Collide

by Michelle Madow

He turned around and walked away. I was finally able to breathe again once he was out of the gym.

  “Thank you,” I told Jake, tears forming in my eyes. “What you did could have…” I wanted to say saved Eric’s life, but I couldn’t with Marisa standing there. “It stopped Eric from getting into a lot more trouble.”

  “Of course,” Jake said, his hand not leaving mine. “I would do anything for you. I hope that after tonight, you know that.”

  Marisa stared at our hands and took a step back, her cheeks a shade of red that almost matched her Queen of Hearts costume. “I can’t believe you,” she said to Jake, her voice wavering. “I knew things were rough between us, but this is how you’re ending it? By embarrassing me in front of the entire school?”

  “I can explain everything later,” he told her. “But right now, I need to dance with Anna. Just for this one song.”

  “That doesn’t make any sense!” She stomped her foot onto the floor. “How can you ‘need’ to dance with Anna? I’m your girlfriend.” She pointed at her chest. “You should be dancing with me. Instead you’re ditching me for her.” She glared at me. “Don’t you have your own boyfriend? Shouldn’t you be dancing with Zac right now?”

  I looked into the crowd, where sure enough, Zac was dancing with Claire. He was watching me over her shoulders, his brow furrowed in confusion.

  He must be wondering why Jake and I weren’t on the dance floor yet.

  “Zac’s dancing with Claire,” I said quickly. “We thought it would be fun to switch things up for the first slow song and dance with friends.”

  “That’s the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard,” Marisa said.

  “It’ll all make sense later,” Jake said, tugging me toward the dance floor. “But the song’s almost halfway over. We need to get out there. Now.”

  Marisa crossed her arms, giving him a stare of death. “If you dance with her right now, I’m leaving.”

  “Fine.” Jake held her gaze. “Leave.”

  They stood like that for a few seconds, silently challenging each other.

  “I hate you,” she finally said. “Both of you. Go dance together. See what I care.” With that, she turned on her heel and stomped toward the door, not looking back.

  “At least she’s out of the gym and safe,” Jake said once she was gone.

  I stared at the place where she’d disappeared. That wasn’t how I imagined this would happen. But then again… I’d never figured out how Jake was going to manage to dance with me instead of Marisa. He’d just promised me that he would get it done, and I’d believed him.

  “I think she wants you to chase after her,” I told him.

  “We didn’t get this far for me to leave now,” he said. “Now… would you like to dance?”

  “Yes.” I somehow managed to speak despite the fear pounding in my chest. “I would.”

  Friday, October 31

  Jake led me through the dance floor, stopping underneath the disco ball. He wrapped his hands around my waist and pulled me closer. “I’ve got you,” he whispered in my ear. “You’re going to be okay.”

  “How are you not terrified?” I asked, looking up at him in wonder.

  “I am terrified,” he said. “But me, you, Zac, and Claire… we’re the only ones who are ready for this. You said it yourself—you were sent here for a reason. To change what’s about to happen. Whoever—whatever—sent you here believes in you, and I believe in you too. You’re braver than you think you are. If you could see yourself the way that I see you, you would know that without a doubt.”

  “Thank you,” I said, and as much as I didn’t want to cry, my eyes filled with tears anyway. I tried to swallow them away, but it was too late. So I let them fall.

  “I already told you this, but I’ll tell you again,” he said. “There’s no other person I would choose to be with right now. For me, it’s always been you. And knowing that you feel the same way about me means everything.”

  His eyes locked on mine, so open and honest, and despite everything, I smiled. “It’s always been you for me, too,” I told him. “I love you no matter what. I want you to know that, in case things don’t work out tonight.”

  “Things will work out,” he said. “And I love you, too.”

  Then his lips were on mine, and I was kissing him back, and for just those few seconds, everything between us was perfect.

  But only for that moment. Because nothing—not even kissing Jake—could distract me from the terror of knowing what was coming next.

  I leaned back, my eyes meeting Jake’s, and I could see his fear reflected back at me. Despite how strong he was being, he was scared too.

  “It’ll be okay,” he reminded me. “We’re ready for this. Just focus on me, all right?”

  Focus on Jake. That was our plan. Because the first time this had happened, I’d been looking at Jake, too. If I looked around now—to where I knew the shooter would be—and our eyes met, it could change who was shot first. He might decide to shoot me first.

  That would ruin everything.

  I needed to focus on Jake. Zac and Claire were on guard, watching to see where the shot was coming from. They had our backs. And we’d taken enough precautions to know that Jake would be safe when the shot was fired.

  I ran my hand over his chest, reminding myself that he would be okay. He was prepared. He would make it out of this alive.

  Every inch of me wanted to run, but I couldn’t let the fear take over. I had to trust that the plan would work.

  And so, I stood strong, my eyes locked on Jake’s as the first shot rang through the air.

  Friday, October 31

  A breeze whooshed past my arm, and the memory of my dress—red with Jake’s blood—flashed through my mind.

  It’s happening again, I thought. We’re not going to make it out of here alive.

  Some people say that fear makes time speed up. That everything happens so quickly that you can’t think—that you can’t process what’s happening until it’s over.

  That didn’t happen to me.

  Maybe it was because I knew this moment was coming, but instead of time speeding up, it did the opposite. It slowed down.

  I couldn’t look at my dress. I feared it would be red, confirming what I’d been dreading all week.

  That we’d failed.

  Bile rose in my throat, and I swallowed it down, my head swirling with panic. People were screaming, but it faded into the background.

  Soon I would know if Jake was hit—soon I would know if he was going to live or die.

  If it was the latter… there was nothing I would be able to do about it. I would lose him twice. I couldn’t handle that. Not after just getting him back.

  Still, I had to look. I had to know.

  So I did… and there wasn’t a spot of blood on the dress. It was completely white. Jake was okay.

  But even so, he fell to the floor anyway.

  Friday, October 31

  I dropped to my knees next to him and ran my hand over his chest. Just like when I’d felt it before, it was hard. Solid.

  From the bulletproof vest that Zac had taken from his dad and loaned to Jake before picking me up for the dance.

  “Are you okay?” I whispered in Jake’s ear. “Were you hit?”

  “That hit me all right.” He groaned, still lying on the floor. “I’ll definitely have some bruises tomorrow.”

  “But you’re going to be fine,” I said, remembering how he’d looked the first time around—blood pooling around him, eyes glazed, face pale, and barely able to breathe. This was different. He’d had the wind knocked out of him, but he was still alive.

  Thank God.

  Then I realized I’d been so focused on Jake that I hadn’t noticed that the gunshots had stopped.

  I looked to where I’d seen Zac dancing with Claire. He stood with both hands around the Taser that he’d taken from his sister and blended into his cop costume. Close by, a clump of guys—football players judging from their matc
hing Bath Salt Zombie t-shirts—were huddled around someone who had fallen to the floor. A gun was strewn beside them. People ran by, hurrying out of the building, but no one touched the discarded weapon.

  I also wanted to get as far away from here as possible. But I had to see who the shooter was once and for all.

  “It worked,” I said to Jake, helping him stand up. “Zac did it.”

  Jake grimaced when he moved, touching the spot where he’d been hit. “Who was the shooter?” he asked.

  “I don’t know yet,” I told him. “But we’re about to find out.”

  He took my hand, and together we walked over to where Zac stood with Claire, the Taser still in Zac’s hands. In front of him was a pile of football players, tackling someone to the ground.

  The shooter.

  “Who was it?” I asked, staring at the pile. “Who was the shooter?”

  “See for yourself,” he said, and then he called out to his teammates, “I’ve got your backs! You can get up now.”

  “Shouldn’t you pick that up first?” I pointed to the gun. There was no way I was touching it. I’d never used a gun before—I was terrified of it accidentally going off.

  Until now, I’d never had any interest in going with my dad and brother to the shooting range. But after this week, I would learn. It was better to be prepared than to be helpless.

  Zac picked up the gun, handling it gently, and clicked on the safety. “The police are on the way, but I’ll hold onto this until they arrive,” he said, although seeing how serious he looked in his cop costume, I could have easily believed that he was the police.

  Now that the gun was secured, I took another step forward, finally able to peer over the huddle of football players.

  The first person I saw in the center was Robby.

  But Robby wasn’t the one who’d been tased. Instead, he was holding someone else to the floor, facedown.

  The shooter.

  I recognized what he was wearing—a black t-shirt and jeans. He was the only person who hadn’t come to the dance in costume. But I still needed to see for myself.

  “Turn him over,” I told Robby. “I want to see his face.”

  Robby nodded, and the other guys on the team moved in closer, ready to pounce in case the shooter went running. Not that I could imagine him trying. Because he was scrawny, surrounded with football players, and had just been tased. The power he’d held when he shot that gun was gone.

  Robby flipped him over, and I looked at the face of the person I drove to school every morning—Danny.

  Friday, October 31

  Danny’s eyes were blank, disconnected from the world and everyone around him. I’d always thought that he was awkward, and a loner… but I’d never imagined he would snap like this.

  Why had he done it? What had pushed him to bring that gun here tonight, with the intent to kill?

  Robby forced him to stand up, holding his hands behind his back. The other football players huddled around, watching closely to make sure Danny didn’t step out of line. But Robby was a big guy—at least twice Danny’s size. Danny couldn’t escape his grip. It didn’t even look like he was trying.

  Danny held my gaze for a few seconds, and then he focused on Zac. “I thought you had a gun,” he finally said. “If I’d known it was only a Taser, I wouldn’t have frozen like I did.”

  “That’s the first thing you have to say?” I asked, taking a step closer. “That you wish you hadn’t been stopped?”

  Danny just stared at me, saying nothing.

  “I don’t get it,” I said. “You do well in school—you’re smart. You have so much going for you. Why would you do something like this?”

  “I have so much going for me?” He laughed, although it sounded hollow. Empty. “That’s funny, coming from the girl who’s never noticed me. Who ignored me in the car, until this week when you had so much pity for me that you tried to stand up for me because you didn’t think I could do it myself. You date Zac, you dance with Jake, but I’m so invisible that you forgot to drive me home. I’ve always been invisible to you. I’m invisible to everyone at this damn school.”

  “That’s not true,” I said. “Eric’s your friend.”

  “No, he’s not.” Danny’s eyes were still blank—like all the humanity had been stripped from his soul. “He just happens to be my neighbor, and he pretends to be nice to me so he can copy my homework and use my study notes.”

  I wished I could disagree, but recently, it had been unfortunately true.

  “But why Jake?” I asked. “I don’t understand why you went for him first. Were you aiming for me and missed?”

  “No,” he said casually. “I didn’t miss. I saw you out with Jake earlier this week. Late at night. Wednesday night, to be specific. I was watching you through my window.”

  “You were watching me?” I wrapped my arms around myself, as if I could shield myself from his gaze.

  “Yes.” He smiled. “My window has a great view into your room. I watch you a lot. Not that you would ever notice. But because of it, I know stuff about you. I know that it takes you an hour to get ready for school every morning. I know that you don’t like to stay up past eleven on school nights, but sometimes you lay in bed with your lights off, on your phone. And you sneak out on the weekends.”

  I shook my head, horrified. What he was saying was about Annabelle, not me—but it felt like just as much of an intrusion.

  “I know that you’re dating Zac and seeing Jake on the side,” he continued. “But you laughed at me when I asked you to the dance. All I wanted was for you to see me. I’m in the car with you every day, but you barely talk to me. And when you do, you’re just talking down to me. Everyone talks down to me. Even my teachers. How much of a loser am I, that I can’t even get my teachers to like me?”

  I backed away, comforted by the fact that Zac and Jake were standing on both sides of me. Because Danny had lost his mind. He’d probably lost it ages ago. How had no one noticed? How had he spiraled this out of control without someone trying to help him?

  As much as I hated thinking about it, I knew the reason. It was because Danny was right. I didn’t notice him. Apparently no one at school did. He was the weird kid. I’d never had a conversation with him that hadn’t felt stilted and awkward. That was just who he was. I’d simply accepted that he was strange, and didn’t think twice about it.

  But I never thought he would do something like this.

  “You were going to shoot me also, weren’t you?” I asked, even though I had a sinking feeling that I already knew the answer.

  “Yes,” he said. “And then I was going to shoot myself. Send us all to the grave together.” He turned to Zac, his lips curled in hatred. “Why don’t you do it now?” he prodded him. “I know you want to. That gun’s burning a hole in your pocket. Shoot me, and everyone will say you did it in self defense.” He looked around at the people still in the gym—the football players huddled around him, and a few teachers monitoring from the sidelines making sure the exits were covered. “You’ll all stick up for your perfect quarterback and say that he shot me in self defense, wouldn’t you?”

  No one answered. The gym was eerily silent.

  “I’m not going to shoot you.” Zac’s voice was calm and steady, as if he dealt with crazed killers every day.

  “Then what about you, Annabelle?” Danny turned back to me, taunting me. His face was so twisted with anger that I barely recognized the quiet, awkward boy that I’d driven to school every day.

  How had no one seen this terrible side of him? How had his sickness gone undetected for so long?

  “I just told you that I was going to shoot you, and that I was aiming for Jake, too,” he said, as if he thought I hadn’t heard him the first time. “For your information—because I know you’re probably wondering—I was also going to go for Zac. And for Eric. And Liana. And the teachers, too. If it hadn’t been for Zac here, they would all be dead. So I’m telling you now—I want you to do it. Shoot me.
My life is over after this, anyway. And don’t tell me that you don’t want to do it. I know that you do. I see it in your eyes, in the way you’re looking at me. You hate me. Don’t you?”

  “I do.” I nodded, because in this moment, I’d never hated anyone as much as I hated him.

  “Then shoot me in the head,” he said. “Make it quick. The way I was going to do for you.” He smiled, as if he truly thought that planning to kill me instantly was a kindness.

  “I won’t shoot you,” I said.

  “Why not?” he asked. “Too much of a coward?”

  “No.” I forced myself to keep my gaze locked on his. “I won’t shoot you because I’m not a killer.”

  “I should have known you would say that.” He sighed. “Perfect angel Annabelle—your costume suits you perfectly. But there has to be someone here who will do it.” Danny looked around and squirmed against Robby’s hold on him, which only got tighter. “Anyone want to step up?”

  No one moved.

  Finally, sirens rang in the background, coming closer and closer until they were right outside of the school.

  Danny was going to get what was coming to him. But it wouldn’t be by any of our hands.

  “Someone just do it!” he yelled, spit flying from his mouth. The terror in his eyes—terror at the thought of living—made the hair rise along my arms. “Don’t you all get it?” he said. “I want to die. Whatever comes next—if anything actually does come next—it has to be better than this fucked up world we live in.”

  “I would think twice about that,” Robby said. “Because you’re going to rot in hell for this.”

  I nodded, since for the first time ever, Robby actually said something that I agreed with.

  Friday, October 31

  The police entered the building and hauled Danny into custody. They took the gun and the Taser as well.

  Everyone still in the gym was questioned, but our stories all matched up. As far as anyone knew, the first shot missed Jake—and miraculously missed anyone else—and he dropped to the ground to get out of the line of fire. Zac had the Taser on him as an accessory to his costume, and after hearing the first shot, he’d improvised and saved us all. He was the hero of the night. Everyone kept saying how lucky we all were that Zac had been standing in the perfect position to save the day.