Yeah, that one will be tough.
I SPEND THE SECOND half of the afternoon attending classes. I've already emailed the professors from the ones I missed this morning and asked for them to send me over the assignments so I don't fall behind.
Once I'm finally finished with my last class, I decide to go check up on Amelia. With the exception of the text I woke up to, I haven't talked to her yet today, and I just want to make sure she's okay.
I navigate my way through campus, excited to get to see her again. When I get close, however, I notice there are a ton of students gathered around while faculty tries to get them to all move back. Paying closer attention, I can hear the fire alarm blaring and see the smoke billowing into the air.
I rush around to the front of the building, and my horror only multiplies when I see where the fire is coming from. It's Amelia's dorm room. Panic courses through my entire body as I look around but don't see her.
“Do you know what happened?” I ask a random student standing nearby.
She shrugs. “I heard some guy threw a small bomb through the window.”
A bomb?
Amelia!
I push my way through the crowd of students in an effort to get to the front door. The whole thing is blocked off by caution tape, but I hop over and make a run for it. A fireman jumps in my way just before I make it inside.
“Whoa, son,” he says with an arm around my chest. “You can't go in there.”
“I have to! My girl is in there!” I shout desperately.
He puts a hand on my chest and pushes me back. “I promise you, we're doing all we can to get everyone out safely. Please just step back and let us do our jobs.”
I'm completely numb as I stumble backwards and stare up at the fire that's blaring through the broken window. If she was in there when the bomb went off...no. I can't think like that. If I do, there's no saying what will become of me.
“Amelia,” I whisper.
“Zayn?” a familiar voice calls. “Zayn!”
I turn my head to see Amelia and Kennedy both walking toward me, confusion etched across both their faces, but they're safe. They're not inside. They're not dying of explosions and third degree burns.
Before she can say anything else, I rush toward her and pull her into my arms. “Oh, thank God. You're alright.”
She wraps her arms around me. “What's going on?”
As we pull away, both she and Kennedy both turn to look at the building, and their bewildered expressions turn to shock and devastation.
“Our room!” they shriek in unison.
Amelia turns to me, then back to the dorm, looking like she has no idea what to say. I wrap an arm around her waist and pull her into my side. It's bad enough everything she has here is going up in flames right now. She doesn't need to watch it, too.
“Come on,” I tell them both. “I'll bring you back to my place. We can deal with this later.”
I don't think either one of them are in the right state of mind, because they both nod slowly and follow me, saying nothing. Only once do they glance back at the building that's being pumped with water through their window.
THE TWO OF THEM lean against the kitchen counter while I grab them each a bottle of water. It's clear they're both shaken up. I can't even imagine what's going through their minds right now.
“Are you all right?” I ask them.
Kennedy rests her head on Amelia's shoulder. “I just don't know what happened.”
“Well,” I sigh. “According to one of the students outside, someone threw a bomb through the window.”
“A bomb?” Amelia yelps.
I nod. “It was small but obviously big enough to cause damage and clearly enough to light the room on fire.”