33 | ♥ ᴛʀᴀᴘᴘᴇᴅ ♥

A/N: Please VOTE and enjoy, this chapter is going to be...thrilling ;)

Also, ⚠ TW: Fire ⚠

Sophia's POV

I was once again at my locker, bobbing my head subtly to the music that flowed through my earphones.

I was listening to music in the open, my hair up in a high ponytail, not hiding the fact that I had earpieces in. I didn't want anyone to talk to me today, especially not Grayson or any of his friends.

I hastily went over to my first lesson, keeping my head low. French, I sighed. Okay, I just need to get through this and then I have PE.

I know I don't have to worry about seeing Natalie there; the last few days she has always skipped PE, because she, as she put it, 'shouldn't be forced to participate in such a useless activity that won't help me get a job later.' And fully agree with her, only I was too much of  wimp to even dare skip.

I kept the music going until I saw the teacher come in, and put it on halt. I still have to pay attention, or else my parents won't be glad to see my decreasing grades.

-

Everything during my first class was fine, even the start of PE was good. But that didn't last very long, of course it didn't.

As I was running up-and-down laps because the teacher told me to, a loud shrilling noise broke free, echoing throughout the entire school. It was similar to the sound that my alarm clock made in the morning, only ten times louder.

And that, my friends, is where everything went wrong.

I gasped and placed my hands over my ears protectively. I always was sensitive to high-pitched sounds.

"Fire alarm!" boys began shouting over the earsplitting sound, making everything chaos. Girls started scattering over to there friends, excited to miss half the lesson. While boys jumped around and yelled incoherent words. I simply stood there with the palms of my hands pressed flat against my ears, not knowing where to go.

The teacher seemed frustrated about having to stop his lesson, as he visibly grunted and rolled his eyes. "Come on, follow me!" he beckoned us all over to the doors that let outside.

"Sir, do you think this is real?" one of my classmates asked the teacher as her friend skipped behind her, evidently happy.

Not so much to my surprise - I mean it was my PE teacher, when has he ever shown any emotion except frustration -  he snorted humourlessly. "When has it ever been real? It's just another prank dome stupid boys pulled, thinking it was funny." It must have happened quite a few times before, I guess.

We walked around the corner of the school, and the teacher led us through a small gate. It was probably there to keep people from going on the the track fields without permission, though it seemed pretty useless, as even I could jump over it.

We ended up having to stand in two rows on the large football field with the whole school. When we arrived only a few other classes were already there, the rest yet to come. I put in my earphones that I found in my pockets and started the music again - I had discretely grabbed my phone from my backpack that was still in the PE hall before following the teacher.

As I listened to 'Paris' from The Chainsmokers, a song that gave me major nostalgia, memories from me and Liv reappeared in my mind. The two of us running down a street in our old town that we didn't even know the name of, shouting the lyrics rather than singing them, and holding hands while doing so.

I was in a complete daydream, so I almost didn't feel my phone vibrate against my upper-thigh. I took it from my pocket and noted that I received a message, from an unknown number. I hesitated, knowing what happened last time I got messages from unknown numbers.

It's fine, no one can hurt you from inside your screen, Sophia, my subconscious said. I nodded to soothe myself and opened the text.

Unknown: Hey sophia its natalie. i bought a new phone and this is my number now.

Oh...okay, I guess. I mean, it did seem like it was her. I saved the number under her the name 'Natalie 2.0' in my contacts because I kept her old number as well, and then another notification came in.

Natalie 2.0: could you sneak out of there and meet me and leslie at the PE hall?

Me: But what if the teacher sees im not there anymore, he'll get super mad?

Natalie 2.0: but he already took absents right?

I scanned the field and saw my teacher speaking to my Art teacher. Shoot, why am I doing this? If I mess this up, I'm going to be in so much trouble...

Me: im coming, hold up

And that's when I discretely sprinted off. When I looked over my shoulder quickly, I saw a boy watching me, but I don't think he'd say anything. He was one of the nicer kids in my class.

I went through the little, fairly useless gate, and ended up in the PE room again. I didn't say anything as I looked around for them, scared someone near would hear me. Where are they? I wondered as I sent Natalie a text, telling her I was here.

I heard the door I just came in through click shut. I whirled around and saw his eyes burn through mine. Holy freak, I'm dead.

His brown eyes intensely drilled a hole into my head, so I decided to stare at his dirty blond hair. "Well, well, well," he muttered coldly. "Aren't you gullible," he cooed.

"Wh-What are you doing here?" I barely got out, and scolded myself for sounding so vulnerable. But how couldn't I? He was the guy who held a freaking gun to my head! Who knows what he might have now.

"W-Well I'm j-just here to say hello," he mocked my stuttering with a devilish smirk.

I shook my head. "No... Why are you really here?" I wasn't sure if it was a smart thing to do, but I couldn't help it, I was curious.

He let out a chuckle and stepped closer, making me automatically take a step back. "I came to make a clear message, since your boyfriend is so stubborn and won't  listen to me." I was immediately confused. Boyfriend? Did he mean Grayson?

"This is the last time I'm giving him hints, my patience is long gone." At the end of his statement he was so close to me I was frozen on the spot.

"What do you mean giving him hints?" I asked, still not understanding any of it.

"Oh, Darling, it's nothing you have to worry about. I can't say the same for Grayson though, because you're in the middle of it all."

"So I do need to worry about it," I let out, and it accidentally sounded a bit rude, but I was simply tired of not knowing what's going on. He narrowed his eyes at me temporarily, contemplating something in his head. His sick head.

"Well yes, but you can't do anything about it, so there's really no point in doing that," he ended up saying. His tone was calmly, and it almost seemed as if he were bored. "He knows what I want, now I'm only showing him what'll happen if I don't get what I want."

My eyes widened a bit and my lips have parted. I'm extremely slow, because I only now understood that the consequences Grayson was going to face if this guy didn't get what he wants, were having to do with me.

But why me? Why would that change Grayson's mind. Just because we...kissed once, doesn't mean he feels anything for me, right? He's probably slept and kissed with countless girls before.

While I was stuck in my own thoughts, he has already moved away from me and walked towards the only other exit there was that wasn't locked, since he shut the door I came in with.

"I truly hope you survive, Sophia. I still have some ideas of things i can do with you..." he smiled wickedly at me and closed the door behind him. What the heck is he talking about?

I ran towards the door he went through and struggled with the door handle, but to no avail, he's locked it as well. How did he get the keys to the doors? Oh, my God, he was probably the one who pulled the fire alarm! But what if it's not a prank this time... I wouldn't be surprised if he actually set something on fire.

"No, no, no!" I whisper-yelled to myself. I'm trapped here. The teachers'll catch me here after everything goes back to normal and they'd call my parents and-

"Okay, stop worrying about that. First I need to find out what he meant about 'I hope you survive'," I told myself. Don't judge! It helps me keep calm.

I smelled something from inside the changing rooms. I went forward and sniffed the air in deeply. I made a face, it almost smelled as if something was...burning. I heard crackling sounds, as if when walking on twigs in a forest. I gasped and opened the door.

I grunted out loudly and jumped back, protecting my face with my arms. As soon as my eyes viewed the scene in front of me, I aggressively shut it closed again with my foot and coughed a few times. The fire and hot air around it almost flew in my face when it came in contact with the fresh oxygen of the room I was in. My face felt hot and almost got burned.

All I saw was fiery red and orange colours spread around. Everything was on fire in there. The clothes on the hanging racks, the sport material we sometimes used, the rope that lay in the corner... Everything.

"Shit!" I cursed thunderously. "What the hell am I going to do?" No one's going to find me. Everyone is outside and thinks the fire is upstairs and-

"He used that as a distraction," I whispered to myself. He put on a fire upstairs to distract the teachers and get everyone away, and then he texted me as Natalie and-

"Oh, my God, I am super gullible!" I took out my phone and texted his number, telling him to please come get me out of here.

Me: i'll do anything you want or tell grayson anything you want me to say but please open the doors!

He didn't even respond. What could that dude possibly want from Grayson? Was Grayson that stubborn and selfish to put someone in danger and still not want to give something to that crazy dude?

I was about to contact Evie or Bella, but then I heard a booming sound come from one of the doors. I raced over there and yelled for someone that I was in here.

"Sophia?" I heard a shout from the other side. Grayson... But at this point I didn't care if he were a murderer.

"Yes, I'm in here! Please get me out!" I yelled, hoping it would go through the thick wood. "The doors are locked and there's a fire!"

"I know, I'm getting you out, wait a second!" he shouted back. But I didn't want to wait a second. I looked over and the fire was consuming the wooden door of the changing rooms. They really should consider not making so many things out of wood here.

"I'm getting there!" he said over the loud noises he was making. At first he tried knocking the door down, but that didn't seem to work so well, so I think he's trying to unlock it with some tool.

It was getting seriously hot in here, I was starting to sweat, from panicking and the warm demeanor that engulfed me completely. But finally, I heard a faint click and the door busted open. I took a step back and saw Grayson standing with a chest heaving up and down quickly.

He rushed over to me and put his hands on my arms, eyes skimming over my body and face. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" he asked in a rush. I could only shake my head, my lips not moving.

"Oh, my God, I am so unbelievably sorry, Love," he called out into my ear as he gave me a...hug? What the hell is happening? And why does he call me 'Love'?

"Come one," he spoke as he pulled me by my wrist through the door. I was about to tell him that we should perhaps stop the fire from spreading first, but our safety comes before that.

We heard a pair voices from adults come towards us hastily, but before they came into view, he pulled me with him into an empty classroom. Due to the middle part of this door that was made out of glass, like a little window, he told me to duck. As the firefighters, I saw a glimpse of their neon jackets, passed by, we hid behind the door of the classroom. They must've somehow realised that there was also a ire down here.

When they were past us, he cautiously opened the door, hoping no one was there. He, once again, dragged me behind him to an exit of the school building.

We arrived outside, but we were still on the wrong side of the building. So, he and I sneaked around until we saw the football field come in view.

"Okay, so I'm going to walk back to my class and you'll go back to yours. Try to not be seen by any teachers please," he explained his plan. I nodded, and only now noticed how red his face was. I frowned, but he dismissed my expression and went on.

"Is it okay if I come to see you after school?" he asked me. I wasn't certain, I wanted to say no, because he might be a psychopath... But the other part of me wanted so truly to say yes. He did owe me an explanation...

"Alright," I said. He gave me a smile that didn't reach his eyes and walked in the other direction before saying another quick, "Sorry." He is one confusing person, I thought.

I successfully accomplished my mission, which was get back in line with the other students without getting caught. The same boy as before was the only one who witnessed it, but a smile made its way onto my face after he - figuratively - closed the zipper on his mouth with is fingers.

-

My PE teacher gave us instructions to go home after almost an hour of sitting on the grass. Evie and Bella answered my concerning text, telling me they weren't harmed or still in the building. I sighed in relief and checked if Natalie has seen my messages yet.

Luckily, she and her friends were safe as well. Because they were skipping, they didn't find out about the whole fire situation until I told her about it.

As I went to pack my bag, like I always do before leaving school, I remembered something. "Oh no," I muttered, looking down. This whole case is way more bad than I feared. All the bags and clothes and phones of the students in my PE class were still in the changing rooms...

The boys in my class were lucky this time, it was only the girl's room that was caught on fire. Our teacher stopped us before we could actually leave the field, telling us that, "We have to wait here. There was more than one fire that broke loose, and one of them was in the changing rooms, so we can't go there."

"But there wasn't a fire when we were there," a girl next to me stated.

"Yes, but apparently it somehow got burned down as well after we left," he answered.

Another boy from my class stood up. "What about our clothes and-"

"Yes, I know, I know," he muttered, clearly feeling annoyed. "But the firefighters are going to bring us what they can get."

And just as he said that, a group of older people wearing neon jackets appeared, walking towards us. They handed the teacher a box, and he thanked them.

He called out student's names as he gave them all their phones back. Well, most of them. The boys were allowed to go home as they received back their clothes and personal items that they left in the changing room. The girls, on the other hand, didn't get so lucky.

"I can only find a few girls' phones in here, who hasn't gotten theirs?" he asked, looking up at us. A few girls raised there hands, as did I. I wasn't going to add a lie to my list.

"Sir, I apologise, but I took my phone from my bag before we left. I didn't want to risk losing it," she admitted. Some other girls nodded their heads, as did I. At least I know I'm not the only one who secretly took it.

He made a face of disapproval, but didn't mention it again. "Okay, well, for your clothes..." he paused, and then shrugged nonchalantly as if he didn't really care. "They're ash now. But since you have your PE clothes on tight now, that isn't a problem."

He looked ready to go home, but two girls halted him. "But, Sir, Lucy and I still haven't gotten out phones back!" a girl protested.

"They're not phones now anymore, just a pile of dust," he replied. I raised my brows, did he really not care at all? Were they going to pay for a new phone or...?

"And what about my clothes? They were new and expensive!" the second girl budged in.

"You're girls, I'm sure you have plenty of other clothes in you dressers," and after that sexist comment he made, he simply walked off with a small 'dismissed' coming from him.

All the girls stared open mouthed at each other, not believing what he just said. I rolled my eyes and put in my earplugs again.

The sooner I get home, the better.

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A/N: I promise some good spice in the next chapter, because I love y'all <3

Please remember that characters evolve and change. Some go from shy to more open and confident, while others become more sad and closed-off!