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Slipping my free arm out from between us, I splay my hand over Brandon’s face and push. “Gia, no!” I yell as she stands over Brandon, a terrified yet determined look on her face. “Don’t!”
She’s right over him now, and just when I think she’s going to swing, sealing her fate, my mind catches up to my eyes. The object in her hand isn’t something to whack him over the head with, it’s her phone, and the other sounds I noticed earlier are coming from it.
“—off my sister!” she’s crying, and someone from the phone is calling Brandon’s name.
Brandon’s not paying attention, he’s still spiraling, and my confidence grows now that I’ve gotten an arm free and am still using it to push at his face.
There’s thumping up the stairs as Brandon and I wrestle for dominance on the floor, him yelling about the phone and Gia yelling something about recording.
Someone else enters the room, and when I hear his voice, relief spreads through me.
Brandon doesn’t hear him, though, and he’s not prepared. There’s a blur over me, and Brandon is tackled to the ground.
Rolling out of the way, I struggle to my knees and breathe through the panic, trying to calm my heaving lungs. Jason is holding Brandon down, a furious look contorting his features as he punches Brandon in the face once, twice, three times. There’s a crunch, and blood splatters. I think he broke Brandon’s nose.
“What’s happening? What’s going on?” the voice from Gia’s phone asks as she quickly points the camera away from the boys, and now that my brain fog is clearing, I realize what’s happening.
“Jason!” I yell, but he’s given in to the fury. He and Brandon are finally getting their shot at each other after all this time, and neither guy is letting up. They’re both standing now, throwing punches and circling and grabbing each other. Brandon’s face is all bloody, but he doesn’t seem to notice.
“Jason, stop!” I try again, grabbing his arm. He glances at me, his eyes just as crazed as Brandon’s, but they soften as they take me in. “Please.”
Like it takes an obscene amount of effort, Jason pushes Brandon away and pulls me back with him, standing in front of me in case Brandon charges. But just because Jason’s decided to stop fighting doesn’t mean Brandon has. He continues his rush at us, and Jason meets him halfway, restraining him.
“I’m recording!” Gia yells, stepping closer to them and holding the phone up. “I video-called Brianna when I followed you up the stairs! I’ve been recording this whole time!”
Brandon doesn’t hear her, not at first, not until another, more mature voice shouts, “Brandon Nathaniel Scott!”
I know the moment he hears it, the moment he realizes it’s over for him, because all the fight leaves his body.
He slumps, and Jason’s grip is the only thing keeping him upright.
Gia turns around so we can see her screen, revealing half of Brianna’s face and, beside her, a middle-aged woman with Brandon’s chestnut-colored hair. They’re in a car, and the trees in the background are blurring by.
The woman, whom I recognize as his mom, speaks again. “We’re two minutes out! Brandon, you are in so much fucking trouble! Just wait until your father hears about this! How dare you act like that to Gia’s sister?
You were hurting her, Brandon! And did you saysteroids?
You’re onsteroids? I swear to—” She continues, but I stop paying attention, meeting Jason’s eyes over Brandon’s shoulder.
Instantly, Jason releases him, and Brandon stumbles to hold his own weight. He’s completely still, all the rage and fury drained from him as he must be replaying everything that happened after he forced his way past Gia and up the stairs, along with everything he said.
Jason’s arm wraps around my waist, holding me up against him. He angles himself between me and Brandon even though the large boy is now sinking onto the floor, holding his head in his hands and muttering something that sounds like “I’m so fucked.”
“You okay?” Jason asks, brushing my hair from my face. His eyes are large and worried, and his chest is heaving like he’s still trying to control himself. “I dropped Jackson off at work, and when I pulled into the driveway, I saw the door wide open. I was so fucking scared. I don’t think I’ve ever run so fast in my life.”
He tilts my face to assess any damage, but it’s all still left over from Gia’s accident.
“I’m all right, just shaken up a bit,” I answer; the pounding in my head and shooting pain in my arms don’t feel as intense now that Jason’s here. “Thank you for coming when you did.”
His grip on my waist tightens. “I should’ve gotten here sooner, especially after what he said in the hall. I should’ve known he’d do something like this.”
“This isn’t your fault, Jason,” I say, trying to erase the guilt in his eyes. He has no reason to feel guilty. If he wasn’t here, nothing would’ve stopped Brandon, and I don’t know how far he would’ve gone. “It’s no one’s fault but Brandon’s.”
Gia edges over to us, her phone in her pocket, so I’m assuming she’s hung up on Brianna.
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do more. I’m sorry he hurt you,”
Gia says, tears streaming down her face. Jason releases me so I can reach for her. She’s still shaking, still looks terrified. “I—I was going to knock him over the head with your lamp but then I thought about the motel and I didn’t want to . . . didn’t want to accidentally . . .”
