Chapter 4

Even the principal, Daniel Mercer, standing nearby, couldn't help praising my brother, saying he truly lived up to his reputation as a fire safety expert.

With Daniel's approval, Ryan stood a little straighter.

He still didn't move me away from the wall. Instead, using the smoldering remains of the fire in front of me, he lit another blaze, this one even stronger than before.

He called several students forward one by one to practice putting it out.

The flames whipped wildly in the wind, and each new burst of heat felt hotter than the last.

I was sitting less than three feet from the fire. After being exposed to dense smoke and severe dehydration, my body had already begun to change.

The exposed skin had turned an unnatural dark red, and tiny blisters were starting to form.

I floated far above, staring down at my own body, and somehow even my soul felt scorched.

At last, the drill moved into its final wrap-up.

Ryan put away the firefighting equipment and straightened his sweat-soaked uniform before looking coldly in my direction.

"All right, Quinn. The drill is over. Get back in line."

I couldn't answer him.

Ten seconds passed in silence.

Then the crowd began to grow restless.

They had been standing under the blazing sun for hours, and everyone was hot, thirsty, and irritable.

When I still didn't move, someone finally shouted impatiently.

"Come on, Princess Warren! What are you taking so long for? The whole school is waiting on you!"

"Seriously, how long are you going to drag this out? I'm about to melt out here! Didn't you hear Captain Warren tell you to get back in line?"

"If you're going to act spoiled with your brother, at least pick the right time! Hurry up!"

A few students who had never liked me started laughing.

The cameraman, eager to get a clean ending for the recording, swung his heavy camera around and pointed it at me too.

Ryan fought to hold back his anger.

"Quinn Warren, I'm warning you one last time. Stop wasting everyone's time and get back in line right now!"

His words sank into the silence without a ripple.

Then the cameraman, who had been staring through the viewfinder, suddenly spoke in a trembling voice.

"Captain Warren... something's wrong. This student... I think something's really wrong!"

He lowered the camera, his face draining of color as he pointed at the screen.

"Her chest isn't moving at all. It's been two minutes. She hasn't taken a single breath!"

A wave of alarm swept through the crowd.

Kenzie, however, let out a dismissive scoff.

"Come on, you're making way too much of this. Quinn's just practicing holding her breath. She does this in the dorm all the time too, sitting there without moving and acting all serious. Don't let her fool you."

I shook my head desperately in midair.

In the dorm, I had only been practicing the diaphragmatic breathing exercises my doctor taught me to help calm my anxiety during asthma attacks.

After hearing what Kenzie said, Ryan's brow pulled into a deep frown.

Whatever patience he had left finally snapped.

He strode toward me and grabbed the back of my shirt, hauling my body straight off the ground.

"Quinn Warren, you've really outdone yourself this time. Now you're pretending to be dead?

"You think scaring everyone like this is funny? You've thrown the whole school into chaos just because you wanted attention. You're damn impressive.

"This isn't home. No one's going to indulge this attitude of yours here!"

With that, he dragged my body over toward the formation.

Then he gave me a hard shove and sent me crashing onto the concrete.

My body folded at an unnaturally stiff angle and still didn't move.

When I still failed to wake up, Ryan completely lost control.

He tore the cap from my head and slapped me across the face.

"Wake up, you..."

The rest of the sentence died in his throat.

Ryan froze.

His eyes dropped to his right hand, trembling.

Stuck to his palm, mixed with the thick layer of white extinguisher powder, was a large smear of sticky reddish-brown fluid.

It was dead skin that had already begun to slough away after hours of exposure to the intense heat.

The force of his slap had torn a layer of skin straight off one side of my face.

The crowd erupted in terrified screams.

Ryan's breath caught.

Slowly, his hand shaking uncontrollably, he reached toward my nose to check for breath.