Chapter 3

A piercing scream suddenly tore through the crowd.

One of my roommates, Sophie Reed, pointed at my feet with a trembling hand.

"Fire! Quinn's on fire!"

Apparently, when Kenzie had lost control of the extinguisher, the blast had sent a few sparks from the fire toward my feet.

My plastic sneakers had already softened from the heat. The moment those sparks landed, they caught fire.

One of the team members reacted immediately. He snatched the extinguisher from Kenzie's hands and aimed it at my feet.

A thick cloud of white powder burst out, smothering the small flames and leaving behind the sharp stench of burnt plastic.

Sophie was still shaking.

"Something's wrong... Something is seriously wrong.

"Quinn scares easily. She gets one little cut on her hand and calls home crying, so how could her shoes literally catch fire without her making a sound?

"Could she... could she have passed out?"

The team member who had put out the flames frowned as well. He looked up at Ryan and spoke quietly.

"Captain, this really doesn't look right. It's been almost ten minutes since we came down from the third floor, and she hasn't moved once.

"Her face is covered in powder. It's all over her nose and mouth. At least let her wash it off first. What if she suffocates?"

Hovering above them, I felt a sharp ache deep in my soul.

I looked at my roommates, their faces filled with concern, and warmth welled up inside me.

They knew how severe my asthma was. They never sprayed perfume in the dorm, and they even stopped bringing strongly scented takeout back because they were afraid it might make me uncomfortable.

They had always gone out of their way to accommodate me.

Even now, they were the only ones who seemed genuinely worried.

My own brother and my best friend, Kenzie, still stood off to the side, watching coldly.

Ryan lifted his eyes and instinctively glanced toward the camera pointed in our direction.

The school had hired a crew to document the drill as a model fire-safety exercise.

He took a deep breath, then lowered his voice and snapped at the team member.

"What are you panicking about? I'm her brother. If something really happens, I'll take responsibility. She's just trying to drag this out in front of the camera and embarrass me."

Then he cleared his throat and addressed my roommates in the firm, authoritative tone he used while leading the drill.

"You girls are getting worked up too easily.

"Haven't I told everyone over and over that the most important thing in a fire is to stay completely calm?

"Shoes like these are made of plastic, so of course they can catch fire, but that doesn't mean the flames will reach the skin right away.

"Especially for you female students, if your clothes or shoes catch fire and you panic, start screaming, and run around the dorm, you'll only feed the flames with more air and risk spreading the fire. You could endanger everyone on the floor.

"Next, I'll show you what to do if this happens to you. You need to put the fire out properly instead of sitting there frozen and waiting for the worst."

He turned, grabbed a piece of fabric that had already been prepared in the equipment box, and set it on fire in front of everyone.

With complete confidence, he demonstrated how to smother the flames quickly and how to extinguish them by rolling on the ground.

Everyone's attention shifted back to the demonstration.

When he finished, another round of applause erupted across the field.

Ryan turned toward the camera with a composed, professional smile.

Meanwhile, I sat silently at the base of the wall beneath the scorching sun, forgotten like a bag of trash.