THREAD FOUR: TRAPPED

“HERE!” Meredith was surprised when Randall handed her a piece of plastic, full of medicine. They are now in the library for the research given to them by their first subject. She was alone because Shanaia and Marylex were also busy looking for books.

“What’s this for?” she asked after taking what he was giving her.

He sat next to her and pointed to the wound on her arm. “I noticed the blood on your wound has already dried.”

She looked at her elbow and he was right. The blood had already dried there. 

“I can treat myself,” she said, but he took the cotton away from her.

“Let me. You might not clean your wound well. I don’t want you to get infected.”

There was nothing she could do so she let him. And she felt the pain only when the dried blood was removed.

“It’s done,” he announced after placing the colorful band-aid on her wound.

“T-thank you,” she said without looking at him.

She also slightly held her chest when the familiar heartbeat hits her again.

“Is there a problem?” he asked when their eyes met.

They are very close to each other. Suddenly she swallowed. They were unable to break their gaze. They quickly distanced themselves from each other when they heard a fake cough from nowhere.

When they turned back, her two friends were already behind them.

“So what’s the meaning of what we saw, huh?” Shanaia asked with folded arms as Randall looked back and forth between them.

“Ahm. . . He just asked me something about our research study,” Meredith answered instead.

“Yeah! Thanks for the help,” he said then left.

She followed him with her gaze because she should be the one thanking him, not him.

“So, tell me, Mer, do you like him?” Shanaia asked directly.

She swallowed. She knew that what they had seen earlier with Randall meant nothing. She wants to say that there is nothing, but why does it seem like someone is stopping her?

“Hey, Meredith!” Marylex snapped her fingers in front of her face when she didn’t answer right away.

“H-huh?” she stammered.

“I said, do you like Randall?” Shanaia asked again.

She shook her head. “There’s no something going on between us, okay? It’s purely school related.”

They sat down next to her.

Shania shrugged her shoulders. “Well, it doesn’t matter to me at all if you like Randall because when I saw your cousin yesterday, my interest in Randall changed. I realized I prefer a guy who has a matured body and mind. I don’t know why, but I feel like I know him.”

Marylex shook her head. “You’re imagining things again, Shan.”

“Why? I’m just stating what I really feel.”

Meredith doesn’t want to bring back the topic of her and Randall,  so she decided to change the topic. “Oh! By the way, I have something for you, guys.”

“What is that?” Marylex asked.

“Chocolate pudding. My grandma’s specialty.”

When she opened the box, her friends immediately tasted it.

“Wow! This pudding is so delicious,” Shanaia commented after tasting it.

“Is this also available in your shop?” she nodded.

“Wait! Why do you seem to have done so much?” Marylex wondered.

“My seniors in the cooking club wanted to taste some of my specialties that’s why.”

“Oh! They are so lucky to have you. If only I had known that you could make a dessert this good, I would have joined the cooking club instead.”

Marylex raised her right eyebrow at Shanaia. “Are you sure?”

“Oops! I forgot that I’m on a diet.” Then she returned half of the pudding she ate in the box, causing them to laugh.

“Who will you give the other box to?”

She looked at Shanaia with a playful smile. “To my cousin, John Person.”

Shanaia looked back at her with shining eyes.

“Omo! Can I go with you, Mer?!” Shanaia sqeaked and immediately zipped her mouth when the librarian came out from nowhere to shut them up and looked at the food in front of them.

“Don’t you know that food is not allowed here?”

“S-sorry,” they mumbled then left the Library.

AFTER Meredith gave a box of pudding to her co-members, which everyone liked, she immediately went straight to the Swimming Club to give her cousin his part. Her friends wanted to come along, but they had meetings.

She waited outside the locker room area when some of the swimming team members noticed her.

“Hey! I think I know you, ” the guy with messy hair said.

She smiled. “Have you seen my Cousin?”

“Captain?” the guy turned to his companion. “Did you see Captain?” 

The guy shook his head.

“Maybe he’s still in the pool area.”

She nodded. “Okay, thank you! I’ll just wait for him here.”

“Just wait in the meeting room instead.”

She frowned. “Are you sure? Is it really okay if I wait for him there? Isn’t it forbidden?”

“You are Captain’s cousin, I’m sure he won’t be angry. There are many seats in the meeting room unlike here, you might see something you shouldn’t,” he playfully said while raising and lowering his eyebrows.

Meredith felt embarrassed when she finally understood what he meant when she saw some of the guys inside are half-naked. 

“Y-yeah! You’re right! Thank you!” And quickly run to the meeting area.

When she arrived at the said room, she noticed that the door was slightly open, so she immediately entered. She even noticed that the leg of the chair on the side was positioned to be the barrier of the door. She was even surprised that the sound of the lock sounded strange when she closed it, but she ignored it. 

While waiting for her cousin, she busied herself to explore the room. She even read what was written on the whiteboard where there would be a welcoming event for new members of the club.

ON THE other hand, after the try-out of the swimming club, everyone decided to go home when Randall forgot something in the meeting room, so when he saw the president of the club, he immediately approached him.

“Captain!” he called.

“Randall, do you need a hand?”

He shook his head. “I was just going to ask if you’re going back to the meeting room?”

“I’m going straight home, why?”

He shyly scratched his nape. “I forgot my phone there. Can I go there for a moment?”

John Person nodded his head. “Alright! No problem.”

“May I borrow the key, Captain?” he asked.

“I know I left that open but here’s the key just in case. It has a reverse lock, but the lock on the inside is broken so you have to immediately block the chair behind the door so you don’t get trapped inside. When you are locked inside, only the person outside can open it because the key you are holding now is only for the front lock. Our door will be replaced with a new lock on Saturday,” he explained.

“Copy, Captain!”

“Alright! Just give back the key tomorrow. And don’t forget what I told you if you don’t want to be lock-up there until morning.”

“Roger that, Captain! Be careful on your way home!” And he quickly went to the meeting room.

When he arrived, he frowned when he saw that the door was closed but he just ignored what their captain said earlier because he had a key in his hand so he opened the door immediately. When he entered he was surprised to see Meredith, his classmate. The girl who’s always on his mind.

He only came back to his senses when he heard the sound of the door lock.