How To Drown Colin McKinin | ON HOLD

3. snickers bring people closer

C O L I N

Sweat soaked my shirt and stuck to the fabric to my chest by the time PE was over. There was a sign of relief as the bell alerted the end of the final lesion of the day.

The boys were strictly ordered to keep our shirts in contact to our chests while the girls gathered their equipment, leaving quickly but not without noise.

"Colin," Mr Derrick clamped a hand on my shoulder, "Your name is on the role to pack away all equipment."

It wasn't a big deal but my tinge of annoyance at having to stay back and not head home must have shown on my face because the teacher gave me father like clip on the ear.

"Don't give me that." He said, a grin forming on his lip as I gripped my ear momentarily, before a grin of my own formed.

Taking the trolley holding the dodgeballs, I pushed as the wheels jerked and squealed loudly. After a few minutes of trying to shove the stubborn trolley, I kicked the wheels with an aggressive grunt.

Mr Derrick just laughed as he sat on the bench, watching me with an amused expression before sighing loudly, "I'm going to leave you to lock up. All you have to do close the those double doors when you leave, it'll lock automatically."
He gave me a serious glance as I leant against the balls, "You've done this before. Don't leave them open."

I nodded, giving him a forced smiled before turning around shoving the stupid piece of metal. His shoes echoed the gym hall as kicked a basketball towards the lockable shed doors.

Placing the trolley in its allocated spot, before ordering the basketball in their line within the rack.

I walked slowly and without care towards the last basketball near the corner of the gym, bouncing it on the ground as the heavy noise echoed the air. It was sport I would have chosen if football wasn't a family favourite.

I stayed in that gym for a long time, the freeness of the sport calming my nerves of the day ahead, the day before and moments of the now.

It wasn't until the janitor's cleaning machine echoed the halls did I finally put the ball of the rack. I heaved down the metal door down to close off the equipment until the hard metal hit the ground shakily.

My heart dropped as the ground grumbled, my first thought being that I slammed the doors enough for the ground to move but it was far from that.

Arms automatically splayed out to keep my balance as I swayed momentarily while small jolted echoed from the earths surface.

It wasn't an unusual event, earthquakes. It wasn't anything to panic about but as the gym lights clicked off and darkness surrounded my gaze, a nerve of fear jolted within me.

"Fuck." I hissed into the darkness, holding the metal door with pained fear, unknowing of the quietness of the earth.

The gym was designed without windows so the time outside was unknown but it didn't matter, it was dark and that feared my heart enough.

My heart sank further into my stomach as I gripped my pocket knowing all to well my phone was in my locker but hoping, somehow, it wasn't.

There was a bang that made me jump as the automatic doors slammed shut, nothing to stop them as the power sizzled under the unwanted grumble of the earth. The power had never been stable but I gripped the metal, turning my palms red I prayed that somehow, they fixed it's shitty-ness.