Page 49 of Who The Hell Are You?

“Cass, he’s answered his phone! Miles isn’t here! He’s not in the house!” Teddy shouts up.

The information sinks in but I don’t reply, my heart is still racing because Mason is still in the bathroom.

“Out.” I dip my chin and he nods, accessing the glass before he uses his foot first to get out. Reaching with his arm, I grasp under his armpit and haul him to me. This is harder because Mason is around my size, so the branch becomes strained when he finally makes it into the tree. Smoke is hitting us both in the face now, which is bad because it means the fire has probably spread from the kitchen.

Faye is sobbing loudly below so I let Mason get down first, which isn’t a problem because he practically leaps out of it to get to her. A smaller crowd of people I know are below the tree now, and to my surprise so is Emery.

I frown down at him, but he’s looking at me with huge panicked eyes. “Get the fuck down now, Cass!” He shouts up, his arms firmly wrapped around himself because he’s only in a t-shirt and running shorts. Teddy is talking into my phone to who I assume is Miles, but until I hear his voice, I’m not settled.

Assessing the branch below me to get down, a clattering noise from inside the house makes me pause, before a loud, popping bang echoes through the house and sounds like it comes from inside the bathroom itself.

My entire body flinches in response and I tense, right as my foot I’d been edging off the branch slips and I’m unable to stop myself from falling. My side grazes against the jaggered bark, before my head connects with the thickest branch that was below me. Pain like I’ve never experienced explodes in my skull, making me feel like I’m instantly going to be sick. I don’t know if I’ve closed my eyes on instinct, or if the blow takes away my vision, but the only thought I can muster against the pain is how much of an idiot I am. I’ve fucked up.

I can’t do anything to stop my body slamming onto the hard paving slabs that run around their house, back first, my head bouncing off the floor. I think my spine hurts now too, but the second blow to my head makes everything simply turn off.

21

After a few more minutes of wallowing on his doorstep, I wipe the tears and probably snot against my hoodie sleeve and pull out my phone.

Fuck.

Twenty missed calls from Cassie.

I’d put my phone on silent when I tried to take my focus off obsessing that he hadn’t text. As I swipe to hit my notifications, my phone starts to ring in my hand and it’s the man himself.

“Cass–”

“Oh my god Miles, where are you?” It’s Teddy, which makes me frown.

“I’m sitting outside of Cass's house, why?”

“Oh thank god. There's a fire at Grace’s party and Cass just showed up here panicked, looking for you. He couldn’t get through to your phone! What have you been doing?”

“I walked over to his house, but he wasn’t in! I thought he was with Grace.”

“What? Why!?”

“Ugh–it’s a long story. It doesn’t matter. He just showed up there?” I need my best friend to tell me Cass wasn’t already at the party, meaning he wasn’t with her.

“No. He came running down the street from the direction of our house, actually.”

Well shit, we must have missed each other if he walked via the streets or drove. I walked through murder park.

“Can you put him on?”

“Yeah–fuck! Cass, he’s answered his phone! Miles isn’t here! He’s not in the house!”

“What the hell is he doing?” I stand up, suddenly panicking over what the hell is happening on the other end of the phone. I don’t wait, starting to run back the way I came, because even if it feels dodgy to walk through at night, the park is the quickest way to travel between our houses.

“Fuck, Miles! Cass has climbed up a tree and kicked in a window! Oh my god, Faye!”

His shouting springs me faster, every muscle crying in protest but I’ve never felt fear like this. I pant heavily, unable to speak into the phone, but try to listen out for any noise that is on the other end of the phone. Teddy is shouting, I can hear others too, before it sounds like an arena of people all shriek at once.

Fuck, fuck, fuck.

Hurling myself around the corner house onto our street, I spot the fire engine that is just pulling up outside of Grace's house. I can smell burning from here and clouds of smoke puff into the air, thick under the street lights which are the only source of light. People have come out of their houses to check the commotion, but I’m more focused on getting to wherever Cassie is.

Two police cars are parked behind the engine and a group of officers are already trying to control the crowd standing on the street, a flock of them also in the front garden. I spot Teddy’s pink hair even in the night, he’s clinging to Faye who is crying furiously into his arms. Mason stands protectively with them both, stroking back her hair, but the paling fear in Teddy’s expression is what scares me.