61. One second too late...
Sam sat below a stone statue that she had once cared about.
She blew at her cheeks and released the air from an orifice she made with her lips. She stared down at the ground dejectedly, joggling the tiny stones she had picked up in her palm mindlessly. She sniffled and sighed, then her eyes suddenly noticed the pair of black Nike canvas.
She gasped, even though she had been expecting him, and slowly looked up to find him staring down impassively at her. The radiant, sun-set-like glow of his eyes struck something like a chord in her spine and her body suddenly felt like a bundle of nerves. She cleared her throat and looked away, “You came.”
He shrugged and sat down beside her, “You said I should. Sounded like you were going to pass out or something,” he replied flatly and produced a cigarette from his pocket. He stuck a stick into his mouth and before he lit it, he glanced at the desolate look on her face. “Do you want one?”
She nodded and he handed the pack to her. She placed a cigarette between her chaff lips which had been hardened by the cold night air. Carl leaned over and lit it for her with his lighter, before setting fire to the butt of his. She sniffled again and wiped away the tears that had welled up in her eyes.
“Thank you for coming still,” she said and dragged on the cigarette, releasing spiral whiffs of smoke that curled eccentrically into the atmosphere. “It’s been a crazy few hours, you know. I didn’t see you during the protest though, and I am guessing that I am the only one who knows that you were the one who blew up the control room.”
Carl pressed his lips firmly together when he thought about Arnold Pierce.
She looked at him and was slightly intimidated by the nonchalant way the smoke drifted out of his mouth and nostrils, forming a very faint cloud around his face. His aura was intoxicating, she felt like if she got any closer to him, she’d probably freeze.
“Like Elsa.” She mumbled to herself, unknowingly drawing Carl’s attention.
“What?”
She panicked suddenly and her heartbeat surged in turn, “Nothing!” she blurted out and shakily puffed out smoke through her quivering lips. “Thank you for the cigarette. No one has ever offered me one.”
Carl shrugged indifferently, “They’re not that expensive, you know...but most things people need the most rarely are.”
She frowned at him, “They aren’t, but it’s not the price that matters, Carl. It’s the gesture.” She suddenly scoffed bitterly at his aloofness, “but how the hell are you even supposed to know that? You’re obviously like every other wealthy kid who puts a price on everything just because you can buy it. You can’t put a price on affection, or true love.”
He scoffed, “Like the one that exists between you and your brother?”
“Yes!” her voice quaked and her tears flowed down her cheeks freely now, “You know nothing about me, Carl. No matter how much you think you do, you don’t. I’ve lost everything, you know. My position as the student’s president, the lecturers’ love, my father isn’t even proud of me anymore.” She sighed and scoffed, “I lost it all, for what?”
Carl smirked at the beautiful, curvy smoke that wafted across his face without giving her a reply.
“I’m back to being the awkward girl that nobody gives a fuck about. I was relevant for being the voice of the students, now I’m just-” Her voice hitched and she heaved her shoulders, allowing them drop with a significant sigh, “I’m just the girl who betrayed Mia Greyjoy.” She wiped her cheeks, but her tears came pouring down again. Her voice sounded hysterically now, but distorted due to her chasms of despair. “I thought that shadow won’t follow me anymore.”
“You’re supposed to have a shadow only when you’re in the light, Carl, but the shadows of my past follow me into the darkness…Relentless…Merciless…Scornful…how blessed am I, huh?” She scoffed sarcastically.
Carl still kept mute. He rose to his feet when he got fed up of the strangled and cold silence that lingered between them like an invisible, dense cloud. He dropped a brown, manila envelope which contained all the evidence he had used to blackmail her earlier.
She sniffled. Her eyes were swollen, bloodshot and teary, but shamelessly, she looked up at him, her desolate emotions shimmering with a faded spark in those eyes. “You’re not going to say anything, Carl?”
He pointed at the envelope, “There you go.”
“Typical.” She remarked bitterly and looked away.
Carl didn’t spare her another glance. He turned away and strolled away from her, but then he suddenly stopped. He produced his phone from his pocket and showed its screen to her.
“You’ve gained two thousand more followers in the space of one day. You have got the entire Memphis buzzing and chanting ‘take the cameras down’. The whole school sees you as a hero and I am sure Mia Greyjoy does also.” He said flatly. “You’re not just the girl who betrayed her best friend. You don’t need the validation of your dad or the school authorities. You’re the brave girl who stood up for her college mates when it mattered the most.”
Her eyes shimmered with surprise and a fresh feeling of excitement. His words sprang life to her dead insides and she couldn’t keep the thrill out of her eyes.
Carl frowned and turned away once more. “Keep sulking if that doesn’t cheer you up.”
“Carl!” she called quickly and rose to her feet.
He sighed and turned around, “What?”
She flashed a teary smile at him, “Thank you.”
He regarded her impassively, then turned and walked away.
***
Anderson banged on the door weakly.
He was at the verge of a mental and physical breakdown. Sweating profusely, his skin crawling with goosebumps and with all the hairs on his body standing erectly, he tried to kick the door open, but the confined space restricted him from generating any energy.
“Someone help me! Please!” he cried desperately.
His eyes widened when his phone buzzed. His shaky hand checked the message and a shiver ran through his spine when he saw that it was Buck.
‘*Be there in a minute, kiddo*.’
“Oh, no…no, no, no, no!” he whimpered weakly. “Someone help me, please…please.”
He froze suddenly when he heard sounds not too far away from the locker he was trapped in.
“Arghhh, yes…yes, yes, ba-” a feminine voice moaned, “fuck that pussy! Y-Yes…aw, you’re gonna make me fucking cum. Yes, boy, harder…oh deeper, yes!”
“Help!” Anderson screamed with all the strength he could muster and banged the locker again.
The moans ceased suddenly and Anderson’s heartbeat surged, assured that he had been heard. He banged the locker door repeatedly until he heard approaching footsteps.
“In here! In here!” he exclaimed, a sudden rush of adrenaline fueling his numb legs.
“Who is in there?” A very familiar voice, that made Anderson frown, called.
“Jason?” Anderson called, praying dearly that his intuition wasn’t wrong. “Jason! Open the fucking door! Please!”
“What the fuck? Andie!”
The locker door suddenly flew open and Anderson forced his way out of it. He couldn’t feel the ground under his feet and suddenly found himself on the floor. He coughed, the dust that rose from his drastic fall getting into his nostrils. He managed to drag himself to his feet, desperate and eager to get to the basketball court.
He saw Mia standing next to Jason, both of their faces guilt ridden. He squinted at the both of them as he backtracked slowly. His eyes widened and his jaw dropped the moment the nickel dropped.
“What the…” he squinted at them, but his phone buzzed again and he turned around and bolted. Buck had texted again, he was at the basketball court and Anderson had better not keep him waiting.
He rushed out of the gym the moment his eyes adapted to the dark. His heart was thumping madly, the crazy adrenaline rush through his body caused him to sprint like never before. He was gasping for air barely seconds after he started running, but by God! He couldn’t stop! He had to get to the court before Buck left.
He almost tripped when he went around the dormitory building, but he managed to barely keep his balance. He arrived at the basketball court, panting and sweating copiously. His teary eyes, caused by the gush of wind while he was running, desperately searched the court for anything that looked like Buck. He became rooted to the spot when he heard the loud roaring of an engine nearby.
He spun around just in time to see Buck stepping into the Black Cadillac. He had no idea when his body started moving, but he found himself racing towards the car, waving his arms wildly. He was almost there, he could have tapped the glass window where Buck sat, but the car’s tires suddenly screeched and sped away, leaving Anderson in a thick cloud of dust.
Anderson watched the car drive away and he saw his entire world crumble right before his eyes. He collapsed on his knees and gasped in disbelief.
“No…Oh no...not like this! Not after everything...no..."