I finish clearing my desk and putting all my things into the box. My co-workers stare at me like I’m infectious, saying nothing.
They’re glad to see me go.
I walk out without a goodbye.
Students clear a path when I walk out. I’m sure they have questions, but no one asks me anything. It’s almost like I’m a virus. Contagious.
Redwood is finally getting rid of the poison.
“Miss Jamieson!” One of my best students chases after me. “Is it true? Are you really leaving?”
I nod. “Don’t let this distract you. Keep studying, okay? You’re almost at the finish line.”
Her bottom lip trembles and she steps back so I can pass.
Once I get to my car, my limbs feel heavy and my head is pounding. The adrenaline I felt from being on TV and giving Harris his due is gone, replaced by a strange emptiness.
No, worse than that.
It’s like I’m naked.
I stripped myself of something—some armor, some protection—when I put myself in front of the world and unmasked a villain. Now, I’m left with the shambles of a life I’d built here at Redwood. It’s gone. The students. The memories. Someone else will have to protect them now.
I climb into my car and grip the steering wheel.
Up ahead, the parking lot is filling up with fancy cars, all belonging to the rich and privileged students of Redwood Prep.
For a moment, I don’t move.
It feels like I’m staring into a strange, yawning abyss.
My phone buzzes in my purse.
It has been for a while now, but I ignore it.
Whether it’s more reporters, Harris’s lawyers, mom or Zane, I don’t want to talk to anyone. My thoughts are sloshing around in my head. Liquid chaos. I just want to get away. Take a breath. Feel more like myself.
The car starts with a rumble.
I’m so glad I got it out of the shop. I would have hated to catch a bus with the way I’m feeling.
Rather than heading home, I take the open road. Somehow, I find myself heading in the direction of the cliff where Zane took me the night we kissed.
When I realize where I’m going, I jolt and glance around guiltily as if someone’s going to jump out of the bushes and accuse me of finding consolation in that forbidden moment.
There’s no one there.
I laugh softly to myself. “You’re being ridiculous, Grey.”
Shaking my head, I slam on the brakes so I can make a right turn and go home.
My heels pump the brakes all the way to the ground, but nothing happens. The pedal’s lack of resistance takes me completely by surprise and, at first, I wonder if I imagined the sensation.
Weird.
My brakes don’t feel like that.
The world outside the car blurs as the vehicle keeps moving, speeding up on pure momentum.
I slam on the brakes again sure that the first time, I made some kind of mistake and that this time, the car will slow as it’s supposed to.
But it doesn’t.
The first trickle of panic steps in. It’s like venom dripping on my face.
My eyes widen and I grip the steering wheel, pumping the brakes pedal furiously. The sound of the metal gears creaking fills my ears. It merges with the howl of the wind outside, battering my window.
Panic consumes me.
Fight or flight kicks in.
Should I jump out of the car? One quick glance at the speedometer tells me that would be incredibly foolish. There’s no way I could survive.
Up ahead, I see another car coming my way.
I honk like crazy and wave my arms.
“Help!”
They keep driving, probably wondering why some crazy person is making noise on the road.
My heart is slamming into my ribs, clamoring all the way up to my throat.
What do I do? What do I do?
Zane’s face pops into mind.
I reach over my purse and the car swerves wildly. Screaming at the top of my lungs, I wrench the car back so it’s flying straight and pick around my purse until I get my phone.
There are a ton of missed phone calls on my notification bar.
Fingers trembling, I swipe past them and call Zane’s number.
He picks up on the first ring.
“Tiger, where—”
“Zane!” I shriek louder than I ever have before. “Zane, my brakes aren’t working! I can’t control the car and any minute now it’s going to crash.” The last words are barely understandable. Something about saying my predicament out loud makes me blubber like a baby. “Zane!”
“Sweetheart, listen to me.” He sounds breathless. Has he been running? “I need you to stay calm and answer two questions, okay?”
“No, I can’t…”
“Okay?” He sounds more firm.
I pant sporadically. “Yes.”
“Are there any cars on the road?”
“No.” I lick my lips nervously.
“Where are you?”
“Close to the cliffs. The one where we k…”
His silence is pointed, as if the significance of that isn’t lost on him.
The car roars.
“Zane!”
“Are your park brakes working?” he asks urgently.
“I don’t know.” I start to reach for it.
“Don’t yank it yet,” he growls. “Or you might go sideways.”
The world is a blur outside my window.
The panic is biting.
“Should I turn off the ignition?”
My fingers go for the keys when I hear him yell, “No! You’ll lose power and steering and you might lock the steering column.”
“I have to do something!”
“Just take a deep breath.”
I inhale even though the very last thing I want to do is breathe when my world is spinning out of control and it’s very possible I might die if I don’t get control of this car.
“Now, I need you to downshift and very gently pull the park brakes to slow your speed.” He coaches me in a calm voice. “Are you doing that, tiger?”
“Yes.” I follow his instructions to a tee.
The speedometer starts to dial back.
“If no one is around, you can swerve back and forth on the road. But. Be. Careful. And keep an eye out in case you’re in the wrong lane.”
I start to turn the steering wheel. My fingers are slick with sweat and they almost slip off the leather case.
“Don’t get carried away,” Zane warns. I can hear wind rushing in the background and the sound of stones shifting under his feet.
“Are you… running?”
The sounds continue. “Focus.”
I keep doing what he instructed.
“It’s working.” Near maniacal laughter pours from my lips. “Zane, I’m slowing down!”
“Good, tiger. We’re almost there. Now, I need you off the road. A rough surface will create resistance on the tires. Can you pull over to the side? Preferably somewhere grassy?”
“I don’t see grass.” I peer over the steering wheel, “but I do see a sort of off-road path.”
“Go there.” He sounds even more breathless than before.
“Zane, are you okay?”
“I’ll be okay when I hear that you’re okay.”
My heart skips a beat.
“Tiger.”
“Mm?”
“Are you focusing?”
I drag my gaze back to the road and steer the car into the rough path. The sand and rocks help slow the car even more and I eventually roll to a stop.
“I did it!” I scream. Throwing my head back in relief, I squeeze the phone to my ear. “Zane, I stopped.”
“And I’m almost there.”
“What?” My eyes bug and I glance around. There’s no one on the road. “How did you drive here so fast?”
“It’s a long story and I’m on foot, unfortunately.” His pants get even louder.
I unzip my seatbelt and glance over my shoulder, trying to see the direction he’s coming from. At that moment, I hear the roar of an engine.
The sound is familiar.
I whip around.
A tinted black car speeds toward me.
For a split second, my memory takes over and I realize it’s the same vehicle that tailed us that night after our meeting at the treehouse.
My fingers clamp around my phone and I let out a breathless, “Zane…”
Before I can get any other words out, the black car crashes into me. I fly to the roof and then slam back down on the steering wheel.
Pain flashes through my body, searing my skull.
And then it all goes black.
