Then he turned to me, folding his arms across his chest, giving me his best principal’s glare. “How long have you been sneaking in here for?”
No point lying about it now. “Months.”
His mouth dropped open. “To do what? Please don’t say drugs. If you say drugs, I swear, I’m going to take you down to that police station myself.”
I sniggered. “No. Something much worse.”
“Sex? Booze? What could be worse?” He narrowed his eyes, but they crinkled at the corners. He was trying not to laugh. “Are you running some sort of illegal cock fighting ring out of the gym?”
I raised an eyebrow. “No, but wow. Thanks for the ideas. If college doesn’t work out for me, I’ll be sure to consider those options. I’ve just been practicing in the music rooms. All alone. No sex, drugs, or farmyard animals of any kind.”
My uncle frowned and grumbled. I’d won him over. He knew how important music was to me. “So. No police?”
His expression morphed into fatherly affection. He put his arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. “What do you think? I’m hardly going to call the police when I’d be the one to pay your bail. I’ve got work to do. Go on, go do your thing. But set your alarm and meet me back here in two hours. You know how you lose track of time when you play.”
I breathed a sigh of relief. He so rarely lost his temper, and almost never at me. I couldn’t have stood it if he were angry. I kissed his stubbled cheek. “Love you…”
Not for the first time, the word ‘Dad’ formed on my lips. But at the last moment, I swallowed it down. Instead, I gave him a grateful wave and hurried back to the music rooms.
When I got there, I shut the door behind me and made a beeline for the piano, running my palm over its gleaming black surface. This was my happy place. And it filled something inside me in a way that nothing else did.
Pulling my phone from my pocket, I set the alarm so I wouldn’t be late.
Then I pressed my fingers to the keys and closed my eyes, the first lilting notes lifting to the air. Time ceased to exist until a blaring alarm cut through my bubble.
I lost focus, hit the wrong key, and the entire song unraveled. “Dammit!” I slammed the keys hard.
I glanced at my phone and silenced the obnoxious beeping. In the blink of an eye, two hours had passed, and the real world came rushing back in. The sun had set, leaving me in near darkness, and I hadn’t even noticed. Patting the top of the piano like it was a dog who’d just completed a new trick, I murmured, “Until next time.”
In the corridor, I stopped dead as I caught a whiff of something unpleasant. “What the hell…” I murmured, wrinkling my nose. I took a few more steps, then froze.
Smoke.
I peered into the darkness, trying to remain calm while my brain scrambled to find logical conclusions. It was nearing the end of summer. People could be having barbecues nearby, and the smoke might have just blown in on the breeze. Or perhaps a wildfire had started. The smoke alarms weren’t going off. Nor were the sprinklers. I picked up the pace, heading for the admin offices. The entire time, I scrabbled with my thoughts, fighting against the obvious. Pushing myself to believe those excuses, because what was right in front of my eyes was too scary to comprehend. I rounded a corner and stopped dead.
There was no denying it anymore.
The building was filling with thick, acrid smoke.
Something instinctual pushed me forward, and my feet went with it, instead of listening to the panicked voice in my head screaming to turn and run in the opposite direction. I fumbled for my phone, pulled it out, and dialed nine-one-one. Smoke invaded my chest and eyes. I coughed, trying to clear it while fear clawed its way up my spine.
“Fire!” I gasped when the operator answered. “Providence School for Girls.” Racking coughs took over. I hung up, but the farther I got, the thicker the smoke became, until it didn’t matter if I spoke or not. I held my arm over my mouth and nose, trying to keep it out, but it was a losing battle. My lungs protested, but I moved on, my pace increasing until I was running. I skidded around the corner, bashing my hipbone on the wall. The darkness was disorienting. The visibility next to nothing. I couldn’t see farther than a few steps ahead of me.
“Lawson!” I yelled, immediately regretting it when smoke filled my mouth and nose. It got thicker with every step. I coughed again and ran my hands over the wall where I thought the light switch should be. I came up empty, my nails scratching over nothing but drywall.
I spun around, confused now at exactly where I was. I needed to get to my uncle. I knew, that if there was a fire, he would have come for me. Called me. He knew where I was. And there was only one way to get there. We couldn’t have missed each other. I pushed my legs harder, not certain that I was even heading in the right direction, but I had to try.
Suddenly, the room around me opened up, and I nearly wept with relief as I recognized the foyer. But there was no time for that.
I’d found the source of the smoke.
Flames licked the walls.
“Lawson!” I yelled again, tasting ash. Panic surged, adrenaline kicking in and powering my movements. My brain short-circuited, whether from lack of air or fear, I didn’t know. The one thing I was certain of was that I couldn’t lose another parent. I couldn’t add my uncle to the broken part of me that had existed ever since my birth parents’ disappearance. He was the only father I really remembered. And he wouldn’t have left without me. I knew that without a doubt. He wouldn’t have left me there to die.
Which meant he was still inside.
I ran in a crouch toward the flames. They grew with every second that passed. “Laws—” I couldn’t even get his name out this time before the lack of air stole my voice. I held my breath and rushed toward his office, throwing open doors as I went and dodging the deadly heat.
I skidded to a stop at the glass window of the principal’s office. A scream curled up my throat but came out silently.