Chapter One - Bombed

My palms were moist and clenched in fear.

Here I was. The men’s restroom. A slim figure hovered over me, anticipating my every move.

I didn’t dare swallow.

My entire frame froze as he laid one finger on the side of my cheek and delicately brushed the dark strands from my eyes. I desperately wanted to rid myself from his sight, but I knew well what he was capable of.

“You…you can’t do this.” I had finally managed to speak, but my words were barely audible.

The boy only grinned broadly and stroked my back. “There will be no harm done, Willow,” he smirked, giving me a small wink, “Just a little… freshman prank. Everyone does them.”

I wished to scream, But not everyone threatens the entire school with a bomb! though I did not. Instead, I shook my head fiercely from side to side as I began to wring my fingers.

I watched him unzip his knapsack with one hand, while continuing to stroke me with the other. My heart skipped a beat every time I felt his warm hand tickle my spine.

Finally, he found what he had been searching for. “Aha,” his grin was barely fitting on his bony face, “Here we are.” He then withdrew a small object from the sack.

Small, but unbelievably deadly.

I was thirsting for answers. Had he made the bomb himself? Stolen it? Possibilities flooded my mind, but he didn’t appear to have any interest in telling me anything.

“Just think, Willow,” he said, while fumbling with this bomb of his, “No more school. No more homework or teachers who throw out demerits and detentions just to have a laugh. No more horrible school lunches--” He made a disgusted face before continuing-- “None at all! We can eat out every night, and it’ll always be my treat. It’ll be the life, Willow, just you and me and the ocean stretching on for miles.” I then watched him set the bomb. “It is set to go off in…precisely 15 minutes.”

That was when I suddenly pulled away. “I’m not going anywhere with you after you kill off the entire school body,” I spat, “Whether you’re my boyfriend or not.”

Just then, he carefully walked backward a few steps, clicking the stall we were currently occupying shut, then leaned against it and crossed his arms. “It’ll be pretty hard to get away from me,” he smirked, “if you’re going to be safe in this stall. And if you do attempt to escape,” he drew closer to me, his breath moist on my cheek, “Then you’ll be dead by tomorrow just like the rest of this good for nothing high school.”

He let his finger inch toward my face, drawing it across the chalky surface of my right cheek. I sunk my teeth into my tongue to keep from crying out as the stinging pain of his nails washed over me. It was all I could do to keep the tears from releasing themselves from my eyes.

For a few moments, we both stood in the middle of the cramped stall, staring into each others’ eyes. His eyes were entrancing; a deep blue, like the ocean. They were the only part of him that I didn’t detest.

“You might as well sit down.” He nodded in the direction of the toilet seat. “It’s not as if you’ll be getting past me anytime soon. After all,” he grinned, “You’re only a girl.”

And that’s when it happened. I felt my cheeks begin to warm, but it was not because I was flustered; I was angry. Just a girl. As I put a humid palm to my heart, I could sense its irregular rhythm. All because of a boy.

Kenny.

Bitterness burned with a passion inside me; a roaring fire that, with every passing second, was growing more deadly. Ruby flames flickered behind my irises, licking my eyelids with their balmy heat. He had certainly done it.

“You want to bring out the girl in me?” I challenged, inching closer to him, the fear eliminated from my body.  “Well, congratulations, Kenny, you’re going to get your wish.” Now, I was close enough to notice the beads of perspiration trickling down his forehead.  “Oh, and don’t worry,” I let my fingers delicately brush past his ear, “I will make it hurt.”

I lunged at him, with all of my might, sinking my teeth into his arm, colliding my head with his. Ignoring the gruesome pain, I regained my composure for another go. But to my relief, Kenny was already sprawled upon the small linoleum squares of the bathroom floor. “How weak,” I couldn’t help muttering, a slight smile tugging at my lips. I brushed past him as quickly as I could before he could have time to try and catch me. In one shaky motion, I had reached the bathroom door. I desperately searched the room for something, anything, to barricade the door with. Rushing out of the room, I found a nearby classroom and settled for a simple screwdriver, fumbled with the doorknob, until it finally came loose and fell to the floor with a clatter. With satisfaction, I once again left the bathroom door, knowing that it would be the final time I saw this boy’s face.

I couldn’t warn everyone in this school in five minutes. No…they’d just have to perish; there were no options. I pushed the thought from my mind, only thinking of my own escape at the moment. I had to get far, far away from this place, and I hadn’t much time.

***

I watched my previous school from a distance, holding my breath in anticipation of what was to occur next. Counting down the seconds inside my head until my school would no longer cease to exist.

Three.

Two.

One.

Everything everyone, anyone, had worked on in this school, my school, was destroyed in a matter of seconds.

I heard the explosion from a mile away; the sound of my hopes and dreams being shattered by just one object.

Within these seconds, I was hopelessly alone in the world. And, savoring the last bit of honor that burned within me, I turned away from the horrible scene.

At least I had rid the world of him.