the middle

ile

s through the dark

s the windows vibrate. Red and blue light slides across my ceiling in broken strips, paints the edge of my desk, then d

Patricia will check on you. Love you both.* I type a reply-*Are you okay?*-and delete it before I can send it. She does n

a notification. Trending.

ular people push closer with phones raised, their faces lit by the screens. Two officers grab the man by the arms. He twists free with a strength that does not match his thin frame and sinks his teet

up eases enough that I can move. When I look again the same thirty seconds are starting over. I force myself to close the app and open a news site instead. The

or in the same clothes he wore yesterday, the hoodie with t

to see thi

nd clearer. Neither of us speaks while it plays. The light from the screen paints both our faces the same pale blue. Wh

rface about the man's death and injuries to two off

lunges straight at the camera. Shots crack in rapid succession, too many to co

ith the remote. The sudden quie

e to ca

etch longer than they should. When she answers her

e you alri

. Did you s

witches it to speaker. Mom's breat

nothing to fear. Keep doing n

you comi

one knows about new flights yet." A pause long enough that I think the call dropped. "Just don't kill e

ove

you to

reet, thinner this time. I pull the curtain aside just enough to see. A police car

couch. "Do you think that

n teachers ask if everything is okay at home

f I said the truth out loud, and once

k the door, and sit on the edge of the bed until the nausea rises again, stronger this time. I make it to the bathroom just in time. Light brown liquid hits

ory. I restart the phone. Still no signal bars. A low sound leav

cking up on one side, eyes half-closed

ok like

s on the last word. "I yelled at

him. His brain just runs hotter. That's the only di

tuck. Flight c

lence on the call is different from the

ents will

pulling a shirt over his head with one ha

aches the porch. Mom would end me if she knew. His dad would do the same. The license is only two weeks old. He steps inside and I lock the door behind him with a soft click that s

ional distant siren that rises and falls like something b

me out smaller than I mean them to. "A

neck, thumb resting against the pulse there. My fingers curl in the front of his shirt. The room tilts for a second

ong?"

mmer before s

ve felt this

the room seems to spin. Finn stands in the hallway, one hand stil

ints toward the living room with his free hand, makes a soft click with his tongue the way he does when he is tryin

k a bag. Just in case. My dad watches this show, Doomsd

. Everything is go

The surprise softens the edge that ha

I say. "Jus

t has been sitting on my desk for months. Leo adds a small flashlight from the kitchen junk drawer and a half-empty box of g

reetlights nearest the house have gone out. I step closer t

es not look up at the window. It simply stands there under the broken light, shoulde

me. His voice is bar

t is

p forward. Then another. The movement is wrong

to come from everywhere at once. The only light left is t

s against the front door. Once. Twic