Chapter 3

Tristan froze, staring at me.

Clearly, he hadn't expected me to come back too.

"Kayla... what are you talking about?" His voice shook.

"Maddie, let's go!"

I was done with him. I grabbed Maddie's hand and ran for the window.

"Kayla, seriously? You're throwing a tantrum now?"

Rainee was still up front, playing the sweet, caring girl.

She clung to a support column and pointed outside.

"Look how hard everything's shaking. Jump now, and you're basically killing yourself. And you're dragging Maddie with you? That's so selfish.

"Tristan, stop her! I'm scared she's going to get hurt."

Maddie shoved a chair aside and pointed at Rainee.

"Kayla showed me a fire safety video yesterday. There's zero proof the triangle zone is safe. I trust Kayla. You want to stay here and wait to die? Go ahead."

The shaking got worse.

Dust poured from the ceiling. The blackboard hung crooked, and cracks raced across the walls.

We were out of time.

I climbed onto the windowsill and looked down at the grass.

Thirty feet.

Land right. Roll fast. I could survive.

"Maddie, cover your head. Roll the second you hit the ground!"

I looked back at her.

"Okay."

She clenched her jaw, trusting me completely.

"Kayla, don't jump! Get back here!"

Tristan finally freaked out. He lunged for me, reaching for my ankle.

He thought coming back meant he could control everything.

Too bad I came back too.

The second my feet hit the grass, I bent my knees and rolled.

The impact slammed through me.

My chest tightened, and I tasted blood.

I shoved the pain aside and scrambled up.

"Maddie! Are you okay?"

She copied my landing, rolling across the grass before getting back up.

Covered in dirt, she checked herself over.

Other than a scraped elbow, she was fine.

Her face lit up. "I'm okay! I'm alive!"

I finally exhaled.

Then I looked down at my right leg.

Perfectly fine.

I took a few careful steps.

Both feet held steady.

In my last life, Tristan panicked mid-jump and clung to me.

His full weight crushed me, leaving me no chance to roll.

My right leg took the impact for both of us.

It shattered on contact, blood soaking the grass beneath me.

Tristan landed on top of me without a scratch.

I writhed on the ground in pain while he just stood there, pale and frozen.

He didn't even help me up.

But this time, without Tristan dragging me down...

I walked away without a serious injury.

I grabbed Maddie's hand and sprinted for the open field.

"Keep moving! Don't stop! Get to the middle!"

The sky had turned a dirty yellow.

The ground bucked so hard we could barely stay on our feet, like the whole world was flipping over.

We clung to each other and stumbled forward.

I didn't stop until we reached the center of the field, far from the school.

Then Maddie grabbed my arm and pointed behind us.

A deafening crash ripped across campus.

The entire five-story building came down.