Rosalina's POV
The first time I woke up, I had no idea where I was, just that I was in a dark room. I tried to move and actually found that I could. I was expecting to be bound to a chair or something. No, I was just sitting in the chair. I tried to get up, but found that the drowsiness made me too weak to manage it. But I had to fight it. I had to figure out where I was. I had to get to Nat. My eyes finally adjusted to the darkness enough that I could see outlines of things. I made my way over to the stairs and climbed them until I got to the door. I tried opening it, but found that it was locked. And it was the only entrance to the room. Wonderful, so I'm trapped here.
I went back to the chair and tried to remember what happened. It only came in bits and pieces. James, a sword, Nat bleeding badly. That stuck out most prominently to me. Nat was in danger. He couldn't be…no, I refuse to let that to stick in my mind. I continued, trying to remember how I got here. The medics came and took Nat, I asked Kelly to take me to the hospital. Kelly! She took a different road, and then used a pressure point to knock me unconscious! That backstabbing bitch! I trusted her! She was a friend, my best friend after I was stupid enough to push Nat away! Well, if I ever see her again, she'll rue the day she ever crossed Rosalina Tai.
I sat back in the chair and waited. Eventually, someone would come for me. I wasn't being trapped here for no reason. So I'd wait. I didn't know how long I'd already been here, but it didn't matter. Was it minutes, hours, days, or even weeks that I waited? I don't know. It was impossible to tell time in there. All I know is that it paid off. The door finally opened, and light flooded the room. Apparently it was someone's basement. Coming down the stairs were the two people I least wanted to see. James and Kelly.
"You backstabbing little…!"
"Now Rosalina, is that any way to greet an old friend? Who was the shoulder you cried on when you pushed that silly little boy away. What was his name again? Pat? Matt?"
"You know it's Nat." I said through gritted teeth.
"Whatever. Anyways, who was the one who fully supported you becoming captain of the cheerleading squad, even though it was the position I had longed for? Oh yes, Rosalina, you were all too easy to manipulate. I'll admit, when we first met, I truly was your friend. And then you got everything I wanted! Cheerleading captain, James, and people still knew you as Rosalina from the Naked Brothers Band! You didn't deserve it, yet you had it all. I sat back and waited, though. Revenge is a plate best served cold. And now, you're getting it frozen solid."
"What do you mean, Kelly? James, where am I? Is Nat ok?"
"Isn't she just the cutest, James? Pretending she doesn't know what's going on. Here, let me put it simply, princess. Very quickly, you'll have nothing. Nat's in a hospital right now, dying. When you 'went missing', James was so heartbroken, and guess who was there for him. And now we're official. As for the new opening for cheerleading captain, after the previous one went and got knocked up and then went missing, her chosen second in command immediately assumed the position. Oh, and you can thank me for starting that rumor."
"Kelly, how could you!?" Normal captives would be crying by now, but not me. I was too furious to be hurt, and way too strong to let these two see me cry. "We were friends. You're acting like I wanted everything that happened to happen! James came and asked me out! I never knew you liked him, or I wouldn't have gone! I never knew the Naked Brothers Band would be such a huge success, and I didn't even know you for most of that time! The coach chose me to be captain, I didn't go asking for it!"
"Well, guess this is karma for you, then. You got a ton of good luck, and now your world is collapsing around you."
"James, please. If I was at all a good girlfriend to you, please end this madness. Let me go. You know this isn't right." He looked at me, and for a second, I thought I might have gotten through to him. Then his eyes turned cold again.
"Before recently, I would have. But then you started cheating on me with Nat."
"I never cheated, James! I stayed loyal."
"But you loved him! Not me, him! Yet you stayed with me, instead of owning up to everything and having the decency to end things with me like you should have!"
"James, you've always hated Nat. When I realized I wanted us to end, I couldn't. I knew you'd blame it on Nat…I couldn't let Nat be hurt because of my stupidity."
"Well, now Nat's dying, and his brother will think that you never cared. Just like you made Nat think that you never cared about him." I was struck into silence. Kelly was right about one thing. My world was collapsing around me. And now I realized that it was entirely my fault. If I hadn't let the stupid age difference get stuck in my head…if I had just gone with my heart and stayed with Nat, none of this would be happening. And I felt even guiltier because I knew Nat was supposed to be going on tour with his family soon.
"How long have I been here?"
"Oh don't worry about that. Everything that you remember was only last night." James told me. Last night. Ok, so that was about two weeks after I had found out that Nat was going on the tour. He had said he had a month…that meant he had about two weeks to recover and be ready for that tour, if it was even possible. Then again, if I learned anything about Nat, it's that he tends to make the impossible possible. The two left, leaving me alone in the dark basement again. I checked, and was unsurprised to find the door locked again.
Every day, or as close as I could guess to that, I tried the door. I tried breaking it down, tried finding something to use to pick the lock; I even tried just busting the doorknob to get out. Nothing worked. I also spent a lot of time pounding on the door, yelling for help, hoping someone would hear me. Twice a day, James brought meals to me, and I would be innocently sitting in my chair. If he ever heard me yelling and pounding, he didn't say. Who knows how long I tried. All I knew was that I was losing my voice, fast. I tried one more time, pounding on the door as hard as I could and letting out a feeble yell, using what little of my voice was left. I collapsed at the top of the stairs, finally giving up hope of being rescued.
How was Nat? He was still alive, I could feel that much. But I didn't know if he had long. If anything happened, I would never forgive myself. I heard footsteps approaching the door, but was too tired to move to my chair. Let James get mad about one more thing. But what I heard lifted my spirits more than getting any news about Nat at that moment.
"Hello? Is someone down there?"