Seven Minutes in Hell
Two days later
I'm probably gonna assume you guys haven't been to an American high school party, have you? I mean, not to be rude, but if you're reading this, you're probably not the star quarterback in your school. If you have gone to a party, great! You'll probably know what I'm talking about. For those of you who don't, well you're in luck because I haven't either. I'm not the type to go to parties. Have you met me? I spend my time playing video games and watching anime. Not socializing with other people.
There are many party games, from something involving alcohol or just typical bullshit that high schoolers would do. And then we have the rather… suggestive games. Games such as Spin the Bottle, which is a kissing game where you would have to kiss the person the bottle that you spin lands on. But there's one that isn't actually all that portrayed in Hollywood. Probably because of how suggestive it is.
Seven Minutes in Heaven. Y'all ever heard of that game? It's where you and another person (preferably one of the opposite sex or of the same sex if you swing that way) gets locked into a closet for seven minutes, to put it nicely, to make out. You know, getting real touchy-touchy with your partner. And the people outside of the closet would open the door to the closet after seven minutes to see how far the participants went.
Well, I guess I'm stuck in the same situation, except for the fact that none of us are playing a game and I'm trapped in the gym closet with the resident tsundere of the Literature Club with no way out. Does that mean I'm lucky? Probably not... right?
That morning
Well, before I tell you what happened in that closet, let's just start from the beginning of the day. Long story short, for the first time in forever, Sayori actually wants to wake up early. That was just because she wanted to ask her teacher for extra stuff before she takes a test today. Seriously, her teachers are overloading her. No wonder why she doesn't wanna go to school.
She actually woke up at 7 in the morning without me having to wake her up, which was pretty rare. I was actually proud of her. She stayed up late with me, working on homework. Last night, after getting home from Yuri's apartment, I had to help her study (because we all know how she is). We kept studying to the point where I had to stay up all night doing my own homework. I only got 3 hours of sleep.
When I did wake up, though, I didn't feel as tired. Well, that's wrong. I guess I was just used to working on a low battery, so I was able to get myself up and ready for school. I just need some coffee and I'll be good to go.
I was already awake and having breakfast when she knocked on my door. As I was taking a sip from a mug of coffee that Mr. Kobayashi had made for me, I heard the sound of a rather cheerful rapping on the door.
I got up, wondering who the hell would be knocking this early in the morning. Lo and behold, I was shocked to find the usually asleep Sayori standing in front of me.
"Morning, Sawyer!" she said with her usual chipper attitude, "How are you this morning?"
I blinked a couple of times, staying silent for a few seconds. At that time, I thought that I was still sleepy and was hallucinating. Really, I should go to bed earlier. It's bad for my health and it's only going to add unneeded stress onto me.
"I must be tripping right now," I mumbled, somewhat half-asleep before closing the door. But before I could close it fully, a loud "Wait a minute, Sawyer!" snapped me back to reality. I opened the door again to meet Sayori's gaze, her grin now replaced with a mock angry pout. "Oh," I said, "You really are awake."
"Sawyer, I can wake up on my own, you know," she said with her hands on her hips, "I'm not a kid." Sayori then timidly puts her two index fingers together, the gesture that she always does when she is guilty of something. "I just choose not to wake up early."
I nodded in understanding, still needing a minute to wake up fully. "So why now?" I asked.
"Because," said Sayori, leaning forward with her hands behind her back, "I still need help with math."
"Ah, so you woke up to ask me for more help, right?" I asked. Surely she's asking me because I'm so good at math! I mean, she did ask me for help yesterday.
"Nope!" exclaimed Sayori. Damn. Sayori had a huge grin on her face, smiling wide enough to make her close her eyes like in anime.
"..."
"..."
"...So why did you decide to wake up early and come to my door while I'm having breakfast?" I asked since no one decided to fill the silence after Sayori refused to elaborate on that.
"Do I even have to ask?" said Sayori, "Did you honestly forget what we do every morning?"
"Ah yes! I totally didn't forget that!" I exclaimed in a sort of sarcastic tone, "And what are you referring to?"
"Walking to school together, you dummy!" cried Sayori.
"...You do realize that you could just go to school without me, right?" I asked, a skeptical look growing on my face.
"Y-yeah!" exclaimed Sayori, "But it wouldn't be the same without you! I'll be all alone. And you don't want a girl walking alone in the street, right? It's dangerous for a girl to go alone."
I looked back at my half-eaten cream cheese bagel and my bitter lukewarm coffee that was getting colder by the second, my bag leaning against my chair, slack due to it not being packed yet. "Just… let me finish my breakfast first, alright?" I asked before holding the door open. "Come on in."
Later that morning
"Oh fuck, the battery died already?" I moaned as I stared at a blank screen that was my phone. Around me, it was way too early in the morning for there to be people around doing things. A couple of people milled around the courtyard, but apart from that, nothing.
I sat on one of the benches in the courtyard as usual. Just now, I was playing a game on my phone until the battery died. I could've sworn I it was at 25 percent a minute ago. Stupid iPhone batteries. They're as bipolar as a coin. Whatever, I brought my charger with me anyways. I'll charge it in class. If they'll let me.
"L-Lee-san?" stammered a voice to my right, her soft mature voice putting my soul at ease. "I-is it alright if I sit next to you?"
I looked to the source of the voice and there was Yuri, her bag in her hands, her fingers grasping the handle firmly. She looked a little nervous standing there like that and I didn't want to keep her on her feet all morning.
"Sure," I said as I picked up my bag that was next to me and placed it by my feet, scooting over so that Yuri had enough room to sit down comfortably. I stuffed my phone into my pocket and sat back.
"So," I tried to strike up a conversation, "You're early today."
"W-well, yes," stammered Yuri, "I f-figured that I would benefit from coming to school before class starts. I could have stayed in my apartment, but it gets noisy in the morning. You know, with people waking up."
"Right," I said, "Everyone rushing to get ready for the day tends to be a little loud. I can't imagine living in an apartment where noisy neighbors are everywhere."
"It does not help that the walls are paper-thin too," added Yuri, "I could hear every little thing."
I smirked, kind of happy that I didn't have to live in a cramped apartment. Then again, an apartment to myself is better than what I grew up with. "How about you?" asked Yuri, "Why are you here early?"
"Ah, well," I said, leaning forward to put my elbows to my knees, "Sayori managed to get up early without me and she wanted to head to class early for the first time."
"My, what an achievement for Sayori," said Yuri, a slight and proud smile on her face, "It is hard for her to get up on her own as is."
"Was she always like that?" I asked, "Waking up late?"
"Somewhat, to my understanding," she said, putting her hand on her chin as if she was contemplating on it, "She usually gets woken up by her friend."
"MC?"
"Yes, him," said she.
"You know, he sounds like a really cool guy," I stated, thinking about that picture of him in Sayori's house.
"Yeah, I was saddened when he left," Yuri said solemnly, looking down as if she was thinking about the guy and the short memories she had of him. Oh crap, I just ruined the mood, didn't I? It feels like the guy had died or something.
"I'm sorry, Yuri," I apologized. Yuri shook her head slightly.
"N-no," she said, assuring me that I didn't fuck up her morning, "It is fine. I have gotten over his sudden departure. It was just a weird occurrence. Right around the time of the school festival at the end of the year too."
"Yeah, that does sound weird," I said, shivering. I wonder what the hell happened to him since I'm staying in his old house after all. I kinda wanna meet the guy even more. An interesting fellow who has his reasons for ditching the girls and the club. Please enlighten me more about this guy.
The bell rang not long after that. Yuri and I entered the building and split ways from there. I headed to my class and Yuri to hers.
When I entered the classroom, I was greeted by Monika who was sitting at her desk. I plopped my stuff on my own desk tiredly and slumped over, resting my head on my canvas bag.
"Hey Sawyer," said Monika in her usual posh British accent. "How are you today?"
Lunch
Lunch rolled around rather quickly, which was good because I didn't eat much for breakfast because a certain someone made me go with her early this morning. I didn't even finish my bagel and just barely drank all of my orange juice when Sayori dragged me out of the house. Kind of weird, oddly enough. Usually, I'm the one doing the dragging.
To be honest, I couldn't eat lunch with any of the club members. Sayori is still taking her test and Monika's out doing something. Natsuki, I don't have her contact and Yuri, I can't even call her because my phone was dead. My teachers didn't allow me to charge my phone in class. Something about how it could distract me even though it was on the other side of the room. Whatever, long story short, it's fucking dead.
So, instead, CJ and I decided to meet up with the triplets in the courtyard. I sat down next to CJ, the girls sat on the other side of the bench at an empty table.
As usual, the courtyard had students roaming around having lunch and chatting with friends. I didn't see anyone familiar in the crowd, so there's no use in going up and walking around to find someone I knew.
"So, Sawyer," said Kaylee, leaning forward with her elbows on the table, in her hands a can of black coffee, "Are you dating anyone?"
"A girlfriend?" I asked, baffled at that question that came out of the blue, "No. Why you asking?"
"Damnit, you don't?" Rose cursed, her mouth still inelegantly full of food, "I thought you were dating that Monika girl in your class."
"And I thought you were dating Yuri!" said Zara, cursing under her breath a slew of curses that would make anyone's mother shove a bar of soap into their child's mouth if they heard them say that.
"What the hell is wrong with the both of you?" I said to the two girls who had probably placed a bet on that, "And what, do you think I'm dating someone, Kaylee?"
"Well, I kinda guessed that you were dating that one girl you're always with," said Kaylee, "Sayori I think her name was."
I turned to CJ. "Et tu, CJ?"
"Well, I thought it was one of those three or that angry pink chick at gym class," said CJ, shrugging his shoulders, "Nat… something."
"Natsuki," I finished his statement before heaving an exasperated sigh. "And have you guys met me?"
"Oh, come on," said Kaylee, doubting me, "You're always with one of the four. I thought you would at least try and shoot your shot with one of 'em, you know?"
I shook my head. Seriously, everyone keeps asking if I'm dating one of them. Hell, even my sister thought I was dating someone. Like really? Have they seen my face?
"Besides, Yuri told me during class you were at her apartment yesterday," said Rose, "Along with Natsuki. I assumed you guys were having a threesome or something." Alright, what the fuck?
"Hey, what? No? What?" I stuttered, trying to find my words because of how outlandish that assumption was. Really? She thought I was doing that with Yuri and Natsuki? Hell no.
"Alright, you know what, let's not talk about that," I tried to change the subject, "I don't wanna talk about something like that while I'm eating."
"Yeah, Rose," chastised Zara, "I don't wanna hear about Sawyer getting his rocks off while we have lunch. It's kind of disgusting." Kind of? It's fuckin' weird when I'm the subject.
"Yeah, sure, whatever," Rose conceded, dropping that topic. After that, we quickly finished up eating before heading back to class like any other usual day.
Gym class
The gym class was somewhat uneventful. All we really did was play volleyball. There were a couple of nets that were set up in the middle of the court, making two smaller volleyball courts. Basically, two teams of six players each go against each other by hitting a volleyball back and forth like a game of tennis. The students on the court that CJ and I were playing on organized the teams via gender, boys on one side and girls on the other. CJ played on the same team, whereas Monika and Natsuki were on the other team.
And despite us having CJ on our team, we lost by ten points.
"Well, that could've gone better," said CJ, wiping the sweat off of his brow. The girls had managed to wear him out completely. Especially Monika somehow. Even though CJ was taller than Monika, she was able to fuck CJ up.
"Yeah, it frickin' could've," I said, shrugging my shoulders as I watched the president of the Literature Club walk away to the girl's locker room to change into her school uniform. Goddamn, I thought to myself, she fuckin' destroyed us.
"Jeez, she goes hard," muttered CJ, shaking his head in disappointment. For a basketball player who's over half a foot taller than Monika, he did poorly.
I chuckled and shook my head. I looked around, trying to see if anyone else was still on the court. Needless to say, it was just me and CJ who wasn't already going to the locker room. Well, me, CJ, and Natsuki, who was picking up volleyballs that lay scattered on the gym floor using a cart with wheels. Seriously, no one even bothered to clean up.
"I'll, uh, I'll catch up with you," I said, "I'm gonna go help out Pink Hair over there."
"A'ight," said CJ, already walking off, "Just don't get to class late, a'ight?"
"Yeah, okay, whatever you say," I said before turning around to help Natsuki clean up.
I went over to the volleyball net and started untying it. I knew that the coach didn't have a class for the rest of the day, so he told us for one of us to clean up the net. And, well, no one bothered to as you could already tell. Tough crowd, am I right?
As I fiddled with the knot, trying to untie the rope that held the net onto one of the posts, I heard the sound of wheels on a squeaky cart come closer. I looked over to the source of the sound and saw Natsuki approaching.
"Senpai?" asked Natsuki, "What are you doing?"
"What do you think I'm doing?" I asked a rhetorical question, "I'm helping you since no one wants to."
"You know, I have it handled," said Natsuki, "You go."
"Yeah, but I want to," I shrugged as I finished untying the first end of the net. "Besides, I can't leave everything to you."
"You sure?" asked Natsuki, "Don't you wanna be with Monika and your exchange friend of yours?"
"Nah, I gotta help out," I said, "I can't leave a little lady like you doing all of the work."
Natsuki puffed out her cheeks and put her hands on her hips like the little tsundere she is. Next, she'll say something along the lines of "I'm not little!"
"I'm not little!" she exclaimed, despite her being, what, 4'11 at most? Called it.
"Alright, whatever you say, princess," I shrugged as I made my way over to the other post to undo the other side of the net. Natsuki stayed where she was for a second before she called out after me. "Don't call me princess!"
"So what do you want me to call you?" I asked with a smirk on my face as I got to work on the knot that held the net onto the pole.
Natsuki looked away, her face red as if she was embarrassed. "Just Natsuki is fine," she muttered as she crossed her arms.
"Alright, Natsu," I said, shortening her name on purpose. "Is that fine?"
"No, it's not fine!" cried Natsuki, "Just Natsuki, okay?"
"Fine, if you insist," I sighed as I got the second knot undone.
The coach wants us to keep the poles up in the court because the volleyball team was going to use the court after school. He just wants the nets gone because it's a safety hazard. So I didn't have to bend over and fuck up my back trying to get the poles out of the slots that were dug into the floor.
Natsuki went back to picking up balls and I got the second net done. With a net under each arm, we made our way to the storage room that was on the other side of the gym. Creaking the door open, I peered inside the dark storage room. There was a small window that was barred but still allowed for sunshine to seep into the room, lighting up what little light was in the dark and damp closet, albeit not as much. It was just enough for our eyes to adjust to the dark.
To be honest, it was rather big and spacious for a gym storage room. Racks on both sides of the room held multiple sports equipment. On the far end of the wall were mats and stools. Other gym equipment lay haphazardly scattered on the floor, probably the result of students not cleaning up properly.
"Where do you want this volleyball stuff?" I asked Natsuki. I held the nets tighter in my arms, making sure that they did not suddenly fall out of my hands. Natsuki peered into the room and said "Put them in the back. The volleyball team has a little area for them."
"Sure," I said as I walked into the room, carefully watching where I was stepping because of how dark it was inside. I quickly found a spot at the bottom of the rack in the back corner of the room where I could put the nets and I placed them there as simple as that. Natsuki then walked in, kicking aside the stuff that was on the floor in order to clear a path for the cart, and placed the cart in the corner of the room.
And that was when we heard the door shut. The coach probably didn't know that we were in there with how dark it was. Seriously, it was very fucking dark. From what I heard, he was probably talking to someone else, taking his attention away from the room. But he probably didn't know. We were frozen in fear as we heard the lock being done. It took us a second to realize that we were locked in.
"Wait!" Natsuki cried out a few seconds after we heard the lock, with her trying to get to the door to get the coach's attention. I went too, pounding on the door to see if anyone can hear us. But that wasn't gonna work, for we heard the bell that signals the changing of classes. A second later, a cacophony of voices rose as the students left the locker rooms in droves, chatting excitingly, drowning out our own voices.
After a minute of trying to get someone's attention, we started to give up. Hell, my throat hurts from all of the yelling. But no one came to help. Just my luck. Fan-freakin'-tastic.
"I don't think anyone's gonna come," said Natsuki, defeated. She turned to me, though I couldn't really make out her face in the dark.
"Well," I said, trying to sound optimistic, "We could always keep trying to get the coach's attention. He'll hear us, right?"
"No, that's not going to work," Natsuki shook her head (or at least it seems like it) before she went on to explain why my plan won't work. "The coach is usually in his office by now. He never really goes out because he doesn't have a class for the rest of the day. He won't hear us."
"Fine," I groaned, "Well, do you have a phone? I don't have mine but even if I do, it's dead. Maybe you could call Monika to get us out of here."
"Oh right!" exclaimed Natsuki. She put her arm inside of her shirt and then paused and looked right at me. "U-um," stammered the short tsundere, "C-can you turn around?"
"Ah, right," I said, looking away from Natsuki. I knew that she had her phone in the bloomers that she wore, with her phone being tucked into her bloomers by the elastic band that holds those shorts up to her waist. Both her and Monika kept their phones there because those shorts didn't have any pockets. Remind me not to touch their phones, I thought to myself.
"Alright, let's see here," said Natsuki, who turned on her phone, it's bright screen illuminating her face in blue light. That helped me see Natsuki's expression, from somewhat hopeful, to immediately hopeless. "Crap!" she cursed under her breath.
"What?" I asked.
"No service," sighed Natsuki, giving up on the prospect of freedom. "I can't make a call." Ah hell.
"Well, it looks like we're stuck here," I muttered, trying to see my surroundings, though it was pretty dark, even taking into account the sliver of sunlight streaming in through the window. I could see some shapes, but even though, it's pretty hard to get around. We need as much light as we can get.
"Do you have a flashlight on you?" asked Natsuki. "I could barely see anything in here."
"No, I don't carry around a flashlight," I said. "Don't you have a flashlight on your phone?"
Natsuki fumbled around her phone for a bit, looking for something in the settings. After a few seconds of her trying to find the option, she tapped on a button on her screen. The bright light from her camera light turned on, illuminating a little bit of the room. "I charged this phone last night, I'm at 80% battery, so it'll last for a little bit." Yeah, but not for long.
"We still gotta look for another light source," I said, "There's gotta be a light switch somewhere."
After feeling our surroundings, we finally found a switch by the door. Just a tiny light switch that I can just flip up. I flicked the switch up and a lightbulb that apparently was in the middle of the room flickered on.
"Yes!" exclaimed Natsuki, "Light!"
And then, in some insane comedic timing, I heard the pop and sizzle of the lightbulb as its light fizzled out, apparently already at the end of its life. Once again, we were left in the dark.
"Well that's just great," I commented, sighing as my eyes got used to the dark once more. I looked back at the door and noticed that there was no light streaming in from the crack near the ground. They must've turned off the lights in the gym. Is anyone gonna find us here?
"Are we gonna be stuck here until school ends?" asked Natsuki, sighing. Well, we could always wait for either the basketball team or the volleyball team to free us. But that means that it would either be CJ or the triplets getting us out. And that probably wouldn't look good, would it?
"Looks like it," I said, sighing as well as I accept my fate. Really, I don't know if I should be happy being trapped here with Natsuki. On one hand, I'm stuck here alone with Natsuki. On the other hand, I'm stuck here alone with Natsuki… Okay, that was not a good explanation. What I meant was, I get to spend time alone with a girl. But that girl is Natsuki, the one who kicked me in the dick the first time we met. And I doubt that I had made our relationship any better.
"Fine, well, let's just sit down for a bit then," suggested Natsuki, who started looking around for a place to sit back and relax. "We're gonna be here for a while."
Natsuki found a stack of mats near one of the walls, one that only had like three or four mats stacked on top of each other. She plopped down onto the mats and made herself comfortable. I sat next to her, keeping a few feet of distance from her.
In the dim light, I could make out her face. She didn't exactly have a worried face, but I could tell she was at least a little bit worried. She is surprisingly calm, given our circumstances. For someone who doesn't really have a filter on her emotions, she's fine.
"So…" I said to break the awkward silence between us, "You doing alright? Other than…this?"
"I'm just… getting by," sighed Natsuki, her voice not sounding overly demanding like a dictator, but rather like a normal girl in high school. "I could say this is the worst day of my life, but I've had worse."
"Would it still be a bad day even if you weren't trapped here?" I asked.
"Well, sort of," mumbled Natsuki, "I mean, I kinda like being here instead of class, if I'm gonna be honest."
"Is it because I'm here?" I joked with a sly smirk.
"Ew, no," Natsuki groaned, a look of disgust on her face in the dim light. Eh, I expected that reaction. "Well, sort of. I mean, it's better to be with you than to be in that classroom all day."
"Why?" I asked, "Is class boring?"
"No," Natsuki shook her head, "It's just that… well… you know… the guy…" Her voice trailed off. Ah, that guy in her class.
"You mean Okano-san or whatever the fuck his name was?" I asked.
"Y-yeah!" stuttered Natsuki, "Him. He's… well, he's not fun. He kinda wants me to just stop going to school altogether." Jesus Christ, that bad?
"Is he really that much of a bitch?" I asked.
"I don't like him if I'm gonna be honest," said Natsuki, her eyes drifting towards her feet as she started thinking about the guy. "He's just a bully." A bully. It feels weird calling someone a bully. I dunno, I don't think anyone uses the word "bully" anymore. I'd just call someone an asshole if anything. But, quite frankly, I guess I've been bullied, if that's the right word for it.
"Well, at least you're here with me, then," I said, smirking as I leaned a little towards her. "Remember when I dropped his ass?"
Natsuki smirked a little as she let out a little huff before looking down at her feet again. "But… I dunno… He's just… um…" she struggled to find her words. But I understand. I understand what she's trying to say. This guy makes Natsuki feel like a total loser or something.
"You know, it's kinda weird that this happened to us, you know?" I asked to change the topic. Natsuki looked up at me and in the dim light that we had, she tilted her head as if she didn't know what I was talking about. "This kind of stuff only happens in anime and manga."
"What the hell are you talking about?" she asked.
"Us being here, dummy!" I exclaimed, holding out my hands and gesturing to the dark, "Us being stuck in a closet."
"Oh yeah," said Natsuki, a slightly amused smirk. "But you're not gonna pull any moves on me like what a main character would do in an anime, would you?"
I leaned in closer to Natsuki, my face may be less than a foot between hers. "But what if I do?" I said quietly, trying to sound smooth. And if y'all think I'm pulling a move on her, I'm not. You think I'm the type of person to actually do that? Fuck no. I'm just doing this to mess with her.
"Ew!" exclaimed Natsuki as she shoved me away from her, "Perv!" I knew she was gonna react like that.
I chuckled. "I'm just joking," I chided. "You think I would actually try to pull a move?"
"No, I thought you were the type of person to just watch hentai instead." Well shit, don't hurt my feelings without insulting my hobbies.
"Okay, don't bring my hobbies into this," I said, trying to sound serious as I stood up on my own two feet and got in a stance as if I was ready to fight Natsuki. But I wasn't actually gonna fight her. It's all just a little act that I'm putting up to keep me and hopefully her entertained. "Or else I'll fight you right here, right now."
"Oh, you wanna go?" she said as she shot up and put her arms up. She started going around me to the other side of the room so that the mat was behind me. To be honest, she looked more cute than fierce when she's trying to fight me. Then again, she's not serious about this, right?
"You know what," I suggested since we were already doing this act, "I'll let you take the first shot."
"Oh, I've been waiting to do this for a while now," she said, a smirk growing on her face, though I can't really tell if she was biting her lip or actually smiling.
The sound of Natsuki charging at me made my eyes widen all of the sudden, her sneakers making an audible squeak on the wooden floors. I felt her small stature collide with me as she threw her arms around my waist in an effort to push me down to the mat. For someone as small and light as her, she had some strength because I ended up actually falling back onto the mat, my back hitting the soft cushion.
In the dim light, I was able to make out her face as I felt her wrap her legs around my thighs, pinning them together. She was bent over, her face somewhat close to mine. She had a little smug smile on her face. "Gotcha," she said with a smirk as her arms held her tiny torso from pressing against me, her arms pinning mine to the mat.
Some would say I already lost. But I had one more ace up my sleeve since I like to play dirty.
"You look kinda cute when you're trying to take charge, you know that right?" I asked as suave as possible, trying to get Natsuki to get flustered. Which I did.
"Wh-what?" she stammered as she sat up, her legs still pinning mine as she crossed her arms and looked away. I bet five bucks she's probably also blushing like crazy. But if I'm gonna be honest, I am too. This is the first time I've been pinned to the floor by a girl. Well, twice, if you count Sayori tackling me on my first day of school. But she's so light. I could easily knock her over. "D-don't say that, b-baka," she said, "I-idiot."
That was my cue to suddenly reach up and grab her waist. I ended up knocking her over onto her back on the mat right next to me. I rolled over and now our roles were reversed. Now I was on top. She was very light, as light as a feather. I had no problem pulling that move. Now, I was on top of her, my hands grabbing her wrist, pinning her arms to the mat. Looking back on it, that was probably not a good idea, getting on top of her like that. Mainly because we were in a rather dangerous position. And what happened next would probably come back to bite me on the ass.
All of a sudden, light from the door streamed in, revealing what Natsuki and I were doing. A bright light blinded me, but I didn't need to see to know what had happened. And it couldn't be at a more wrong time.
I froze and I noticed Natsuki stiffen up as well. I saw her swallow nervously as she slowly turned her head to the source of the light. I did too. There, I saw Monika the club president standing in the doorway, her hand holding the sliding door open. She had a forced smile on her face with her eyes closed, her lips quivering as she saw us doing whatever the hell we were doing. Behind her was CJ, a huge shit-eating grin on her face as he tried to suppress a laugh.
"I'll just leave you two alone," said Monika before slowly closing the door. Oh fuck, that's bad.
"No, no no!" I cried out, crawling off of Natsuki, "It's not what it looks like!"
Needless to say, it was really frickin' weird trying to explain everything to Monika and CJ. I had to explain that I wasn't doing illicit things with Natsuki, that we just got trapped in the closet and we were just trying to mess around in a good way. It took a good five minutes trying to convince Monika and CJ we weren't doing anything bad.
According to Monika, the class noticed that I was missing. The teacher said to look for me during the changing of classes, which had resulted in a manhunt for me.. Monika and CJ thought I was probably still somewhere in the gym and looked there first. After checking the locker rooms, they asked the coach for the keys to make sure I wasn't hiding (why the hell would they think I'm hiding?). Somehow, they found us here, in a place no one look in the first place. Just my luck, in my opinion.
The rest of the day, it was somewhat normal. I could feel CJ's and Monika's gazes every now and then throughout the last few classes. They didn't tell the rest of the class what had happened. The alibi I made up with was that I was just skipping class and hanging around the campus. Of course, the teacher chastised me for that, but let me continue on scot-free as long as I don't do that again. But I would never do that on purpose. I guess I just got lucky then.
When school ended, there was still an awkward atmosphere looming over Monika and me. As well as Natsuki. Sayori and Yuri didn't notice it, but that doesn't really help.
It was weird between Natsuki and me during the club meet after school. We didn't talk at all, not even meeting each other's gaze for the most part. But when she did, she smiled just slightly. I don't know why she's smiling if I'm gonna be honest. After all, after what I did the past couple of weeks, I don't get why she's still on good terms with me. But at least I felt a little more at ease knowing that she's not totally angry at me.
Honorifics: (Underlined honorifics are the ones used in current chapter)
-san: Most common, it is an all-purpose suffix that can be used in any situation where politeness is expected. Basically the titles Mr. Ms. etc.
-sama: This suffix is one level higher than "-san" and is used to confer great respect.
-kun: This suffix is commonly used at the end of boys' names to express endearment.
-chan: Feminine version of -kun.
Senpai: Superior/Upperclassmen.
Sensei: Master.
A/N: I'm gonna make this quick. I had a huge case of writers block when writing this (for some reason, it always happens with scenes that I had already planned in my head). So I ended up rushing the ending because of that. I guess the reason why I couldn't write was because school started and it's already a pain in the ass. I'm gonna keep writing, but expect delays here and there. Peace out!
