Locked in Hell. (1,562 views)

Ms. Summers smiled when Chardonnay arrived, counting the heads that she saw.

“Oh, please don’t worry about that, it shouldn’t take very long. We’ve got several hands to help, after all, and I think this experience should go along rather painlessly. When I arrive with the things,” Susan gestured to her cart, “Please load these into the gym storage room! It’s small, so please don’t all try to go in at once! Once the last cartful of things are loaded, you may go home!”

Ms. Summers offered the clipboard and pencil to the first student she saw, one of the muscled boys.

“Write down your name, so I know you came! I’ll use this list to remember who’s grade to boost!”

While Susan explained that, Arthur turned towards Chardonnay with a disbelieving look on his face.

“What the hell are you even doing here?” He snapped. This was the last place he expected to see Chardonnay, of all people. What if she was staging another injury to get Susan fired? He wouldn't stand for that.

“Ha, that’s funny.” Arthur snapped, watching the clipboard go around. “I have an A in that class. I’m here because I volunteered. Unlike you. Let me guess, you decided to slack off after you idiotically tripped in the middle of the woods.”

He snatched the clipboard from the student beside him, who let out an angry huff, and signed his name. He was the last in line, so he handed it back to Susan.

Susan smiled at the group, then turned around, gesturing to the almost overflowing cart of supplies. “I’ll be making sure everyone stays until the last object is put away. Do whatever you’d like, and remember: the faster you go, the sooner you can leave!”

“Demeaning?” Arthur snapped, glowering at Chardonnay. How much nerve did this girl have? She was so rude. Here she was, expected to WORK for her grade, and she was complaining about it? Honestly she was lucky Susan was even doing this extra credit assignment. “You’re such a dumb airhead. If this class is ‘stupid’, what does that make you, if you're so dumb you can’t even do the work?”

Talya ignored the two bickering in front of her, although that was kind of hard to do, given how loud they were. Her face was blank, and she wasn’t staring, but she could hear everything. These two certainly had a lot of issues with each other, didn’t they?

The line was moving rather quickly, with the boys up front taking a majority of the bulk, probably to show off. Talya stared up at the sky.

Arthur shook his head, not believing Chardonnay’s audacity and attitude.

“The help. You keep going on about ‘the help’ when here there is no help!” Arthur snapped. “The janitors clean messes and the floors and the halls. They don’t put stuff like this away. Besides, it’s not even that hard. Well, you’d probably be useless if you tried to help us so do whatever you want.”

Arthur lifted one of the heavier objects, resting it on one shoulder and supporting it with both hands. “Oh hey look, it weighs the same as you.”

That was a lie, of course, but that didn’t dispel the satisfaction Arthur felt from saying it.

Arthur smirked at her reaction and began lugging the object towards the storage unit, which wasn’t that far away.

“Wait, nevermind. I forgot you were heavier.” He mock-corrected. At her last commented he groaned. “And that’s exactly why you’re useless here. You’re saying how the janitors should be here doing this job, refusing to help, and just being an eyesore to everybody. Y’know, most people are glad to have this project to boost their grades, and you’re just ungrateful and whining about it.”

He placed the heavy object in the storage unit, which was really cramped. He made a face. There was only one window on the far wall, a small thing that barely let any light in.

He stepped out of the unit, heading back to the cart. “Now do us all a favor and lug something to the unit.”

“It’s called ‘extra credit’ for a reason. It’s extra! It’s an easy grade, you’re just a spoiled brat who can’t even do something simple.”

When she walked away and just leaned against the wall of the gym, Arthur’s nostrils flared and he looked positively enraged, before he flipped her off, turning around and storming towards the cart to grab another item.

“Someone like me!” Arthur shouted, with a dramatized eye roll. A few people, including Talya, heard that and stared but quickly went back to their work. Talya’s attention remained. “Well the same goes to you, because you’re a fucking bitch!”

Talya blinked, her dark eyes darting back to Chardonnay, a modestly small object in her hands to be lugged to the unit.

Arthur growled under his breath, blue eyes glaring daggers at Chardonnay.

“I can’t stand you.” He snapped, lifting the last thing out of the cart. Susan gave him a look but Arthur pointedly ignored it, and so Susan sighed, and started up the car to go back to the dance studio. Arthur then turned around and carried the thing to the gym storage unit, putting it down with the rest of the stuff. He took a step out and, since Susan hadn’t yet returned, was stuck waiting with nothing left to do but glare at Chardonnay.

Arthur was used to work like this and honestly didn't mind it, but when Chardonnay put it like hat, it really seemed like a miserable life, didn't it? Not that that wasn't true.

When she started to order him around, Arthur's eyes lit up in anger.

“Don’t you even fucking try to order me around because you’re ugly mug isn’t in charge here!”

“What.” Arthur snapped, hands clenching into fists. “I didn’t listen to you. I came here to help clean and that’s what I fucking did! It’s not listening to you if you just tell me to do what I’m already doing!”

He hadn’t listened to her and he didn’t like how she turned his actions around to imply that he had.

Susan returned with the cart, and Arthur cocked his head back and spit at the ground in front of Chardonnay’s shoes. “Don’t you think for one second I’ll ever listen to you! I’m not a stupid lapdog!”

He turned on his heel and went to go and grab something else out of the cart.

Arthur had his back to Chardonnay and was ignoring her fully, so he didn’t notice when she walked towards him. At least, not until he picked up another object from the cart, only to see her pointing a finger at him in anger. His eyes widened briefly in surprise.

Oh. So she didn’t like spit? His expression quickly turned into a smirk.

“Oh, yeah. I figured those pieces of shit were expensive.” Arthur said nonchalantly, making sure to step on one of her feet on his way past her, the object he was hefting leaning heavily on his right shoulder, both his hands supporting the heavy object. “But the thing is, princess, I don’t really care. So get over it and don't you fucking imply i'm your dog ever again or i'll spit on them next time.”

He walked away from her then, the smirk still on his face.

“Well too bad, I ain’t paying!” Arthur snapped, arriving at the storage room. He put the object down in the unit, then turned around only to come face to face with Chardonnay. His eyebrows twitched in annoyance.

“You say anyone would be happy to be important to you, yet you constantly seem to forget that I. Am not. Interested.” Arthur knocked her to the side with his shoulder, so he could get by. “And anyway, if anyone’s a dog here it’s you, following me around like an angry pitbull.”

“Not happening.” Arthur said, grabbing the last thing in the cart. Again Susan gave him a long stare, and this time he met her gaze for a second, only to quickly look away.

He stared back towards the unit and eventually stopped in front of Chardonnay.

“Oh, i'm so sorry I forgot to be polite to you. Please excuse me, Princess.” Arthur snapped, his tone sarcastic. “You hold yourself way too high. No one wants to be your dog. If anything, they just want your money or your body. That’s how life works. No one wants to be your slave.”

Arthur growled when she didn’t move. What did this girl want? He’d said excuse me. He supposed he could blame it on her gender. Woman never knew what they wanted, did they?

His eyes grew half lidded in irritation as she spoke. The amount of narcissism radiating from her made him want to vomit. To have money and be wanted, that wasn’t it. There was more to life, like not being a complete bitch.

“Hm… you know what?” Arthur asked, his eyes opening in mock understanding. “I should clean those ugly shoes of yours. But unfortunately, by your standards, I’m so poor the only way I can clean them is through spit-shine!"

For dramatic effect, he spit at her shoes again, this time almost hitting them. "Now why don’t you go spew that narcissism to someone who actually gives a shit!”

He shoved past her again, placing the item in the storage unit. Susan pulled up with a considerably small load, and this was the last one. Arthur took a deep breath and cracked his knuckles. “Finally.”

“Oh, I have respect for people. Just not narcissistic bitches like you!” Arthur snapped in response, snorting loudly when he felt her push back against him. He didn’t stumble much, if at all, since he was stronger that she was. He almost wanted to tell her it was a nice try, but it really wasn’t so, he didn’t comment.

Instead, Arthur put the object he had down and then passed Chardonnay to go back to the cart. It was empty aside from two small things already, both of which Arthur took. At least he was almost done. He turned around, looking at Chardonnay. Was she relaly going to do nothing?

Growling in annoyance, he walked over to her and tossed the small container which held some of the streamers at her. He kind of hoped it hit her in the face.

“At least take one thing into the stupid unit. If you don’t, I’ll tell Ms. Summers you just stood around and she’ll take your name off the list.”

Susan probably would give her the credit anyway, but Chardonnay didn’t need to know that. Speaking of Susan, she was in a conversation with Talya, offering her the keys to the unit. Since the group was nearly done and most people were leaving, they’d need to lock the unit before they left. Susan left that responsibility to Talya, and headed off, to go back to her home. She was tired, after all.

“I don't understand you." Arthur said, shaking his head at Chardonnay. "And because you’re taking something in whether you like it or not!” Arthur replied, stepping into the unit after Chardonnay did so. He had to lean up a bit to put the object on one of the higher shelves, but he did it, putting the thing away. He turned around to leave the unit, letting out a sigh.

What he hadn’t been expecting was for the unit to go dark--save for the light breaking through the tiny, high window—due to the door being shut.

“What the fu—“

He heard a click, which meant the door had been locked form the outside. “HEY! Idiot, we’re still in here!”

Arthur was expecting someone to unlock the door with a series of apologies… but none came.

In fact, Talya had locked them together on purpose. It was a last minute thing, and she had actually not thought this through. But she wasn’t one to back down, and she took a few steps away from the door, listening to hear how loud they were. She could hear Arthur’s protest, but just barely, the walls wrere thick enough to mask sound unless one was to listen very closely.

“This isn’t funny, unlock the stupid door!” Arthur yelled, again.