Rollercoaster - Peter Parker

17. Runaway

When Flash awoke, he wasn't sure how long he had been laying there. The room was much darker than it seemed earlier, but he figured that could've been from the shadows that the cabinet casted across his peripheral vision.

Struggling for a few moments to lift up the cabinet and simultaneously wiggle out from underneath it, he sighed. His arms dropped back down on the floor, glass shards hitting together, sounding like an eerily mocking lullaby of sorts.

He groaned, trying to lift the cabinet off of him. He had finally gotten his upper body out from underneath, the pain coursing through his body intensifying. His arms were weak, and with every muscle moved he felt the sharp aches of the minuscule cuts all over.

Finally, stumbling away from the wooden trap once he was freed, Flash noticed how stiff his clothing was. Some areas on his hoodie and pants were still damp from a few stronger chemicals, a sign that maybe he hadn't been unconscious for so long after all.

Still, the gash on his head ached, and dried blood matted down his hair, making chunks of it stick out at weird angles. He had to regain his balance after walking only a few feet towards the door. It was then that he noticed the lights had gone out, the glass from the ceiling lights partnering with the test tube glass on the floor. The lights had been switched on before but were clearly unable to work, Flash moving to flick down the light switch.

He was shocked almost immediately when his fingertips grazed the switch, pulling his hand back with a mumbled curse. It was almost like he had stuck his finger into a detached wall outlet, brushing the exposed wires carelessly. His body shivered with a powerful shock. A burning sensation followed shortly after, pinpointing all of the cuts over his body.

He gasped, holding onto the wall to ground himself as the whole experience was getting to be a little much. Especially with a cracked open head.

"Maybe soaking up a lab full of chemicals for..." he trailed off, glancing towards the windows to have an indication of the time. That required too much thought as he held his head with a groan, making too quick of a movement which caused his head to spin. "Like," he said through gritted teeth, shutting his eyes to stop the world from spinning, "at least a few minutes will cause your body to react to things a little differently. I think."

Finally, Flash reached the door, pulling it open with such force that he practically flung himself into the hallway. He collided into a body during his stumble, hearing the crash of multiple things fall onto the hard ground.

"Hey, what-" the familiar voice paused before speaking in a much more confused tone rather than generally pissed off. "Flash? The buses left like hours ago, you're not supposed to be here. What the hell happened to you?"

Flash blinked out of his daze, pressing his fingertips to his head to make sure his injury hadn't opened from the impact. He raised his eyes slowly to see Reese Ha throwing the books that had fallen from his hands into a backpack.

"Oh, you know, the usual. A cabinet full of glass test tubes fell onto me while I was in the chem lab," Flash spat out, gesturing to his entire body with a downwards motion. "Clearly, I'm fine."

"Jesus, so that was the crash. I was at my locker when that earthquake happened. So weird." Reese shook his head, standing up and hiking up his bag higher on his back. "It's almost like something that happens in a book or a movie before something crazy happens-"

"Yeah. Whatever," Flash snapped, crossing his arms over his chest, resisting the urge to wince. "Why are you still at the school? I was trapped underneath the cabinet in the lab and passed out, so I had an excuse," he interrogated, narrowing his eyes at the boy who had started to shift awkwardly on his feet. "So, after a surprise earthquake you decide to roam the halls of the empty school?"