We Were Never Meant to Stay
Cora Vale
After the evening study session, I was just about to return to the dorm when my first boyfriend, the school's valedictorian and undisputed top student, suddenly tore across the courtyard toward me.
Before I could react, he grabbed my wrist and, in full view of a crowd of stunned students, dragged me into a frantic run toward the front gates.
I exclaimed, "Julian, have you lost your mind? Graduation's six months away. Are you really trying to run off with me now?"
I struggled the whole way, twisting and pulling against him, but his grip never loosened.
"Autumn, don't ask any questions. Just come with me. Hurry!" he said, his voice trembling with panic.
We fled the school, jumped into a taxi in the middle of the night, and rushed to another city, where we checked into a rundown budget motel.
Arms folded and brow furrowed, I glared at him. "So you hauled me out of school like a lunatic just to hole up in a cheap motel?"
His cheeks turned bright red. He flailed his hands in frantic denial, then thrust a phone into my hands.
I barely had time to unlock the phone and start dialing my parents before a breaking news alert flashed across the screen.
My eyes locked on the screen, and I went rigid with shock.
The headline reported, 'Mass Death at Blackwood High: All 5,000 students and faculty found dead last night after experiencing catastrophic bleeding. Only two students who skipped the study session survived.'
I looked up at Julian in horror.
He was staring at the screen too, his face white as paper, cold sweat running down his forehead.
"You knew, didn't you?" I asked. "What the hell is going on?"