Cruel Me

Chapter 12 |Part 1|: Pardon Me (junior year)

(junior year)

Fire.

. . .

All I see is fucking fire.

Anywhere I looked, it was as if it was all happening in slow motion. People ran around. Coach barked orders. Buckets of water poured on the burning building.

And I stood there like a goddamn wuss, rooted on the spot in the middle of the field - unable to move my fucking ass.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing. I fucking refused to acknowledge it. This had to be a dream. It fucking had to be. No way in hell could the football department building be up in flames. The odds of that happening was so slim.

I squeezed my eyes shut, then opened them again.

Black smoke now covered the sky, blocking the sun.

Fuck.

"Adam!" a senior yelled. It sounded so far off the distance, which was weird since he was only twenty feet away from me.

"Where's Adam?!"

"He's not here!"

"Shit! He didn't make it out!"

"Coach! Adam's still inside!"

"Help is on the way!"

"There's no fucking time!"

"He'll die in there if we don't do something now!"

My feet moved on its own. Before I knew what I was doing, I was running towards the burning down building. I saw someone carrying a bucket of water, and I immediately pulled off my jersey jacket. As I passed him, I grabbed the bucket from him and poured the water on myself before throwing it away.

"Where ya going, Oz?"

"Oz, stop!"

"Get back here, Oz!"

"Oz!"

I heard my name being called several times but I ignored them and continued to run. A couple of seniors tried to block my path. Being a helluva strong running back, I managed to slip past them. The yell of my best friend didn't escape me.

"Be careful, man!"

I could hear the worry in Alfie's voice, but I didn't look back.

I pulled up my wet shirt to cover my nose and ducked into the entrance. There was literally fire everywhere that I had to squint my eyes. I quickly headed to the locker room because where else the fuck was I supposed to look? It wasn't rocket science.

"Adam?!"

I kicked opened the door, because it was on fire so no point using the fucking knob. I coughed a little, accidentally inhaling some smoke. I rapidly walked down the isle, checking each row and dreading to see an unconscious body. All I saw were our football uniforms and gears literally turning to ashes.

I swallowed a lump in my throat, ignoring the pang of pain I felt against my chest and sting at the back of my eyes. I shook my head and focused on the task at hand.

"Adam! Where the fuck are you?!"

Swearing under my breath, I got the hell out of there and went straight to the gym. A long piece of burning wood crashed down in front of me, making me jump in surprise.

Holy shit, that was close.

I leaped over it and went on my way. I didn't even realize that the droplets of water on my skin were already being replaced by beads of sweat. That wasn't good.