Collide

by Michelle Madow

  “Are you okay?” Liana stopped applying her eyeshadow and faced me. “You just got really pale.”

  “I’m fine.” I forced a smile. “I’m just still recovering from that bug I had earlier this week.”

  “Are you sure you’re okay to come to the dance?”

  “Yes.” I slipped on the angel wings and placed the halo on top of my head, examining the costume in my mirror. I looked nearly the same as I did last week.

  “Good.” Liana let out a long breath. “Because I’m nervous for tonight. I hope it goes well with Eric.”

  “Of course it’ll go well,” Claire broke in, returning from the bathroom. “Eric’s crazy for you. Annabelle can’t say it, because he’s her brother, but I can. I bet he’s more nervous than you are.”

  Liana looked at me for confirmation, but I just shrugged, not sure what to say. Hopefully she assumed it was because I didn’t want to give away information on my brother.

  But really… it was because if my plans went the way I wanted, Eric wouldn’t be at the dance tonight at all.

  “He does really like you,” I said, since it seemed like something Annabelle might say.

  “I hope so,” she said, and then she glanced at my feet, her eyes widening. “You’re not wearing those shoes tonight, are you?”

  “I am.” I bounced in the glittery silver ballet flats. They fit snugly and were as comfortable as going barefoot. Comfort was important, since there was a good chance I would have to run tonight. It would be far too risky to wear the stilettos that I’d worn to the dance the first time around.

  “I’m wearing flats too,” Claire spoke up, doing a series of piqué turns across my floor. “We’re going to a dance, so I want to be able to dance.”

  She reached the end of the room and looked at me, and we nodded at each other in solidarity.

  “If you want to wear flats, I think we’re about the same size,” I said to Liana. “You could borrow a pair of mine.”

  “I’m wearing heels.” She laughed, as if the idea of doing otherwise was silly. “But thanks.”

  She wouldn’t think it was funny when she heard the first gunshot. But I glanced at her heels, glad to see that they were the kind she could slip into. Which meant she could slip out of them just as easily. She could toss them off and run.

  I had to trust that if it came to that, she would do it.

  “Do you want to borrow some of my glitter?” she asked me. “It’ll look great with your costume.”

  “No thanks,” I said, remembering how overly done-up I’d felt when Marisa did my makeup last time.

  If tonight didn’t go well, and I didn’t end up making it, I at least wanted to look like myself in my final moments. The thought was gruesome, but a lot of my thoughts had been trending in that direction recently.

  Despite our nerves, Claire and I managed to chat with Liana as we continued getting ready. I kept glancing at my watch, and once it was time, I forced a yawn. It turned into a real yawn immediately, due to my lack of sleep last night.

  “I’m going to grab a Red Bull,” I said. “Do either of you want one?”

  They both said no, and I headed downstairs, just in case I found Eric rummaging in the cabinets to search for the mini-bottles of rum.

  Instead I found my dad seated at the kitchen table, focused on a crossword puzzle.

  “What are you doing down here?” I asked him.

  “I always wait down here while your mom gets ready for date night.” He leaned back in his seat and pressed the eraser of his pencil to his chin. “You know that.”

  “Right.” I held my hand to my forehead. “Of course.”

  It was what he’d done for most of my life… but it was one of those small things I hadn’t thought about much in the months since the accident. He always waited down here so Mom could get ready privately for their date and surprise him as she walked down the stairs. He said it made them feel like they were young again.

  With him down here, Eric couldn’t sneak around and take those bottles of rum. Which must have been why Eric was looking for them the other night instead. Hopefully he’d found them.

  If he hadn’t, then the first part of my plan was already ruined.

  “Is everything okay?” Dad asked. “You haven’t seemed like yourself these past few days.”

  “I’m fine.” I smiled and walked to the fridge, grabbing a Red Bull. “That bug I got on Monday has just been making me tired. But I’m great. I promise.”

  “If you’re still tired, maybe you shouldn’t go to the dance tonight…?”

  “I’m going to the dance tonight,” I said. But he didn’t look convinced, so I crossed my arms and tried to channel Annabelle’s attitude. “I’ve been looking forward to the dance forever. There’s no way I’m missing it.”

  “All right.” He smiled and held his hands out in defeat. “But if you need to come home, you can always give me and Mom a call and we’ll come get you.”

  “Of course,” I said, although I swallowed down tears, since there was a chance that I wouldn’t be alive to make that call. “Thanks.”

  “Anytime.”

  I was almost out of the kitchen when I turned back around. “Dad?” I asked, and he looked up at me, waiting. “Have an amazing time on your date with Mom.”

  “I will,” he said, and I headed upstairs to finish getting ready.

  Friday, October 31

  Once Zac arrived, he, Eric, and my dad gathered at the bottom of the steps to watch me, Claire, Liana, and my mom walk downstairs and see us dressed up for the first time.

  A year ago, I would have rolled my eyes at and asked why they had to be so dramatic about sending us off to the dance. Now, I appreciated every moment. Mainly how my parents’ eyes were on each other the entire time.

  Zac was dressed as a police officer—he’d borrowed parts of his costume from his dad—and he smiled at me as I walked down the stairs. His smile was contagious, and I couldn’t help returning it.

  For that one second, it was easy to pretend that we were a normal group of teens going to a high school dance, and that there weren’t multiple lives at risk tonight. But that thought was all I needed to remind myself about what was at stake, and I trembled as I walked down the steps, gripping the railing to keep from falling.

  Zac held his hand out to me when I reached the bottom. “You look beautiful,” he told me, holding me steady and pulling me closer. “Everything will be fine tonight. We’ve got this.”

  I nodded, although I wished I felt as confident as he sounded.

  “It’s time for photos!” my mom announced, motioning for us to follow her into the living room. “Let’s do everyone together first, and then we’ll do smaller groups and couples.”

  My dad brought out the big camera, and the photo shoot began. But my hands felt clammy, the world became a blur, and time sped up. Because this was when I had to implement the first part of tonight’s plan. And it was the only part of the plan that I was doing on my own, against the approval of everyone else.

  They weren’t going to be happy with me afterward, but it had to be done.

  “Gather together and smile!” Dad said, looking through the lens and snapping a bunch of pictures.

  “Pirates don’t smile,” Eric said, holding up his pouch of gold. “We scowl! Arrg!”

  “That’s great.” Dad kneeled to the ground and snapped more pictures. “Hold that pose.”

  The déjà vu that I’d experienced so many times this week hit me again, and I took a deep breath, steadying myself.

  It was now or never.

  “What’s in the sack of gold?” I asked, snatching it from Eric’s hand.

  He scowled for real this time, and then I pretended to trip. All of the contents—a mix of fake gold coins and plastic bottles of rum—tumbled onto the floor.

  One of the bottles rolled all the way to Dad’s foot.

  He stared at it for a few seconds, as if it were a bomb, and brought his gaze up to meet Eric’s. “I su
ppose it would be pointless to ask how those got in there?” he said.

  Instead of answering him, Eric turned to me, his eyes livid. “You knew those would be in there!” he said, yanking back the sack of gold. “You did that on purpose.”

  “No I didn’t,” I lied.

  “Yes you did.”

  “Is this true?” Dad asked me. “Did you know that Eric was planning on stealing my alcohol and sneaking it into the dance?”

  “I didn’t.” I held my hands up and widened my eyes, hoping I looked innocent. “If I’d known, I would have come to you and Mom.”

  I swallowed down bitterness at the lie, hating that it had come to lying to my parents and betraying Eric’s trust. But it was worth it to keep my brother away from the dance tonight. He’d only been a bystander during the shooting, and I knew him well enough to know that he couldn’t be the shooter.

  Zac was so insistent that we keep everything as similar to the first time around as possible, but I disagreed. Eric didn’t need to be there again. So I had to lie about this, get him in trouble, and let him be angry at me. Because what I was doing could save his life.

  “You’ll have to stay home from the dance tonight,” Mom finally said to Eric. “We’ll discuss this further tomorrow.”

  “You’re grounding me?” Eric’s mouth dropped open. “That’s not fair. What about Liana? We’re going to the dance together. We have matching costumes and everything.”

  “Liana’s welcome to stay over and watch movies with you,” Mom said. “But you won’t be leaving the house tonight.”

  I held my breath, hoping that Liana would take my mom up on it. If she did, she would be one more person I’d potentially saved.

  “I want to go to the dance.” She studied the bottles of rum on the floor, not looking at Eric. “I’m sorry, Eric. I promised my friends—and the dance team—that I would be there. I have to go.”

  “Fine.” Eric kicked one of the rum bottles, and it flew at a chair. “I didn’t care about the stupid dance, anyway.” He turned around and hurried upstairs, the slam of his door echoing through the house indicating otherwise.

  I wished I could tell him why I’d gotten him grounded. But letting him be angry at me was better than letting him potentially get shot.

  Zac picked up the bottles of rum and the fake pieces of gold, putting them back in the pouch.

  “I’ll take that,” my dad said gruffly, and Zac handed it over to him.

  “I didn’t mean to ruin your date night,” I told my parents. “I’m sorry.”

  “Oh, we’re still going out tonight,” Mom said. “And if Eric does something stupid—like sneaks out to go to the dance—you’ll let us know. Right?”

  “Of course,” I agreed.

  There was still so much more to do tonight… but at least step one was complete. My brother was safe.

  Now I had to make sure that everyone who would be at the dance tonight would be safe, too.

  Friday, October 31

  Zac drove us to the dance, silent the entire way there. I knew I’d frustrated him by breaking off from the plan and getting Eric grounded. But with Liana in the car, he couldn’t say anything, which was why I assumed he stayed quiet.

  Instead of trying to make conversation, I thought about the last words I’d said to my parents. I’d told them I loved them, and that I hoped they had a great time on their date tonight. I’d tried to be as normal as possible, because I didn’t want to worry them.

  But what if that was the last time I would ever see them?

  It hurt too much to think about, and I didn’t want to believe it was possible. I couldn’t have been given my mom back only to have her yanked away again after a week. Maybe it was selfish—I should have been grateful to see her at all—but I couldn’t bear losing her twice.

  Zac pulled into a spot in the school parking lot, but he made no move to get out of the car. “I’m sorry to do this, Liana, but I need to speak with Annabelle and Claire for a minute,” he said. “Alone. You have friends you can meet inside, right?”

  Liana looked at each of us, as if expecting one of us to jump in and say we weren’t going to let her walk into the dance by herself. None of us said anything.

  I felt bad, because I didn’t know Liana, but this was a safe area. She would be okay walking into school herself. Plus, wouldn’t she have wanted to stay in with Eric tonight if she really liked him? She didn’t even go up to his room to say bye. My brother deserved someone kinder than that.

  “Yeah, sure.” Liana shook out her hair, running her fingers through her curls. “I’ll meet you all inside.” She got out of the car and headed across the parking lot, texting on her phone as she walked toward school.

  “What was that back at your house?” Zac said the moment she was gone. “You deviated from the plan.”

  “I know.” I sunk into my seat, looking anywhere but his eyes. “But I couldn’t let Eric go to the dance.”

  “What if he’s the one who did it?”

  “It wasn’t Eric,” I said. “Eric could never shoot anyone.” I twisted around, looking to Claire for backup. “You’ve known Eric for years. Tell Zac that he could never do it.”

  “I don’t think he could do it.” She chewed her lower lip, and I dreaded what was coming next. “But Anna… you said yourself that you saw him snooping near the safe where your dad keeps his gun.”

  “Because he was looking for rum!” I exclaimed. “The rum that you saw earlier in his pouch of gold.”

  “The rum that he snuck into the dance in your world,” Zac said. “Which means he’s capable of sneaking in a gun, too.”

  “That’s ridiculous.” I turned back around, crossing my arms. “It’s perfectly normal to sneak rum into a high school dance. It doesn’t mean he’s a murderer.”

  “But someone in there is,” Zac said softly. “And we agreed to keep everything as close to the way the shooting originally happened so we’re more likely to figure out who that someone is. With Eric grounded, we’ve already screwed that up.”

  “It’s already done.” I wouldn’t apologize for getting Eric grounded, because I would do the same thing again if I had a chance. “We can’t change it, so let’s move forward. Do you have everything you need for tonight?”

  “Yes,” Zac said.

  “And you got Jake everything he needs?”

  “Yes.”

  I stared at the school, frozen in place. I could still turn back. I could go home and watch old horror movies with Eric while eating the candy that hadn’t been claimed by trick-or-treaters. I would tell Zac and Claire that they could come over, too. And Jake. And even though we weren’t on the best of terms, I would invite Marisa as well.

  The people I cared about most in the world would be safe. At least for tonight.

  But if the shooter really was targeting us specifically, then we would only be safe for tonight. After tonight, they could strike whenever, wherever, and we would be caught off guard completely. We would never have a lead like this again.

  “Our plan is solid,” Zac said, as if he could read my thoughts. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep you safe.”

  Judging from the determination in his eyes, he was going to go through with this no matter what.

  He was brave. And I had to be the same.

  “I know,” I said, wishing I felt as confident as I sounded. We were so out of our league. How were we supposed to stop a shooting?

  I wished, not for the first time this week, that we could tell someone in charge what we knew. But the authorities would think I was crazy. I was lucky enough that Zac, Claire, and Jake believed me.

  So as much as I hated it, this was on our shoulders. It was up to us to make sure no one got hurt tonight.

  “Well, we can’t sit in the car all night.” Claire glanced out the window, a shadow passing over her eyes. “Are you both ready?”

  “Yes,” I said, as if saying it out loud would make me believe it. “I’m ready.”

  Honestly, I wasn’t sur
e if I would ever be ready for something like this. But I was lucky enough to have been given this second chance—this opportunity to save lives.

  I would do everything possible to make sure I didn’t waste it.

  Friday, October 31

  I walked inside the school with Claire and Zac. Despite Zac’s frustration at me for deviating from the plan, he held onto my hand the entire time. He was my anchor.

  Just like he’d been for this entire week.

  As expected, a teacher asked for our student IDs at the entrance, glanced into our purses, and let us inside. They didn’t even check every section of our bags, and Zac walked inside without them giving him a second glance.

  Sneaking something inside—like alcohol, or a gun—was so easy. It was as if they didn’t think the students at the school would actually bring anything dangerous inside, so why bother to truly check?

  I wanted to yell at the teacher in charge of security that he should do a better job. But that wouldn’t help if the shooter was already in the building. So I held my head high, strolled through security, and said nothing.

  School felt different at night, with everyone dressed up and excited to be there. Buzzing. More alive.

  I looked around, realizing that we were in the same place in the lobby where Eric had celebrated successfully sneaking the rum into the dance, and Marisa had left with him to drink with Danny in the bathroom. I remembered how Jake and I had walked hand-in-hand through the hall, and how we’d crashed into Robby, who was fighting with Claire. Jake had stopped me from falling, and we’d kissed before going inside the gym.

  My life was so different in this world. It was crazy how one small decision—choosing tails on that coin toss instead of heads—had rippled out and changed so much. Not just my life, but the lives of so many others. We were all connected in ways we didn’t even realize.

  “Annabelle?” Claire said, snapping me back into the present.