Shadowing Practice: My Crush Crazy GF Trapped Us In A Warehouse - Learn English Speaking with Video

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380 sentences
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The school day ended and I was walking to the bus when I got a message from my crush Carter, the school jock, who never even knew I existed.
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Hey, I need to tell you something important.
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Meet me in the warehouse behind the school.
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Now.
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Why would Carter send me something like that?
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But I told myself, maybe he finally realized how cool I am and decided to ask me out.
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So, without even hesitating a bit, I ran to that warehouse like I was late to my own wedding.
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I got there only to find darkness.
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The warehouse was small, with no windows or anything.
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I started calling out for Carter when I heard noises behind some shelves.
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I peeked, and there was Carter, hugging and laughing with his girlfriend Zoe.
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She was the queen bee and the head cheerleader.
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She was mean, and everyone was scared of her.
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But then I wondered why Carter sent me that message.
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Was it an accident?
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Of course it was.
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God, I'm so stupid.
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I tried to tiptoe out, but the door wouldn't budge.
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I kept pulling like crazy until I ended up with a knob in my hand.
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Oh my god, could this get any worse?
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Yep, because right then, Carter and Zoe noticed me, and she glared at me like she was about to eat me alive.
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What are you doing here, you freak?
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Are you stalking us?
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Did you follow my boyfriend here?
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I didn't know what to say because she was scary as heck.
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Hi, my name is Amanda, and this is how I got stuck with my crush and his girlfriend for days.
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Until I discovered a secret that almost cost us our lives.
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Carter tried to open the door, but it didn't work.
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So we started calling for help.
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We pushed and kicked the walls, but no one heard us because it was a faraway warehouse and everyone had already left.
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And to make matters worse, it was Friday.
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And to make it even triple worse, it was the last day before winter break.
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Meaning, the school would be closed for two freaking weeks.
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And to make it even quadruple worse, oh wait, there's nothing worse than that.
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Don't worry guys, I'll call 911.
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I took out my phone, only for it to die on me.
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Or, never mind, my phone just died.
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Can you guys call for help?
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Oh, we have a genius here.
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Don't you think we would have if we had our phones on us?
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Why don't you?
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Not like we owe you an explanation.
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But we just wanted some private time, alone, without distractions.
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So we left our phones outside and brought only our bags.
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I even made my baby boo some food in case we talked for hours.
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Oh, I'm so sweet, aren't I, Pookie Bear?
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We sat in silence for what felt like forever, until Zoe leaned on Carter's shoulder and started crying like a lost puppy.
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Babe, tell her to move.
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It's cramped and I'm claustrophobic.
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Babe, tell her to fold her legs.
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Her feet are disgusting.
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Babe, tell her to stop breathing so loudly.
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I literally cannot.
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And he actually comforted her.
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What an absolute fake.
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But then my stomach growled and I laughed nervously trying to play it off.
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Zoe pulled some sandwiches out of her bag and I thought she was going to give me one.
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But she just handed one to Carter.
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Then they both started chewing like monkeys.
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Ahem, I'm here, but they ignored me.
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Seconds later, Carter looked at me like he felt bad
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and started gesturing and making faces at me like he was hinting at something.
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But I couldn't understand what he was trying to say.
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Man, speak up!
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He facepalmed while Zoe turned to me and warned me not to ever speak again.
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I got so annoyed by her bossing me around.
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Like, what would she do?
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We were both stuck and miserable.
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So I started singing to annoy her.
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La la la la la la la la la la I was walking with a group
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and I stepped in poop And I tried wiping it
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but I still smelled like poop So I cut off my pants and I still smelled like poop
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Turns out the stink came from the group They spelt like poop poopadoop
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La la la la la la la la la Zoe looked so annoyed I could swear I saw Carter smiling.
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She grabbed him and they went to sit across from me.
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Good riddance.
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Later, I felt tired, so I just fell asleep right there, hugging my bag.
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I woke up in the middle of the night to their kissing noises.
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Apparently, Zoe had bad dreams and Carter was comforting her.
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I had a dream
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that a dumb blonde with a mole above her lip came into our lives and stole you from me.
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Babe, I can't live without you.
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Was she describing me?
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Carter just went ahead and kissed her again!
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Bleh!
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But I really had to pee, so I grabbed an empty bottle near them and went over to a shelf to do my business behind it, when Zoe yelled at me to bring the bottle back!
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When I was done, I turned around and saw Carter standing there.
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I literally jumped!
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He whispered that Zoe was asleep and wanted to tell me something.
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I like you, Amanda, and I wanted to talk to you about it today.
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Wait, you like me? For real?
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So his message was on purpose.
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Finally, a win!
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Then he told me he broke up with Zoe two days ago.
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He said he liked me and wanted to talk to me in private yesterday, but before he could do that, Zoe convinced him to come in here to talk about their relationship,
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because she thought he wasn't serious about the breakup, since it happened before and they always got back together.
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So why are you still kissing her like a chimpanzee?
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I'm just trying to keep her calm, because she's crazy.
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Plus, what's the point in saying anything now?
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We're stuck.
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Annoyingly, that made sense.
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And honestly, I had a huge crush on him.
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Carter was kind and smart and everyone loved him.
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The whole school knew he deserved better than Zoe.
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So I hugged him and he hugged me back.
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But just then I felt dizzy from hunger and tiredness.
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Carter caught me before I could stumble and held me steady in his arms.
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You okay?
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I nodded.
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Wow, you smell amazing.
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Let's get you to sleep.
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He carried me to my spot and gently helped me lie down.
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Then he looked straight into my eyes and I thought he was gonna kiss me.
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But right then, Zoe shifted in her sleep and Carter pulled back.
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He left, but not before winking at me.
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And my heart fluttered.
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I woke up to find Carter had slipped a snack bar into my bag.
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I ate it in one go.
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Zoe was extra fussy because her foot still hurt from yesterday's cheerleading practice.
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So she was relying on Carter for physical support to get behind the shelf so she could do her business.
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She was rubbing his hair and his neck and his back like a psycho.
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And I literally gagged.
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I got up and wandered around to distract myself.
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And that's when I stumbled onto something.
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A knob that opened into a storage room below.
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I climbed down.
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The space was small, probably for extra storage.
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But it was cleaner and nicer than the warehouse, so I stayed there for a bit.
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Carter noticed and followed me once Zoe fell asleep.
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Nice place you have here, cutie.
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I blushed and he smirked as he offered me a soda can he'd stolen from Zoe.
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I drank half of it too fast and let out the loudest burp.
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I clapped my hand over my mouth, mortified, but Carter gently moved it away and smiled.
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Then suddenly, he winced.
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God, you're stepping on my toes.
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I tried to move my leg away, but I lifted it a little too high at the exact moment he bent down to check his foot, and I ended up kneeing him straight in the nose.
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Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god, I am so, so sorry.
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I looked up at Carter.
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His nose was bleeding, and his eyes crossed as he tried to look at it.
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Then, without warning, he passed out.
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Right then and there.
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Oh, Jesus Christ.
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I tried slapping him awake, but he wouldn't budge.
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What the heck is going on?
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Give me a hand first, then shout all you want.
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Get your butt over here and help me pull him up.
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It's too tight in here.
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So it wasn't too tight when he was awake?
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Or were you too busy trying to steal him to notice?
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Oh, God, I wanted to yank her hair, but I had to help Carter first.
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I grabbed him under the arms and tried dragging him up the stairs, and Zoe just stood there watching me.
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After what felt like ten minutes of struggling, my arms burned and I was completely exhausted.
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So I clapped up for air and found Zoe yelling through a hole in the wall.
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The janitor was on the other side.
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I joined in, but he had headphones on.
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Still, I could have sworn he glanced our way and paused for a second, then shrugged and walked off.
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I'll bet he recognized your voice and decided to let you rot because you bullied him like crazy.
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Ugh, whatever.
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He cleans the mirror with the same mop he uses for the bathroom floor.
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He's nasty.
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Not nastier than you.
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Zoe and I kept shouting at each other for five minutes straight until my throat hurt.
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Then suddenly, someone gently pulled me back.
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Watch out.
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A huge spider was dangling from the ceiling right above us.
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The second Zoe saw it, she screamed and ran like a headless chicken.
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So you saw the spider and decided to help her and not me?
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Carter stared at her with challenging eyes, and I thought he was finally going to snap.
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But then he just nodded and smiled.
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You're right.
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It was just a reflex.
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I was so annoyed.
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I couldn't understand why he always acted like that.
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And I had enough, so I grabbed Carter's face and kissed him right there.
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For the first two seconds, he seemed into it.
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But then, like it finally hit him what was happening, he gently pulled away.
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Zoe looked at me like she'd seen a ghost.
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Her face went pale, and she just passed out.
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I rushed to wake her up.
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What's with all these people passing out today?
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Then she suddenly snapped her eyes open and lunged it.
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Suddenly snapped her eyes open and lunged at me.
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But Carter pulled her back just in time.
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He looked at me with these pleading eyes, like he was begging me to stay calm.
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I backed off for his sake, still confused why he looked so terrified of her.
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And then, because the universe hated me, my stomach made the most embarrassing noise, followed by a tiny release.
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I wanted to disappear.
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Carter looked away politely, and Zoe wrinkled her nose in disgust.
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Gross.
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It's the stress, okay?
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Being trapped in here is messing with my stomach.
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I was mortified.
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Great.
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Just kissed my crush and immediately humiliated myself.
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Later, around midnight, I woke up starving.
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Zoe and Carter were fast asleep, and Zoe was snoring like an orphaned bear.
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Then Carter suddenly woke up and put a finger to his lips, signaling me to shush.
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He got up, slit Zoe's bag out from under her arms and started digging through it.
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I whisper shouted at him, asking what he was doing, but he ignored me me.
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Zoe made a little sound and Carter freaked out and basically threw the bag at me.
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She might be hiding something to hurt us.
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Search for it.
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Then he said he'd distract Zoe and cuddle her in case she woke up.
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I was freaked out.
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What would this psycho even have in her bag to harm us?
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I hurried down to the storage room and started searching frantically.
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Man, she stuffed that bag like she was moving to another country.
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But then Zoe's voice came from above.
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I panicked and hid her bag behind my back.
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I'm looking for food.
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How would you find food in this stupid storage room.
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And then, as luck would have it, I ripped open a big package on the floor and literally froze.
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Ramen packets, cookies, bags of chips, even soda cans!
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It was probably just the school's cafeteria stock stored in here.
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I quickly shoved Zoe's bag behind some other boxes and stood up like I wasn't doing anything suspicious at all.
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And then I got up to Zoe, holding the food box.
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You're not getting anything until you apologize, Zoe.
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Outbite me.
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And with that, she whipped out some cheerleader gymnastics leg move, knocked me to the ground, and yanked the box away.
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The box hit the floor and spilled, and I managed to scramble up and snatch about half the snacks.
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But then she grabbed Carter.
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We kept pulling Carter in opposite directions until he jerked his arms free and shoved us both back.
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Knock it off, all right?
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I don't want to eat anything.
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I just want to get out of here.
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Then he stormed off and climbed down into the storage room to sit alone.
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A little later, I saw him quietly slide Zoe's bag back under her arm like nothing happened.
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She didn't even wake up.
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I still had no idea what he found in there, and he wasn't talking. So, yeah.
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I went back to sleep, hugging all the snacks I'd managed to save.
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The next morning, we woke up exhausted.
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We'd been there for four days, and we were getting more drained by the hour.
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Well, except for Zoe.
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She was actually making breakfast and humming like a psycho.
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But Carter seemed different today.
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He ignored both me and Zoe all day.
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No matter how many times we tried to win him over, eventually, Zoe had enough and snapped.
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If you don't talk to me, I'll tell everyone your secret.
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Carter looked at her with tired eyes, then smirked.
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Go ahead, tell everyone.
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Oh wait, we're stuck in here, and it's only Amanda.
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You know what?
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I'll save you the trouble and tell her myself.
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Zoe's had a crush on me since the first time she saw me, back when I worked for her family as a gardener.
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Yep, I was the gardener boy, and she convinced her dad to pay my tuition to this fancy school.
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It's not a scholarship like everyone thinks.
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I'm just her charity case, and she's been threatening to cut me off if I ever tried to break up with her.
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Well, Zoe, I'm sick of you and your games.
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We're done.
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Oh, I think you left out a tiny detail, honey.
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Like the part where you're a thief?
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Yep, he and his dad stole money from my dad's safe.
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And don't you dare deny it.
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We have it on camera.
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I even begged my dad to forgive you and not call the cops on you.
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But sure, I'm the bad guy here.
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Okay, that was intense.
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And then Carter just cursed her.
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Straight up.
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I thought Zoe was gonna lunge at him.
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But to my surprise, she burst into tears like a little kid.
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I just want a boyfriend.
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I never had one.
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They leave me after the second date.
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And when I finally found one, I am not letting go just like that.
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And definitely not because of that freak.
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She stomped over to the corner and cried while angrily munching on cookies.
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I looked at Carter, but he wouldn't meet my eyes.
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He just walked off and went back to the storage room again.
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Okay, this was officially awkward, but things changed after that.
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Later that night, Zoe was crying like crazy.
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I honestly thought she was gonna drown in her own tears.
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Then she came over to me and sat next to me.
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Listen, Amanda, girls like you always get what they want.
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You're smart, you're funny, you're beautiful.
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You just need some confidence.
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I'm just a pretty face though.
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My parents spoiled me, handed me everything, and now I don't even know what to do when I can't control something.
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I know Carter doesn't love me, but my ego can't take it.
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He breaks up with me, I beg him to come back, every time.
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I'm stuck, okay?
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And I'm not just stuck in here.
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I'm not asking to be best friends, I'm just saying, don't make this worse.
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Can we be a little nicer to each other while we're trapped here?
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I couldn't believe my eyes, but she looked genuine, and I figured I might as well give her a chance.
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I mean, what other choice did I have?
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At first, it was just quiet nods and polite little smiles.
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Then she started being nicer and nicer, which honestly felt kind of amazing.
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She even shared some of her homemade cookies with me.
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Here, girls gotta look out for each other, right?
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But Carter kept to himself.
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He got weird.
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And then I remembered how he used to talk about Zoey, how he cursed her, and how he was ignoring both of us like we didn't exist.
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And on top of that, he was searching through her bag without her permission.
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Wasn't that manipulation?
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That night, Zoe made a dinner out of whatever snacks we had, and we sat together and actually talked like normal people for once.
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Have you liked and subscribed to MSA?
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Not yet.
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Well, too bad, because if you had, you'd know a lot about psychos.
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So guys, like and subscribe now!
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I didn't know what she meant until later that night, after we went to bed.
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Someone started shaking me awake.
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It was Carter, and he looked mortified.
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I shifted, and my stomach made another horrible noise.
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Before I could stop it...
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Oh, God, sorry.
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It's these cheap snacks, I swear.
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Get up.
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Zoe is going crazy.
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Then he explained they'd gotten into another fight, and it got so heated that Zoe went digging around and found a lighter and a bottle of gas.
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I'm gonna burn this whole place down.
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If you're not mine, then no one else gets you, Carter.
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See?
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I told you she's a psycho.
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I tried to stop Zoe while Carter looked around for a way out.
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He found a hammer and went at the wall like his life depended on it.
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I tried to push Zoe back, but that girl was strong.
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I sent you that message, Amanda, not Carter.
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He's always liked you, and I knew the second he broke up with me, he'd come running to you.
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I needed to get rid of both of you.
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I just didn't know this stupid warehouse would lock us in
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and you two idiots would start bonding and just ruin my plan.
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So basically, Zoe wanted me and Carter in the same place so she could do God knows what to both of us.
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But the warehouse locked by accident and the whole thing backfired on her.
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Before I could even process it, she lit some boxes on fire and the flames spread fast.
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I grabbed another hammer and ran to Carter to help.
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The hammers were mistakenly put in a box labeled scientific equipment, so we didn't open it earlier.
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But until our lives literally depended on it, we hit the wall with all our strength.
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Once, twice, then finally it gave.
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Come on, let's go.
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But I looked back at Zoe.
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She was on the floor, crying.
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Carter, you never loved me.
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You lied.
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But you were the most beautiful lie in my life.
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Oh my freaking God, get up now!
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I ran back as the fire kept crawling up the boxes.
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I managed to haul Zoe up and drag her outside.
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The fire caught the neighbor's attention, and someone called the fire department.
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Everyone was safe, and Zoe was taken for investigation.
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I told you she wasn't stable.
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And yeah, I was checking her bag because she keeps pictures of me and my dad next to her dad's safe.
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The thing is, we didn't steal anything.
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My dad was desperate.
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Zoe's dad was a jerk to him and fired him unfairly.
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I followed my dad that day because I was too scared he'd do something stupid.
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He opened the safe and took the money out.
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And that's what Zoe has on camera.
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She was threatening to show the whole school.
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But I stopped him.
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I made him put the cash back and begged him to leave before it got worse.
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Sorry if I was unkind to you, Amanda, but I had to keep the act up.
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Just then, the cops told us they found something weird in Zoe's bag.
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A small bottle of digestive drops.
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They asked Carter about it, but he had no idea.
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Then, it hit me.
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The embarrassing gas moments.
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Every single time Zoe had given me food or touched my drinks, she'd been putting drops in them.
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Oh my god.
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She was trying to make you think I was disgusting.
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Well, it didn't work.
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I still think you're perfect.
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I couldn't believe it.
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Even her nice moments were part of her twisted plan.
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Well, I'm just glad we're safe.
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And wow, we couldn't use these hammers before.
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We have the survival instinct of a fart.
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Speaking of farts, I liked your singing.
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Maybe you can sing to me on our next date.
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But no poop included.
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Happily.
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And with that, he kissed me.
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And for once, nobody was there to ruin it.
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Until my parents showed up and hugged me so tight I couldn't breathe.
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I learned two things.
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In tough situations, you don't argue with the psycho.
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You nod, you survive, and you deal with your feelings later.
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And never, ever trust somebody who's suddenly too nice to you.
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Especially when they're offering you food.
380
Thank you.

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Vocabulary and speaking notes for this lesson

This B1 speaking lesson is built on the video “My Crush Crazy GF Trapped Us In A Warehouse”. The speaker keeps coming back to these words: Zoe, Carter, bag. This video has 380 sentences and 3730 words to shadow. The speech runs for 20:48. The speaker talks at a natural 179 words per minute, close to everyday conversation. Only 78% of the words are among the 3,000 most common in English, so the vocabulary is demanding.

Key vocabulary in this video

The 15 most advanced words in the video, with pronunciation and meaning:

WordPronunciationMeaning
warehouse noun/ˈwɛə(ɹ)haʊs/A facility for storing large amounts of merchandise or products.
hug verb/hʌɡ/To cling closely together.
poop noun/ˈpuːp/The sound of a steam engine's whistle, typically low-pitched.
snack noun/snæk/A light meal.
crush verb/kɹʌʃ/To press between two hard objects; to squeeze so as to alter the natural shape or integrity, or to force together into a mass.
gently adverb/ˈd͡ʒɛntli/Without strong force or quickness: softly, lightly.
babe noun/beɪb/A baby or infant; a very young human or animal.
hammer noun/ˈhæmɚ/A tool with a heavy head and a handle used for pounding.
snap verb/snæp/To fracture or break apart suddenly.
annoy verb/əˈnoɪ̯/To disturb or irritate, especially by continued or repeated acts; to bother with unpleasant deeds.
mortify verb/ˈmoɹtɪfaɪ/To discipline (one's body, appetites etc.) by suppressing desires; to practise abstinence on.
cookie noun/ˈkʊki/A small, flat, baked good which is either crisp or soft but firm.
awake verb/əˈweɪk/To become conscious after having slept.
budge verb/bʌd͡ʒ/To move; to be shifted from a fixed position.
cheerleader noun/ˈtʃɪə(ɹ)ˌliːdə(ɹ)/A person, usually a young, attractive female, who encourages applause and cheers at a sports event, and wearing a specially-designed uniform in the official…

Phrasal verbs you will hear

WordPronunciationMeaning
get up verbTo move in an upward direction; to ascend or climb.
wake up verb/ˌweɪk ˈʌp/To stop sleeping; to awake.
pass out verbTo faint; to become unconscious.
go back to verbTo stem from; to originate in.
walk off verbTo recover from (a minor injury) or digest (a large meal) by walking around.
act up verb/ækt ˈʌp/To misbehave; to cause trouble.
come back verbTo return to a place.
cut off verb/ˌkʌt ˈɔf/ [ˌkɐɾ ˈɔf]To remove by cutting.

Sentences worth repeating

Short, complete lines from the video that you can reuse in everyday conversation:

  • What are you doing here, you freak?
  • Are you stalking us?
  • Did you follow my boyfriend here?
  • Can you guys call for help?
  • I mean, what other choice did I have?

Grammar in this video

The structures the speaker uses most, with the exact words from the video:

StructureIn the video
Conditional sentences if + clause, will/would + verb — a condition and its resultIf you don't talk to me, I'll tell · if you had, you'd know
Passive voice be + past participle — the focus is on what happens, not who does itwould be closed · was done · Being trapped
Past continuous was/were + -ing — an action in progress at a moment in the pastwas walking · was hinting · was trying
Verb + -ing enjoy, keep, stop… + -ing — verbs that are followed by the -ing formstarted calling · kept pulling · started crying

Pronunciation to watch

The speaker uses 88 contractions and reduced forms, such as I'm, didn't, don't. Say them the short way, as you hear them.

  • The “th” sounds: threaten /ˈθɹɛt.n̩/, breathe /bɹiːð/, thief /ˈθiːf/, throat /ˈθɹoʊt/
  • The “sh” and “zh” sounds: crush /kɹʌʃ/, shove /ʃʌv/, shelf /ʃɛlf/, shout /ʃaʊt/, manipulation /məˌnɪp.juˈleɪ.ʃən/
  • Long words — get the stress right: manipulation /məˌnɪp.juˈleɪ.ʃən/, miserable /ˈmɪz(ə)ɹəbəl/, apologize /əˈpɑləˌd͡ʒaɪz/

How to practise with this video

  1. Listen to the whole video once without speaking and note the words you do not know.
  2. Start at 0.75× speed, shadow it sentence by sentence, then go back to normal speed once it feels easy.
  3. Record yourself and compare with the original, paying attention to words like warehouse, hug, poop.

What is the Shadowing Technique?

Shadowing is a science-backed language learning technique originally developed for professional interpreter training and popularized by polyglot Dr. Alexander Arguelles. The method is simple but powerful: you listen to native English audio and immediately repeat it out loud — like a shadow following the speaker with just a 1–2 second delay. Unlike passive listening or grammar drills, shadowing forces your brain and mouth muscles to simultaneously process and reproduce real speech patterns. Research shows it significantly improves pronunciation accuracy, intonation, rhythm, connected speech, listening comprehension, and speaking fluency — making it one of the most effective methods for IELTS Speaking preparation and real-world English communication.

Shadowing technique: read the full step-by-step guide →