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I should have known the conversation would quickly swing back to the issue at hand. “I’ll buy you a new Barbie, how about that?”
“Considering the interest involved and the time that’s passed, I don’t think so. You owe me way more. It was compounded interest.”
“Ugh, finance majors. Y’all are a different breed.”
Red and white lights flashed through the darkening bus as a fire truck raced past us. The sirens were loud and drowned out what Kira had said.
“Huh?” I asked.
“I said, what’s the worst that can happen? You and Brandon might not even end up talking. You can hang out with me and Theresa the entire night. And if one of us just happens to accidentally shout out for Brandon Reed’s attention so that you two could properly be introduced, then so be it.”
“Even if I could form a complete sentence around him, I don’t think I’d want to, Kira. He’s a sporty, muscular, douchy rugby player who probably thinks he’s a god and we’re all just playthings.”
“And is that such a bad thing?”
I shrugged. “I think it is.”
Another fire truck blared past the bus. And then another.
“You also thought—whoa, look at that.”
People were starting to gather against one side of the bus, kids moving around book bags so they could see out the window. Since we were standing, we got a good view of the night sky, which had a haunting orange glow to it, something I’d never seen before. It flickered and shifted as thick clouds of smoke drifted by.
The bus pulled over to the side of the street, no bus stop in sight.
Our driver’s voice came on over the speakers. “Folks, it seems like there’s a building on fire up ahead, we’re pulling over here until we can figure out what’s happening.”
The doors to the bus opened, and people began to spill out. Kira and I looked nervously at each other. From the angle and tree coverage outside, we couldn’t tell which dorm building had caught fire, but we could tell we were very close to ours. Kira followed a couple of girls logging into their Snapchats as they went down the steps and onto the sidewalk.
“Whoa, this is crazy,” Kira said. The murmur on the bus grew louder and louder. We turned a corner and— Holy shit. It was my building. Iron Hall was on fire, the flames licking up at the darkening sky, fire trucks surrounding the building.
“Oh my God, Kira.” My stomach dropped down to my feet. I had to will myself not to throw up. “Kira, my cat’s in there. Olive. Oh my God.”
Kira’s face went deathly pale. She put a hand up to her mouth, covering whatever she was saying. I couldn’t really hear her past the pounding of blood in my ears and the engine of the bus struggling as we pushed up a hill, the sky reflecting the orange blaze.
No, no, no.
Just one thought crossed my mind: I needed to save Olive. I wasn’t sure exactly how, but I didn’t care, I had to get in there.
“Kira, I’ve got to go, I have to find her.”
The ash in the air made it hard to breathe, and it stung at my eyes with the heat and dirt when a particularly strong wind blew in our direction. I covered my face with an elbow and took off at a run, swerving around a protesting firefighter and running straight toward the blaze, only one thought on my mind: Olive. I need to find Olive. Olive.
Chapter 2
Brandon Reed
Five Hours Earlier
Rugby practice had been killer. All the guys in the locker room were drenched in sweat and flushed pink from their toes up. I was no exception, tempted to wring out my shirt on Aiden’s head but deciding not to risk getting on the coach’s bad side. I dropped the shirt in a plastic bag and tied it up, tossing it in my duffel bag instead.
I was bending over when I felt a sharp slap against my calves. I jerked back up and turned around, Aiden standing there with his wet shirt hanging from his hand like a whip.
“Asshole,” I said, laughing. “I was just about to give you a pre-shower.”
“Pre-shower? Sounds like something you’d give to your boyfriend, not me.”
“Ex-boyfriend. And no, my pre-showers are reserved for you.”
I put my fingers together in the shape of a heart and cocked my head with a smile.
“Wait, ex? When did you guys break up.”
“Like a year ago, Aidan.”
Aidan’s eyebrows shot up. He was a good friend, as good as friend as any I had here. He was the closest to me on our rugby team, not that the other guys were dicks or anything. We all got along, everyone knew I was gay, no one seemed to give a flying fuck. Things were the way they should be.
