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Ann Marie gritted her teeth as she brought the gun against Noelle's head again, this time settling the barrel under her jaw.
"Because of you, I lost everything," she whispered in a broken voice, and Noelle noticed the tears swimming in her eyes before they fell down her cheeks. She was so close, she could see every little detail of her facial expressions. "Because of you…" she sniffled. "Everyone hates me. Even my own parents," she croaked, evident pain in her voice. "Even my dad…" she trailed off.
Noelle blinked at the sudden confession. Yet as much as she wanted to feel sorry for Ann Marie, she couldn't. Certainly not with the barrel of a gun digging into her chin.
Taking advantage of that moment, Noelle leaned in. The gun stayed in place, as did Ann Marie's continuous threats.
Noelle's mouth was on the same level with Ann Marie's as she started speaking, telling the girl what she thought of her and her attempt and urging her to go on. She told her things she would one day be ashamed of, but she topped them off with two words.
"Do it."
Ann Marie was trembling from head to toe. Noelle would have felt similarly if she didn't know her life was at stake and every little word brought her closer to death or…to living.
And she wanted to live.
She might hate her life right now. She might hate herself. But there was one glimmer of hope that still existed—one that told her better days were to come. And she wanted to be there for it.
So she did it.
She told Ann Marie once again.
"Kill me."
"Noelle!" Miss Allison yelled. The other students were also talking. Yet she only saw Ann Marie's sorrowful expression.
A few more words and everything happened in a quick succession.
Noelle drew back, a smug smile on her face as she watched a terrified Ann Marie make the decision of her life.
The door suddenly burst open, Noelle's bodyguard taking his stance.
There were words spoken, shouted,screamed.Yet she didn't pay them any mind.
Her eyes were solely on Ann Marie.
Make your choice—she told her with her gaze.
The sound of a gunshot reverberated in the air, closely followed by a second one.
Noelle kept herself still, her eyes wide open as blood, bone, and brain matter splattered all over her face and gown, the viscous substance sticking to her skin. For a moment, she saw her own death flash before her eyes. Lifting her blood-stained hands, she moved them around, clenching her fists in an attempt to convince herself that she was still alive.
And once glance at the floor told her the reality.
She was still alive. Ann Marie wasnot.
The girl was on the ground, her brains blown out by her own gun, blood leaking out of her back from the bodyguard's gun.
Everyone in the room was frozen in shock.
Miss Allison said something, but Noelle's ears were still reeling from the gunshot sound. Like a zombie, she barely forced herself to move.
"Someone call 991," a voice said, while another asked for the cops.
All Noelle knew was that she was still alive. And when her name was announced on the stage, she didn't linger to bemoan someone who'd almost killed her—someone who'd chosen her own fate. No, this washermoment, as it had been from the beginning.
Ann Marie would not ruin it. Not even from the dead.
Stepping over the dead body, Noelle's cheeks twitched as she arranged her features into a plastic smile. People were staring at her, and at the way blood clung to her skin and hair, but she didn't care.
