“Cool,” I said.
Whenever we reached our floor, we heard loud partying near my room.
“Just my freaking luck.” I sighed.
“Listen, if you want, we can switch rooms. I’m not competing or anything, so rest isn’t at the top of my list or whatever.”
I studied her. “Are you sure?”
“Yes, Salinger. Get your stuff, we’ll switch.”
I did as she said and met her at her room. We switched keys and I went to bed, my every thought consumed by Lily.
***
I missed my damn flight. Taxi driver got into a small accident with someone else and we were forced to stop.
***
When I finally got home, I had to work that night, which sucked. It helped I’d made eight grand at tournament, though. When I got in, Casey told me Lily had taken off the following week. Maybe she’s trying to get the house done, I thought. I dug my phone out of my back pocket. My finger hovered over her number.
I sighed. I’d made things awkward. I waited too long to contact her and was confused on what to say.
Just say anything. Apologize for being weird. Congratulate her on her win, you douche. I opened a text window, then closed it, opened it, then closed it one more time.
I’ll wait until she comes back, figure out what I’m gonna say to her.
***
The following Saturday night, I was missing Lily like crazy. I wondered how she was doing, wanted so bad to talk to her. I’d picked up my phone at least a thousand times to call or text but couldn’t do it. I was in love with her. I’d struggled with it. I didn’t want her think to my intentions weren’t good, but I loved her. So much. My phone indicated a text.
Salinger, Lily texted. My heart in my throat.
Without thinking, I threw my gloves to our friend Pablo.
“Gotta go,” I told him. “Something’s come up. Clock me out, will ya?”
“Yeah, no prob,” he said.
I hauled ass to the lot and sprinted to my Jeep, hopping inside and starting her engine. I passed by Chuck’s, where we’d eaten our first meal together. I passed by Court’s street, where we’d sat and talked on her front porch steps. I passed by Ashleigh’s, where I’d first met her.
I don’t know what happened at the tournament. She texted again, my throat going dry as I read her message. Just confused. I tried to talk to but you blew me off. If I’ve done something, please know it wasn’t intentional and I’m sorry. I miss you. I have so much I want to talk to you about. So much. There’s things that need to be said but would be better in person, you know? Anyway, please consider meeting up with me later.
I wanted so badly to text her back but thought better of it while driving. Just another minute or two, I promised myself. I threw my phone on my seat and confess I sped a little to get to her as fast as I could.
As I approached the light right before her street, my stomach filled with anticipation. My knuckles gripped the steering wheel until they turned white. The light had turned red and I impatiently had to sit there. I briefly contemplated abandoning my car where it was just to run to her. I was a moron.
My blinker clicked in the dead silence of my car. The only other sound was my shaky breath.
“Come on, come on, come on,” I whispered.
That’s when I heard it. The most powerful, thundering boom. I thought lightning had struck until I’d heard a second explosion, a second ear-piercing rumble. My whole body tucked into itself in instinct. When I sat up again, I saw orange flames licking up into the sky.
“What the actual fuck?” I asked no one.
I ran the red light and raced through Lily’s run-down neighborhood, passing Trace’s house, which was blazing. Without a second thought, I whipped around his block and hung a left on to Lily’s street, stopping at her house. It was pitch black, as were all the houses next to Lily’s, realizing whatever explosion had happened had also tripped the electricity.
I pulled my Jeep into the gravel drive and slammed it into park, tossing my body out of my seat as quickly as I could, rushing up the deck to Lily’s door. I tried the knob, but it was locked.
I started banging my hand on the door. “Lily! Lily! Can you hear me?”
I looked at the front windows of her house. Every single one of them was blasted out. Oh my God. I jumped the deck fencing and scaled the front living room window, using a nearby rock to break off any glass still attached to the frame. I jumped in and scaled around the furniture. I hit my knee on something I wasn’t familiar with.
“Lily!” I yelled into the dark but didn’t hear a response.
My heart beat so hard in my veins I could hear it.
“Lily!”
I took out my phone and scrolled up, looking for the flashlight and turned it on. I held it out in front of me and started wading through the glass, my boots crunching with every step I took.
“Lily, are you here?” I called out.
When I raised the light slightly I caught a glimpse of a still form on her kitchen floor.
“Jesus! Lily!” I shouted and ran to her, kneeling down beside her.
There was blood everywhere. I used my phone to try to find the root cause, but it seemed to be everywhere on her. “Oh, Jesus, Lily.” I checked she was breathing and found she was, beyond relieved. I scrolled to my phone and dialed 911.
“911, what’s your emergency?” an operator answered.
“Yes, my friend is badly injured. There was some sort of explosion at the house next door. It’s blown out her windows and cut her.”
“Is she breathing?” the operator asked.
“Yes,” I told her.
“Your address, sir.”
“Um, uh, 2314 Salem.”
I heard beeps and reverb.
“Dispatch, this is four-three-seven. I’ve got a reported explosion at or near 2314 Salem. One confirmed injured. Victim is breathing but bleeding,” I heard the operator tell the dispatcher.
“Your name, son?”
“Salinger.”
“A callback number.”
I rattled off my phone number to her. I could hear her typing.
“When did this happen?”
“Not five minutes ago. The house behind hers is up in flames.”
“Is it safe for you to remain at this location?”
“For now? Yes,” I answered, desperate to remain as calm as possible.
I heard more beeps and reverb.
“Dispatch, this is four-three-seven. Reported large fire at or near 2314 Salem,” I heard her relay. “Can you locate the source of her cuts?” she then asked me.
“They’re all over. Literally hundreds.” My hands found her face and held her. “Lily, wake up for me, baby,” I begged. “There’s blood and glass everywhere and the electricity is out. I can’t even really see how badly she’s injured.”
“Sir, try to get her clear of the glass,” she said.
“Yes, okay.”
I stood up, my chest panting air, and ran through the hall, straight for her bathroom, collecting six or seven towels from her cabinet, and ran back. I laid the phone on the ground, trying to prop it up so the flashlight could guide me, and put the operator on speaker.
I went to her broom closet and grabbed her broom, sweeping all the glass around her away. I threw down the broom and bent over her. I slid her onto her side. An involuntary groan slipped between her lips; I felt my eyes burn.
“I’m, uh, I’m trying to brush the glass off her skin,” I explained to the operator as bloody glass came tumbling to the tile, and I brushed it clear before laying her back down and doing the same for her chest, abdomen, neck, face, and legs.
“She’s—. Oh God, there’s so much blood,” I panicked.
“Just stop the bleeding,” she encouraged. “Press a towel or something similar against the wounds to stop it.”
I did as she asked, finding all the places Lily seemed to be bleeding from the worst and applying pressure. One area near her left leg seemed to be particularly bad, so I wrapped a hand towel around her thigh, took my belt off and wrapped it around her, like a tourniquet.
“Lily!” a man I recognized as one of her neighbors shouted through her house.
“She’s here!” I yelled back. “I’ve got her!”
“Is she okay?” he asked.