seven (adam banks)

chapter eighteen

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chapter eighteen: death doesn't discriminate

a/n:
get you someone like jamie, man

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Jamie stands at her locker, eyebrows furrowed in frustration as she sorts through her things.

Adam is A.W.O.L. He wasn't at the bus stop, he didn't meet her at the front of the school, and, with about fifteen minutes left on the clock, he still hasn't shown up for homeroom. At this rate, he's going to be late and wind up in detention, and he didn't call her to let her know that he was sick this morning, so she's starting to get worried.

Well, she was getting worried at the bus stop.

She's well past worried now.

Checking her watch again, she shuts her locker and picks up her bookbag, jumping as a hand lands on her shoulder.

"Hey!- oh, it's you. Hi, Scott."

The lump in her throat only gets tighter as Jamie stares up at the varsity goalie. He's never really spoken to her without his friends around, which is concerning on its own, but he also looks incredibly forlorn. The sadness in his eyes makes her less worried for her own well-being and more terrified about quite literally everything else.

"Hey... is Adam alright?"

"Huh?"

It's not what she was expecting, and it's barely relieving.

"Adam. Is he okay?" Scott repeats himself, shoving his hands into his pockets.

Jamie sticks her thumb under the strap of her book bag and slides it up and down, eyebrows furrowed tightly.

"Uh, yeah, I think so? Why wouldn't he be?"

"Oh, I just heard that the Ducks guy, Hans or Jan or whatever, died."

Her face goes lax with horror and her eyes grow wide.

Hans. That's what his name was. He was Bombay's mentor, the original Duck, the glue that was holding everything and everyone together, especially after Bombay left. Vaguely, she recalls him owning a store with his brother in Minneapolis.

But Hans wasn't that old. Was he?

Oh, God. Adam.

Her body working quicker than her brain and mouth, Jamie starts to book it down the hallway and toward the staircase. Scooter makes a surprised, confused noise as she leaves and she turns around to look at him as she runs.

"Sorry! Thank you! Tell Buckley I had a family emergency!"

Practically flying down the stairs, she proves to be as mighty as she is tiny. Jamie pushes through the droves of kids who are just entering the school, shouting apologies and 'excuse me's as she goes; she nearly knocks some poor freshman out as she slams her hands down on the push bar, the door swinging open violently.

Elena is just getting out of her car as Jamie makes it to the parking lot with heaving breaths and hair all out of place.

"Lena! Lena! We have to go! I have to go."

The older brunette stares across the car at her in confusion, her keys dangling in her hand.

"Woah- pump the breaks, JJ. What's going on?"