Riveroak

Chapter 20

Her long blonde hair that sticks out the bottom of her hood is the first thing that catches my eye. Her normally polished face is a mix of anger and frustration as she stands with the gun pointed directly at me. I look at her, but when I look into her eyes this is not the girl I've known at Riveroak. 

The girl that I've shared a room with since the first day. 

"Gala," I whisper shocked.

"You couldn't just leave well enough alone, could you?" she asks me as she waves her gun around in the air. "I tried to be your friend. I tried to welcome you in with open arms and this is the thanks I get from you. You know most people would get scared getting messages from an admitted killer, but you? Not Elena Ramos Nancy Drew Detective! No, you kept going." 

She begins to pace back and forth and my heart is aching with betrayal. How could it be Gala? How could it be the only person besides Chip that I've actually gotten close to in this school? I thought I had finally found a real best friend. 

"Gala, you were attacked," I say out loud, not believing what is right in front of my eyes. My head is swimming in confusion as I watch her pace. 

"Oh please, Elena," she says with a condescending tone. "Do you know how easy it is to make yourself look attacked when you throw a wrench up in the air over and over again and let it hit you?"

My jaw drops as I stare at her in astonishment. The gun is still being pointed directly at me. 

The same gun that just shot Chip.

"Oh my god, Chip!" I say throwing my hands over the wound in his shoulder. He winces in pain, but at least I know he's still alive if he's wincing. He coughs and looks at me. "Run," he whispers. 

"I'm not leaving," I say.

 "Neither of you are," Gala says with an almost laugh. "The fact that you have any idea that either one of you is leaving this auditorium alive is ridiculous. In fact, step back Elena," she says pointing the gun at me. 

"No!" I say holding pressure on Chip's wound. "I won't!" 

"Get back or I swear I'll shoot you in the face right now." 

Chip grabs my hand and squeezes it. "Elena," he whispers. "Go." 

Reluctantly I let go of the pressure in his shoulder and take steps back until Gala nods and points the gun back at Chip. "He's going to bleed out," she says. "He's going to bleed out and then I'm going to kill you. A homicide turned suicide from the girl who just couldn't swing it in Riveroak." 

"Gala," Chip croaks from the ground. "Please let her go." 

Gala scoffs. "I have no time for this Romeo and Juliet bullshit," she says as she walks over to Chip and slams the bottom of her pistol into his temple. His head slumps to the side and I let out a scream in horror as she steps back and instantly points the gun back at me. "Do not move," she says. "This is inevitable. At least this way he doesn't have to see his precious little Elena die as well." 

Keep her talking, Elena. Give yourself time to figure something out. 

"Why?" I ask her. "Why did you do it?"

She points the gun at me and bites her lower lip and I brace myself, ready to throw my body into a row of chairs at a given moment. Gala lets out a loud groan. Her eyes are angry as the violet color from the stage shines onto her face. 

"Because, Elena, Victoria was a bitch. She's a stupid bitch who looked for people's secrets and would use them against them. Only this time, she dug too far and it bit her in the ass. I bit her in the ass."