A Long Year- Joey Trotta

Chapter 7- Rules and Rooms

We quickly realise that no one is leaving anytime soon. We are hostages. I finally get my breath back just as we are forced to sit down on the canteen tables. Luis paces up and down the room before getting signalled on his monitor that the police are trying to approach the school. Dumb move. We see him whisper into the walkie-talkie and then hear a rapid succession of gunfire outside. Then silence. Luis composes himself before talking to us all. Well, it's more like commanding us all.

LUIS: Anyone who leaves this building will be shot. We will take a head count now and again in the morning. If one person is missing...
He stops in front of our table and looks at us.
LUIS: Five of you will be executed. If two are missing, ten will be shot, and so on.
He continues to pace.
LUIS: Tomorrow, we will begin a head count every hour... on the hour. If all goes well... you will be allowed out into the quad. But every hour on the hour, you must be in this room to be counted. Is that understood?
There are some kids nodding their heads, but most are too terrified to even breathe too loudly.
LUIS: Second. You have seen these orange wires running throughout this building and outside.
He points to the wires that are connected all over the walls. How the hell did I not see those?
LUIS: These are wired to explosives.If any one of these wires is cut, the explosives will go off automatically. If any of the individual explosives are tampered with...
they will explode!
He shouts the last part, and all of us jump in both shock and fear. If this was a cartoon, there would be a Y/n shaped hole in the ceiling.
LUIS: So... don't touch the wires.
Whilst he was telling us all of his wonderful rules, the American guy was walking around counting all of us.
MAN 1: 93
Luis nods and motions for his guards.

They drag us all into the rooms corridor in a line and start shoving kids in random rooms. We reach the middle room on this row, and Billy, Joey, Snuffy, me, Hank, Ricardo, and two other boys get shoved into it. I was about to complain but thought better of it. they close the door.
HANK: Hey, at least we all managed to stay together.
RICARDO: Yeah, that's my ambition in life, to die with you guys.
Neither me nor any of the boys have spoken to each other since the reveal. Finally, Snuffy says something.
SNUFFY: So we're just going to ignore the fact that Billy's sister is here?
BILLY: We have more pressing concerns right now.
HANK: He's right man, we're your best friends, and you lied to us
BILLY: It was only to protect her
They all look at me.
HANK: What was your name again?
Y/N: Y/n
HANK: Well, Y/n, I hope you enjoy your last couple days with us.
Jesus, that got grim really fast. I noticed Joey hasn't said much lately or even really looked at me. I look over at him, and he's doing everything he can to avoid eye contact with me. Wow, he really is a dick. Thankfully, Billy breaks the awkward tension by talking to one of the other boys. They are both younger than us.
BILLY: You're the one they call Yoghurt, right? This is your room?
YOGHURT: I'm Derek, and this is Ted, and yes, this is OUR room.
HANK: Not anymore
All the boys start to fight over who's going to sleep on the two beds in the room. There are 8 of us. How the hell is this going to work?
BILLY: I say Y/n gets one of the beds.
SNUFFY: Why, cause she's a girl?
BILLY: No, she got smacked with the butt of a gun, I think she deserves a bed. Don't you?
He just rolls his eyes and quickly claims the other bed before anyone else can. Great, I've been here two days and I'm already causing problems. Snuffy leans under the bed and finds a playboy magazine.
SNUFFY: Ah, here we go
Joey sees and sits next to him to look through it too. Of course he does.
JOEY: I guess some things never change
I see the two of them looking through that magazine, and I can't help but feel self conscious. I know Joey, he doesn't care about things like that, at least so I thought. I mean, just last night, he almost kissed me! Now, he's acting all distant and cold. What is up with him?

~JOEY'S POV~
What am I doing? I haven't looked at a playboy since i was 14, I haven't wanted to since I started thinking about Y/n. She probably thinks I'm a jerk. You know what, I am. I don't know why I'm acting so cold and distant when all I really want to do is grab her and kiss her every moment of every day... That's what scares me. Shit, this really is going to be a long year.

~YOUR POV~
I sit on my claimed bed as the boys keep interrogating Derek (Yoghurt) and Ted.
JOEY: You got any sleeping bags? Any blankets?
SNUFFY: Do you have any food in here? candy bars?
RICARDO: Do you have any more magazines?
YOGHURT: No!
Billy continues to snoop around and finds a remote control aeroplane.
BILLY: This your plane Yoghurt?
YOGHURT: Yeah, I made it
BILLY: You understand all this remote control stuff?
YOGHURT: I do
BILLY: You know the thing the leader's got wrapped around his wrist? Think it'll actually set the bombs off?
YOGHURT: Yeah...
HANK: Well, we're well and truly screwed
JOEY: We're going to do something, right?
No one answers, and Joey grows more irritated.
JOEY: We can't just sit by and let these bastards fuck with our lives!
Now, I don't know if I've still got some vodka left in my system or its tension, but I've never felt more attracted to him as I did just then. I don't know why, but the anger is so... desirable. God, I'm not normal. Wait. Why am I falling for him so easily? He's a jerk. He keeps screwing with my feelings and leaving me always wanting more. Do I make the first move? I mean, he tried to and look what that did... God, if things weren't already complicated enough, now this. It's only my second day, and it's already been a long year.