’t that bad.

“It looks like you got hit with a boulder.” He said, and I couldn’t help but laugh lightly.

“That’s what it feels like. Is Parker alright?” I asked, and he sighed, looking down.

“She blames herself.”

“But it’s not her fault. It’s mine.” I said, and looked back down. “I was the one that fucked everything up with you guys, and I was the one that started our fight, and then took out my physical anger on Matt.” I said, but then stopped. “Well, until he knocked me out.”

“You and Parks really need to make up, it’s odd seeing you two so far apart.” Brian said, and I looked over at him.

“Is Matt still pissed?” I asked and Brian nodded hesitantly.

“He’s curled up in his bed, not talking to anyone. I wouldn’t go around him for a while. He really doesn’t know his own strength, and he could really hurt you.” Brian said softly, and Zacky walked back into the room.

“Has Parker come out of her room yet?” Zacky asked Brian as he handed me a small Styrofoam cup of water, and two Tylenol. I tossed the pills in my mouth, and swallowed them down with the water. Zacky sat down beside me, and Brian shook his head.

“Not really, I carried her down here to patch things up with Harper, but she barely got her name out before she took off.” Brian said, and I got an idea.

“Hey, can you two help me with something?” I asked, and Zack and Brian nodded.

“What?” Zack asked, and I smiled a little.

“I’m going to get this shit straightened out.” I stood up. “Just get everyone in the meeting room behind the customer service desk, can you do that?” I asked, and they both stood up.

“Everyone? Including Matt and Parks?” Brian asked, and I nodded.

“Yea, I’ll go find Jimmy and Johnny if you two can wrangle Matt and Parker.” I said, and they both groaned, but headed out of the room anyways. I walked out, and down the line of doors until I came across Johnny’s room, where I found Johnny, asleep in his bed. “Johnny.” I shook his shoulder, he swatted my hand away. “Johnny!”

“Fuck off, I’m sleeping.” He muttered, and I grabbed his arm and pulled him out of the bed. “What?!” He complained, and I let go of his arm as he sat up. “What’s wrong?” He asked, and I rolled my eyes.

“Do you know where the employee conference room is?” I asked, and he rubbed his eyes as he stood up.

“Behind the service desk, why?”

“Good, meet me there in ten minutes.” I said, and walked down to Jimmy room, where he was awake, and just walking out of his room. “Jimmy,” I stopped him, and he turned to me.

“Hey Harp.” He said, and I smiled.

“Uh, I’m getting everyone together in the big conference room to set some things straight-”

“I’ll be waiting.” He said, and smiled before he walked off towards the service desk.

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Getting everyone together proved to be a little bit harder than expected. Parker locked herself in the girls bathroom, and Brian had to pick the lock to get her out, and Zacky had to tie up Matt, and drag him into the room.

“Why is there a strip of duct tape over his mouth?” I asked Zacky, as he sat down beside me

“He wouldn’t shut the hell up. So, while I was duct taping his wrists and ankles, I went ahead and found a way to shut him up.” Zacky smiled at his accomplishment.

“Okay, everyone’s here, what do you want to tell us?” Jimmy asked curiously, and I looked over at Parker, she wouldn’t make eye contact, she just kept her head down.

“Alright,” I stood up with a shaky breath, feeling all eyes on me. “First, I think I need to apologize.” I looked around at everyone, then continued. “I’m going to start at the top of the list, with everything that we’ve put you all through. You see, when I drug Parker away from you all, I had a…a plan in my head.” I looked at Matt, and saw recognition flicker in his eyes before it was quickly replaced with a hate filled glare. “I was going to get close to Terrance, and Zan, and get them to stop picking on all of you, and stop fucking duct taping you to lockers, locking you in bathroom stalls, and stealing clothes. But that backfired on me. I tried to convince Terrance, but he threatened to dump me, and I didn’t want to go back to that old lifestyle. The ones that you all were forced to live. I called Matt, and told him, but I told him not to tell anyone.” Matt tried to speak, but it was muffled. Johnny ripped the piece of duct tape away slightly so we could hear.

“Yea, and thanks to you and your stupid fucking plan-” Johnny silenced Matt’s rant as he put the piece of duct tape back over his mouth.

“I know Matt, things got worse, but they never were meant to get worse, you have to believe me when I say that.” Parker had brought her head up now to look at me as I continued my little rant. “I’m just sorry I even left. And Parker,” I looked down at her, and she diverted her vision. “I’m sorry about what I did yesterday. That was out of line.” She looked up at me and smiled slightly.

“It’s no big deal.” She muttered, and I sat back down.

“I’m not asking anyone to forgive us for what we did, trust me, even I wouldn’t forgive me, but it would be nice if you would try.” I said, and everyone fell into silence.

“You may have stabbed us all in the back, but you’re only human.” Zacky said, and I smiled at him.

“Fuck it, after that, I just can’t be mad anymore.” Brian spoke up.

“If we weren’t trapped in a supermarket with flesh eating zombies outside, trying to kill us, then things might be different, but we all need to stick together. You’re okay in my book.” Johnny said, and Jimmy sighed.

“I never thought I’d ever in my life say this, but Johnny, you’re right.” He turned to Parker and I. “If we try and hold grudges now, we’re going to die, especially since we know how dangerous you are.” He pointed at me, and I couldn’t help but smile. Then Parker and I looked at Matt, and so did everyone else. Johnny ripped the piece of tape fully off of his mouth.

“Johnny, untie my hands.” Matt said surprisingly calmly, and Johnny hesitated, before untying him. Matt then bent down and untied his ankles, and stood up. “Now, before I go berserk, I just want to say that Harper, Parker, I hate you both. You did us wrong, and put us through hell. You made our lives even shittier than they already were. What you did was unforgivable, and I’m not about to sit-” He was cut off by Brian.

“Matt, just sit the fuck down and-” Brian was cut off.

“Shut the hell up Brian, this needs to be said.” Brian sighed, and Matt continued. “You betrayed us, we were your best friends; your only friends, and you left us to be with people that you hated. Parker, you broke Jimmy’s heart, I didn’t think he would make it without you those first couple of months, and Harper, you literally almost killed Zack. You both should be ashamed of yourselves. Now, if they want to forgive you, that’s fine by me, I really just don’t give a fuck anymore, but don’t expect that kind of shit from me.” He started to walk away, but as he reached the door he turned back and said to me, “Oh, and Harp, you deserved a lot more than what I did to you yesterday.” He walked out, leaving us all in the big room, shocked. I wanted to go after him, I had that urge to go rip him to shreds, so I stood up, and started after him.