Somebody to Love ~ Joe Mazzello High School AU

Hide and Seek

          "Okay, listen up." I looked over to the student that was trying to get everyone's attention. "You don't need partners for this but it's encouraged since there aren't a ton of places to hide, so get with your partners and we'll decide who the seekers will be." All of the students went and shuffled around to their partners, Ben walking up to me and bumping his arm against mine playfully. I smiled and saw Joe standing with Gwilym across the groups of students as he proceeded to drag his finger against his throat and I couldn't help but laugh out loud.

          "Ben, Joe's threatening us." I whispered over to Ben, still chuckling a little.

          "Let him." He joked back, I crossed my arms as I waited for further instructions to be said.

          "Does anyone want to volunteer to be the seekers?" the same student asked. There was a little pause in response before Joe and Gwil lifted their hands.

          "Sure, why not?" Joe said, tying the string to his pants. Have I mentioned that we all changed into our pajamas? I was wearing a red flannel onesie, that was pretty baggy, because it was actually a little cold in the school. Joe was wearing grey sweatpants and a loose fitting white shirt that had a small breast pocket on the right.

         "Okay. Joe and Gwil, you know the drill, go into the auditorium and count to sixty." Once the two disappeared, everyone scattered and soon left Ben and I alone in the lobby.

          "Do you want to hide in one of the janitors closets or something? They were right when they said there isn't many places to hide, the teachers keep their doors locked." I looked around and walked past the little glass displays to one of the doors in the lobby and motioned Ben over.

          "We don't have a lot of time to sit and think," I whispered as I looked into the room's windows, trying the door handle to find it was locked. "I think we'd have a better chance hiding somewhere near the auditorium, but where.." My eyes skimmed the whole room, up and down, I glanced at the empty display cases, my eyes following them up to where they meet the ceiling.

          "Well, we have to hurry Ca-" I held my hand out to cut Ben off, and if it was like a sign from the Gods, I pointed up to these little cubby holes in the cement above the display cases. "I've never seen those before." My smile grew wide and I ran up to them, Ben following. These little nooks were about seven feet off the ground but I refuse to let such a genius hiding place go to waste, so I locked my hands together and motioned to Ben. "No, you're gonna hurt your-"

          "Ben! Shut up and go, I'm fine," Ben hesitated and looked at me, "hurry!" I whispered. Ben complied and put his foot into my locked hands, looking down to me. I nodded to let him know I was ready, bending my knees. Ben bent his knee down and proceeded to kick off as I straightened my body as well. A groan left me as I lifted him off the ground, all the joints in my arms and hands not happy with me, but the pain went by quick as Ben pulled himself into the cubby, leaning down and offering his hand to me. I grabbed it, put my foot on the metal lip of the display case so I could be closer. I could hear shuffling coming from the auditorium, my eyes growing wide as I looked up to Ben. He grabbed the underside of my upper arm near my shoulder as I used my other hand to grab onto the bottom of the nook, my knee pressing against the glass of the display case as lightly as I could. With the two of us both pulling very hard, I successfully got into the cubby hole just as I heard Joe talking. I pushed Ben and pressed against him to get as far into the nook as I could so I couldn't be seen from the ground, luckily, there were no lights on this side of the room so we were cast in the dark (there were only like 10% of the normal school lights on since it was locked down for the night) but I don't think it would be hard to spot a very pale girl wearing a bright red onesie. Ben and I watched and listened for them to see what Joe and Gwil were doing and where they were going. When they departed down the hallway, I looked to Ben and slapped a hand over my mouth to hold in my laughter.

          "I guess my slight training in wall climbing came in handy." I whispered to Ben.

          "That was insane, did I hurt your arms?" When he said that, I could feel a faint aching in them, and also a little sharp pain in my stomach from being stabbed by the corner of the cement.

          "Nah, it's fine. I could totally be a master escape artist." Not after long, you could hear talking from the other kids as they slowly got found one by one. Every second that went by, the more ecstatic I was from finding this place and how successful is was working. Kids started gathering in the lobby after they were found, but barley any came to the back side of the display cases. Sweat started trickling down my face from the body heat that was building in this little area, my knees and back aching from being cramped up for so long. After what felt like fifty-three years, I finally heard the words I was waiting for.

          "Cas! Ben! We give up, come out please." Gwil was saying.

          "I can't believe we're giving up." I heard Joe say back to Gwil, and I couldn't help but chuckle out loud. There was some silence after I cut off my laugh, "Gwil, did you hear that?" Uh oh. I heard footsteps come closer and saw Joe come into my view, but I stayed perfectly still, but it wasn't long until my eyes met those brown ones, and I really laughed out loud this time at Joe's face. Gwil raced over and also looked up at us, a confused look on his face.

          "Got y'all!" I said, Ben joining in in my laughter.

          "This is unbelievable!!" Joe crossed his arms and pouted a little. Some of the other kids came over and saw us, laughing as well and questioning themselves for not even knowing this place existed. And even now Gwil was chuckling.

          "Could you help us down Gwil? Since you're the tall one and all" Ben piped up next to me as I sat on my butt, hanging my legs out of the cubby hole. Gwilym walked over and held his hands out, I slid out of the nook and placed my hands on Gwil's shoulder as he grabbed my waist to make sure I didn't break an ankle or anything. I walked over to Joe and threw up two peace signs next to my face that had a huge grin on it.

          "I guess you win." Joe smiled back.

          "Don't be a sore loser Joe." I said, patting his arm. Out of the blue, Joe grabbed my arm, yanking me into his chest and started tickling my sides. "NONONONO!" I yelled as I laughed, trying to squirm away. I quickly found his arms, holding them against himself. "Do you WANT to die?!" Tears of laughter running down my face.

          "I'm sorry, I'm sorry." Joe held his hands up, my hands still wrapped around his wrists, into the air and smiled down at me. I glared up at him jokingly before letting his arms go. "I guess we should see what they're talking about." Joe motioned over to where the students have went back by the auditorium.

          "Yeah, lets." I pushed Joe into the direction of the group, my face aching from the smile still on my face.