Snapshot » l.t.

Chapter 23

Chapter 23


Louis' POV


I laid on the floor and stared at the ceiling.

My life the past two days had been extremely boring. My schedule was eat, sleep, and stare at the spectacular ceiling. I'd noticed that there was a weird red stain in the corner of it. I didn't know what it was. Blood? Oil? Probably ketchup from Niall. That boy worked in mysterious ways.

Still, I hated being cooped up here.

Harry walked into the living room and stood over me. He folded his arms across his chest and shook his head. He tutted shamefully. "What has happened to you, Louis?" he asked rhetorically. "You haven't done anything since being punished."

"I wonder why," I mumbled.

Liam came into the room and sat in the armchair. "He's just upset because he hasn't seen his benefit friend Alex in a while," he snickered.

I lifted my head to scowl at him. I threw my shoe at him. He dodged and laughed.

My neck was too lazy to hold my head up any longer, so it fell back to the floor. I went back to staring at the fabulous ceiling.

"This isn't good for you, Lou," Harry scolded me. "If this was forever, you would be fat and lazy."

"He already is fat and lazy!" Niall laughed. He peeled a wrapper away and took a bite out of his chocolate bar. In all honesty, I wondered how that boy wasn't plump already.

Liam stared at the chocolate in Niall's hand. "Chocolate," he said, as if in a trance. He pounced at Niall, who shrieked in terror and ran for his life. Liam cackled evilly and chased after him.

And they called me the weird one.

I paid no heed to their strange behavior and instead closed my eyes.

"This is just sad!" Harry exclaimed. He probably would've continued like the nuisance he was, but Zayn interrupted him. He completely ignored me.

"Hey, Harry," he said.

"Yeah?"

"I was wondering if you wanted to go to the mall with me," he said calmly.

I opened my eyes.

Harry frowned. "Go to the mall?" he echoed. "With you? Why?"

"Well, I didn't know I was so repulsive," Zayn huffed indignantly. He was such a girl. "But there's this huge sale going on everywhere there. We might find something good."

He tugged on Harry's arm. "Pleeease!" he begged.

Harry sighed. "Fine, I'll go," he said. He gave my head a slight kick. It didn't hurt, but suddenly I was looking at the lower half of the couch.

"See you later, Louis," he said and left the flat with Zayn.

I blinked. My laziness melted away like ice cream in a hundred degree weather. I sat up and glanced around. I had an idea.

I shuffled over on my knees to the window next to the front door and peeked outside. Harry and Zayn were having a debate about something or other. They were distracted. Perfect.

I leaped to my feet and put on a hoodie. I raced to my room and grabbed sunglasses and my fake mustache. I jumped into my shoes and ran out the back door.

I snuck to the front of the flat and peeked around the corner. Harry and Zayn were still arguing.

"But I'll be the one spending the most money," Zayn was saying, his eyebrows bunched together. "So we should take your car." Yep, he was definitely a girl on the inside.

"But my car is almost dead," Harry protested. "Your car has a full tank of gas. We should take yours."

I wanted to make a suggestion to the stupid two, but I didn't. That would ruin my plan and send me back to square one.

"I have an idea!" Zayn finally declared. "We'll take my car, but if we ever run out of gas, you're paying for it."

Harry shrugged. "Fine by me," he said.

Zayn tossed him the keys and he caught them midair. "Now let's go," Harry sighed. They got into the car.

My heart sped in my chest. I had to be patient, but ready. Harry started the car, temporarily unlocking all the doors. I opened the trunk and crawled inside. Harry started driving before I could shut it.

I was tossed around a bit, and I started to figure this was a pretty bad idea. I struggled to tighten my grip on the stupid bouncing trunk lid, but ended up getting my fingers crushed instead. I mumbled a word not meant for young ears and tried again.

I finally managed to get a firm grip on the slick lid and slam it shut. That was a pretty bad idea, also.

After a while I couldn't really breathe. You see, trunks aren't made for living people to use as a hiding place, so you either had to be a piece of luggage or any kind of material to find this tiny place comfortable.

I wasn't normally claustrophobic, but the walls were closing in. I pressed my feet and hands against the sides. The temperature increased by a thousand degrees. I started to regret bringing my hoodie.

It occurred to me I could suffocate in here, and that made my breath quicken. I forced myself to relax to preserve oxygen. This was definitely not one of my brightest ideas.

The car stopped. Hope filled me up. But then the car started up again, and I went back to being down in the dumps.

I took deep breaths, but not big ones. I felt like I was sweating, but I really wasn't. I wanted to panic, but I wouldn't let myself. It was a strange feeling.

After what felt like a real long time, the car stopped again. This time, it didn't start back up. I felt rather than heard the car doors slam, and quiet voices. Harry and Zayn! They were finally at the mall!

I squirmed around until I was facing the trunk lid. I searched around. Did I forget to mention it was completely dark in there?

I tried to find a clasp. Nothing.

A horrible realization struck me: there was no way to get out from the inside of a trunk. I was trapped.

Well, wasn't that just fine and dandy. I was stuck here until Harry or Zayn decided to open up the trunk. Of course, by then, I could already be dead.

Okay, a part of my brain said as the rest of my body started to panic. You're not going to die.

Yes, I am, the rest of me retorted. I'm trapped in a tiny space with limited oxygen. What does that mean?

Um....

Exactly.

So that's when I decided it was okay to thrash around like a crazy person.

I kicked and punched at the damn trunk lid that had damned me. I was going to die. That was that.

I didn't want to be one of those people who blamed themselves in the last few minutes of their life for everything they did, so instead I mentally started writing my own obituary.


Here lies Louis Tomlinson; friend, colleague, singer, beloved by millions. Found dead in the trunk of a Ferrari. He will be missed. RIP


That didn't cheer me up at all. But I knew that if I ever did die in here, that's what I wanted on my gravestone.

When that was finished, I started mentally writing a letter to each of my friends as I kicked.

First was Liam.


Dear Liam,


Even though you were kind of annoying and weird at times, you were one of the bestest friends a lad like me could ask for. You kept me out of trouble for the most part. Don't beat yourself up over this.


I'll be watching.


Next was Niall.


Dear Niall,


You always knew how to cheer me up when something awful was going on. I promise that someday you will find the girl of your dreams. Until then, you have Zayn. Treat him romantically.


I'll be watching.


I decided that the last line was kind of going to be like my dead-man catchphrase. It comforted me and hopefully my friends too when the time came.

Of course, they would never actually read these mental letters, but still. A guy like me could dream.

Next was Zayn.


Dear Zayn,


Even though you could sometimes be incredibly vain and awkward, you were one of my greatest friends. You kind of were like my girlfriend trapped in the body of a guy. Smiley face.

Don't blame yourself for this. It was my fault. Your car has a nice trunk, by the way.


I'll be watching.


I would never tell any of that to Zayn's face. That would just be weird. And if I wasn't dying in this stupid trunk, I'm sure it would be lovely.

Last of the boys but certainly not the least was Harry.


Dear Harry,


You were my bestest friend of all. You were always there for me. Sure, you could be annoying, weird, random, and goofy. But I love that about you. Don't blame yourself, this was my fault.


I'll be watching.


I sighed. There were a lot of things I wanted to say to Harry that would never happen. And before you start concluding things, NO, I am NOT gay!

Another person came to mind. I instantly felt bad. I never really got to say goodbye to her properly. Neither to the boys, but she was different. She was a girl.


Dear Renee--


The trunk lid burst open, and sunlight flooded in. I gasped and sat up, muscles in my legs aching. I felt like someone was stabbing a knife in the back of my neck, but I didn't care.

I was alive! I felt my face. It was hot, but once again I didn't mind. I drank in deep breaths of clean, fresh air, and sighed again in relief. I was alive.

I came back to reality and slammed the trunk lid shut. I winced. There were multiple dents in it. Zayn was going to kill me. Well, what he doesn't know won't hurt him.

I skipped expressively into the mall while putting on my disguise. People gave me weird looks but I ignored them. They would've acted the same way if they had been near death like me.

I left the store I had entered and stared around. Where to first?

I had resolved to live my life more without getting killed in the process. Then I saw Toys R Us and pushed my YOLO priorities to the side. They could wait.

I pranced inside and grinned. They were all children ages below mine, but I didn't really care. This was like a trip down memory lane for me.

I spotted the music aisle and headed down there. I found a tiny piano and played a few keys. I remembered dawdling in my work schedule when I came down here. I would play the child piano to impress any lady customers. Probably not my best tactic. What can I say, those ten-year olds were hot.

I grinned again and looked around some more. I spotted some kids in the corner playing with rubber bands. Okay then.

"Louis?" a female voice gasped.

I jumped and spun around. "I think you've got the wrong guy," I started to say in a gruff voice but I faltered when I saw who it was. My eyes widened. I never expected to see her here.

"What are you doing here?" I exclaimed in my normal voice.