looks cold, but that only lasts for a second. I’m so mad at him right now that not even his amazing body and good looks are enough to suppress my flame.
Kevin steps between Parker and me, blocking Parker’s access. They both just stand there, breathing heavily like two bulls in a standoff with me representing the bright red cape.
“Seriously, both of you just need to chill. I’m not in the mood to talk right now, all right?”
“I can explain, okay?” Parker pleads over Kevin’s shoulder.
“You heard her. She doesn’t want to talk, asshole,” Kevin replies.
Before I have a chance to see the result of that exchange, I move away. They can slug it out if they want, but right now I don’t trust either of them.
“Dani!” I hear Parker call out over the crowd. Stupidly, I turn around to see him rushing over to me with Kevin right on his heels.
“Will you both just leave me the hell alo—”
The guttural yell above my head draws my attention to the rafters of the gym. In the blink of an eye, a shape moves through my field of vision, landing with a sickening thud on the ground in front of me. Then there’s this deafening silence that flows through the room. Something’s splattered across my face, but it takes a few moments for me to realize what I just witnessed. My whole body is in shock from the scene before me. I don’t even hear the screams from the crowd right away.
A body lays there on the ground, motionless, with a pool of blood forming around it. Bringing my hands to my face, I wipe off some of the wet substance and look at it.
It’s blood…it’s this person’s blood…on my face.
Chapter Eighteen
“It’s Gunnar,” someone cries from the gathering crowd.
“Gunnar?” I whisper, still dazed and not quite believing what I’m seeing right in front of me.
Parker grabs me by the shoulders and I glance at his concerned face, but then I pan back down to Gunnar’s body. Everything Parker is trying to tell me sounds like a hum in my ears. All I hear clearly are the sobs moving through the crowd of people near me. It feels like the scene around me is passing by in slow motion.
One of the teachers bends down next to Gunnar in order to check his pulse. “He’s dead,” the teacher says.
“Dani? Dani?” Parker’s voice finally gets through. “You need to clean yourself off.”
I nod and allow him to lead me to the restrooms just outside the gym. He opens the door and ushers me in, telling me that he’ll be right outside.
Looking in the mirror, I see the blood smeared across my face. My clothes have a few spots, as well. I don’t even look like me right now in the reflection. My pupils are completely dilated in the dim bathroom light, and my skin looks pale against the deep red color of the drying blood. I reach up to touch my face to make sure the image is mine and notice my hands shaking.
Parker’s voice comes through the cracked open door. “How are you doing in there?”
“I don’t know,” is all I can say as I continue to stare at my reflection.
“Do you need me to come in?” His voice is oddly comforting.
“No.”
Snapping out of my zombie-like state, I turn on the faucet and grab a few paper towels from the dispenser. I wet them and begin cleaning my face, one stroke at a time. The more blood I clean off, the more I begin to return to normal. Well, at least as normal as I can feel after what happened. My skin starts to look bright red and raw as I continue to wipe faster and harder, trying to clean my face as quickly as I can before I have a chance to freak out.
The last conversation I had with Gunnar begins replaying in my mind. I remember how angry I was with him, but I never would’ve wanted him dead. Not even after being the complete jerk that he was.
With my face cleaned off, I gaze down at the blood on my clothes. I want to rip them off and throw them away. I feel so dirty and unclean, but I just stand there staring, frozen.
The familiar chime of my message notification rings throughout the still bathroom, sounding loud in my ears. Bringing up the message, I see it’s from Unknown:
Looks like someone knocked Pretty Boy off his pedestal. You’re welcome.
I stiffen again