Figuring that the conference was over at that point, they both reached for the door handle at the same exact time. Stupid really, given that there was still a couple of minutes to go by this point, but that was better than being caught together. Colliding just over the cool metal, bare hands nudging each other with an instant warmth, the teens looked at each other and mumbled small, empty apologies. Thankfully it was too dark to make out the soft tints lighting up pale flesh. They could certainly feel it in their cheeks.

About to say something after an elongated pause, the first bell rang and the duo could make out the distant sound of scraping doors and excited yells as class let out, the stampeding herd hurrying towards the next period. At least half of the student body was coming their way, so if they didn't want to get caught coming out of the closet together, they figured that they had best stay put for just a little longer. Just until it was safe to come out.

Staring at each other in the near darkness, the danger of discovery mounted as people came closer and closer to their hiding place - suddenly a very bad idea - and worse still, the invisible toxins were wrapping them in an increasingly lemony scent. More than overpowering, they were almost soaked to the point that many a mind (assuming that anyone saw them) would jump to the conclusion that they had used all that lemon to spray away the smells of a homosexual encounter.

Once the sounds outside had began to fade and dissipate, Kyle reached for the door knob once more; there were a couple stragglers now, but if they timed it properly, it wouldn't matter. Twisting the silver bulb, he found that the knob was stuck and wouldn't budge. "It's stuck."

"What?" Panicking slightly at the announcement, Hunter looked over at Kyle. "It can't be - my second biggest fear in life is getting buried alive. Trapped, in a small little space as the oxygen expires..." Her eyes became rather wide as she looked around. "I'm going to die in here..."

"You're not going to die in here." He said that, but he wasn't so convinced himself. The vapors were very strong and were already clawing away at his judgment.

Absolutely positive about their fates, she shook her head at his denial. "But I am. My friend Carol, she told me that this gypsy woman that reads her fortune said that 'it would end in a small dark place with a boy in a green hat', and we're in a small, dark place, and you have a green hat..." The second bell rang then, signaling that it was time to be in class. "What was that?!" Terror increasing, Hunter looked around, half-expecting the room to change somehow. It looked the same, so she settled down somewhat, getting on with her explanation. "Or maybe her name was Cheryl?"

Really, a gypsy woman? That was completely retarded! "Hunter, relax. Someone is bound to realize that we're not in class, so they'll send someone out to find us."

But who was to say that they would still be alive by the time that they found their bodies? Pressing herself against the door, she shoved and pushed, bouncing off like the polar end of a magnet. She couldn't die this way, there was still so much more that she had to do with her life! Banging against the door, she cried out for help. "Hey, hey, there are people in here! Let us out!"

Kyle watched her fight against the door for a good two minutes before he spoke again. "No one can hear you."

Sliding down the door, Hunter fell to the floor on her knees. "I don't want to die like this." By this point, it became clear that she had completely given up hope and was convinced that her demise was eminent. "I don't want to die alone..."

Joining her on the ground, he severally misjudged the amount of space there really was, knees knocking into Hunter's as he lowered himself to her level. Squatting down on the ground, any floorspace there might have been was obliterated - his spine was grinding against the mop bucket, and they were being prodded by various boxes from either side. He shuddered to think of how banged up they would be after this was all sorted out, one one or another.

Awkwardly, Kyle wrapped his arm around her shoulder and pulled the girl close, just like he would have done for Ike. He was fairly sure that they might actually die in that closet before help came, but that didn't mean that they both had to think that outloud. "You're not alone."

Sobbing, Hunter buried her head in his shoulder...

[South Park]

"You're late." Poking his head out of the broken stall in the boy's room, Craig looked over at Kenny to make sure that he was alone. "I was beginning to think that maybe you were going to back out."

Kenny wouldn't have minded if the deal had gone astray somehow, but he wasn't going to back out his end of their bargain, and he told Craig as much. Of the four, Kenny was the one that Craig most trusted, since he had been the only one that had even tried to pay him back after the Peruvian Pan Flute thing, although he had only been able to cough up about eight bucks. Still though, at least he had tried, and that was more than he could have said about the rest of them.

That really wasn't a factor in this agreement through, since they had been doing this before Kenny had thought to repay Craig. And after. It had originally started out as just sharing cigarettes, but then it kind of grew out from there, and things got so out of hand at one point, neither could remember an entire week of their lives, but for the most part they were glad for that fact...

Craig moved over so that Kenny could squeeze himself into the stall. "So, do you have the stuff?"

Knowing that many a door in the school were busted to the point that closing them all the way would cause a lock-in, the blonde was careful to leave it ajar. But at least in the stall, there was wiggle room to escape. Kenny recalled with vivid details the day that he had gotten locked in the janitor's closet with Craig, but after that little incident, he was relieved to hear that Craig had taken the keys so he could think about helping out his friends if they ever got trapped in there. Thank God that day had been a half-day, and pretty much all of the other students had left by that point, because finding them in that state would have been awkward. It almost could have happened because of the janitor, had Craig not bullied him into silence.

Reaching into his inner jacket pocket, the poor boy extracted a small brown paper bag, just large enough to house three or four plastic baggies. "The top one is yours, but the rest are for Stripe's family."

Poor Stripe, passing away of old age. At least he had a family and didn't die alone...

Yep, that was a reference to another show I dearly love, "Archer"! At first I wasn't going to put in what Kenny got up to while Kyle and Hunter found themselves trapped, but I changed my mind. Although I could decide exactly what they would be getting up to, so I tried to leave that bit vague. Yeah, subtly and vagueness aren't my strongest suits...

I do not own South Park, that's all on Matt and Trey, but I do own Hunter and Avery!