The Handcuff Game

Chapter 5 - Cuffed

I tried to laugh. I did, even though it wasn't a funny joke when I was currently handcuffed to Alec. "The girl that you said this school would never forget earlier?" I joked back.

He furrowed his brow. "Excuse me?"

I sighed, shaking my head. "The girl playing the cop in the skimpy outfit that put us in the cell."

"Maddy?" He pointed to a short, plump blonde girl wearing the same outfit Surina was.

Anxiety and irritation began to rise, and it showed in my tone, "No! Not her!"

"Reed, Maddy walked us into the cell." Alec stated plainly.

I scoffed at him, "Shut up, Alec. You saw her. You were checking her out."

He smirked, "I was checking out Maddy."

"Andy! Come here, man." The writer yelled impatiently for him from the audience.

"Sorry guys, I don't have time for this. Who said they had the keys?"

We looked at each other and both gave nervous shrugs towards Andy.

"Go ask Maddy." Was all he said before leaving us alone.

What the hell was going on? Why we're both of them acting like they didn't know Surina? For God's sake, we had just been talking to her two minutes ago! Was this some sort of joke?

"You ok? You're not...talking." He said. If I didn't know better, I'd say he actually sounded concerned.

I just nodded stiffly, "Yeah. Just confused."

"Who were you talking about. There's no Surina at this school." He said delicately.

I scowled at him. "Yes there is! She's my best friend!"

His eyes shot open and he looked away, mumbling 'crazy' under his breath before dragging me towards Maddy. She had a worried look plastered on her face, which meant Andy had gotten to her before us.

She leapt toward us, "They're supposed to be fake. I could've sworn they were fake." She blabbered apologies before giving the final death sentence, "I don't have the keys."

My body went numb as panic set in, "Am I hearing that I'm stuck to him?"

Alec looked pale. He didn't say a word.

"Maybe a metal shop or something can help?" She suggested.

"We need a key." Alec hissed at poor Maddy who was now visibly shaking. "Where is it?"

She didn't say anything. What could she say? She didn't know.

"I knew I shouldn't have agreed to this." Alec grumbled.

I know the pressing matter of the moment was the cuffs, at least it was for everyone else. I, on the other hand, was still stuck on Surina. It was all I could think about. Screw Alec right now. My best friend was all of a sudden gone, and everyone was acting like she was never there. I wanted to protest more, but the way Alec and Andy looked at me at the mention of her existence made me think twice.

I just don't understand. She said she was going to get the keys and then bam, she was gon-.

She said good luck.

She said good luck.

Did she know about this? Oh, she's getting murdered if she did this to me on purpose.

"Reed? Answer me." Alec demanded, jangling our chains and forcing me back to reality.

"What?"

"We need to go find a place to get these off." He said it quietly, as if he didn't want anyone to hear.

"Why? Afraid to let your girlfriend see you and I cuffed togerther?" Ah, even in distress I can pull out the sass. A true talent.

He smirked, returning my jest, "She knows I'm a flirt, but not to this extent."

Rolling my eyes, I said, "Fine. The faster we get these off, the better."

He twisted his lips while nodding, "Well. It might have to be a bit longer."

"What do you mean?" My brow furrowed.

He blew out a gust of air slowly, his hand wandering to his shorts. "I really need to pee."

My eyes widened in horror and I shook my head viciously, "No, no, no. I am not going into the boy's bathroom. You can not make me."

He shrugged, "Hey, if we don't get these off soon, it's going to happen to the both of us. Might as well get it out of the way now."

I groaned, "Please hold it?"

He shook his head and started pulling me towards the bathroom. And not the girl's.

***

I stood awkwardly, facing away from Alec and the urinal as the sound of nature echoed through the bathroom.

"Are you done yet?" I asked impatiently.

"No, sh." He said.

Groaning, I tried to focus on anything but the fact that I was in the boy's bathroom. But the thought just wouldn't leave my mind. Anyone could walk in right now. What would they think?

Finally, the sweet sound of a zipper zipping hit my eardrums. Alec tugged at the cuffs as he pulled his pants up and trotted to the door.

"Aren't you going to wash your...well, hand."

Did you think I would let him use our attached hands to do that?

He snorted, "No."

Somehow, I wasn't surprised.

"Do you need to go? I would love to stand in the stall with you." He wiggled a brow and I punched his side with my free hand.

"Ow. What is it with you and hitting me?"

Suddenly, I became painfully aware of that familiar, God awful silence. The halls were quiet, and no one moved as they stared. The self-awareness I felt was not the good kind. My confidence plummeted as we walked.

"Why are they staring?" I said, pushing our cuffed hands between us, so they were covered from view.

"I'm guessing because you're walking so close to me and everyone knows you hate me." He chuckled like he was enjoying this.

"More like we hate each other."

He shrugged and lowered his face to my hair, "I don't hate you, sweetheart. I just like making you squirm."

I ground my teeth so deeply, a dull ache throbbed in the back of my head. What a jerk.

"Well, tell them to stop." I changed the topic back to the stares. What was with these people? Don't they have anything better to do?

He smirked. "Now you know how I feel."

Alec felt uncomfortable about this? Yeah right.

"Anyways, this sucks for you more than me." He said.

"What?"

He motioned to the end of the hall where a small girl stood with crossed arms, "Brin is waiting."