She Laughs in Pink (Sheridan Hall #1) (24 page)

Cameron sighs and uses the gun to direct Pooja. I exhale when it’s off of me. “Now get over here and calm the fuck down. Both of you.”

Pooja crawls to me on the floor. A knock at the door takes our attention. Ben shouts over the siren, “Jules? Pooja? You still in there?”

Cameron lets go of me and grabs Pooja, holding the gun to her temple. I want to run for the door, to do something to let Ben know that we need him, but I can’t beat a gun. Pooja’s eyes shut. She takes a deep breath. I can tell she’s terrified.

I’m paralyzed. My instincts tell me to scream, but I’m not sure I can trust my instincts, not after Justine, and not with Ben. I open my mouth to yell, but Pooja opens her eyes again, meets mine, and shakes her head.

The moment passes when Ben yells over the siren, “They’re probably outside already.”

Cameron grabs Pooja closer when Ben’s voice disappears. A few seconds later, the alarm quiets to a steady beeping. He shoves Pooja toward our desks. “I thought the big guy you’re fucking would never leave. Give me your phones.”

Pooja wiggles out of his grasp and pulls her phone out of her pocket. I do the same, and we steal a look at each other before putting them on my desk. The pounding of my heart finds its way to my head. The room spins. I hold onto the desk to steady myself.
Don’t lose your shit, Juliet. This isn’t four years ago at the mall.

He takes mine first. “Ben, right?” I don’t answer. He grimaces and taps on my screen. My hands sweat thinking of Ben and how he’s going to worry about me, how he’ll miss me when I’m gone. And Chase.
God, poor Chase.

Cameron throws my phone onto the desk. “That takes care of the big guys.” He puts my phone next to Pooja’s and smashes them to pieces with his handgun. The sound of the gun crashing into the glass of the phone makes us both jump.

“You,” he says to me. “The dancer.”
How does he know I dance?
“I’m taking Pooja with me, so I’ll have to shoot you. I’ll try not to kill you though. I’ll just slow you down.” He waves the gun. I can’t breathe. I’ve never seen a real gun unholstered. This one is pointed at me, loaded. My heart beats a mile a minute as I gasp.

“S-shoot me?”
He’s going to kill me.
My parents invade my mind again. They’re standing arm-in-arm at Justine’s funeral.

“Cam,” Pooja says. She’s speaking in her calm voice, trying to take control of the room. “Please, let Juliet go. You only want me. Don’t hurt her.”

“Sorry, Pooj. I wanted to get you alone, but that giant you’re screwing didn’t give me much of a chance.” When Cameron stands on Pooja’s bed and feels around the windowsill, anger replaces my fear. My sweaty palms ball into fists. I think about whacking him in the back.
This motherfucker thinks he’s going to shoot me?
He’s not that big. In fact, he’s kind of skinny compared to Rocco and the first floor guys.
Can I take him?
He still has the gun, but if I could find something to hit him with…

It only takes him half a second to pull a little wired thing out of the sill. “Camera,” he says, smiling at me. “I loved watching you get yourself off. You should let someone fuck you though. At least suck a dick. Those poor bastards.”

Holy shit.
Cameron’s been watching us. Pooja had mentioned he’d done that before to her.

“You,” he says to Pooja, “have been a bad, bad girl.”

I look at Pooja and can almost see her mind racing. “I was sad about you, Cam,” she lies. “I only wanted you, but you were gone.” I feel her using all of her powers, but I’m not sure if her powers have an effect on psychopaths like Cameron—people she can’t read.

“Well, I’m back now, baby, and we gotta jet.” He grabs Pooja around the waist, pulling her back to his front so she can face me. He holds the gun at her side. “You be good, Pooj, and I’ll leave her here. I won’t shoot her. For you.” He kisses her neck and she flinches. “Say bye to your dancer friend.”

Pooja stares at me. “Bye, Juliet.” Then she mouths,
I’m okay
.

It’s the same thing Justine said when she was led out of the mall.
I’m okay
, were her last words to me. Pooja’s expression looks the same as Justine’s had, brave and scared at the same time. I can’t let it happen again. I can’t let Pooja die protecting me. I’d rather die than watch another girl be dragged away by a killer.

“No!” I say to Cameron. “I…I want to go, too.” I don’t know what else to say to get his attention.

Pooja grimaces and lowers her voice. “No, Juliet.”

I return Pooja’s look, then I have an idea. I clear my throat and think about Justine. I think about Pooja being raped in a desert. This time, he may kill her.

“Cameron,” I murmur. “You know, since you’ve been sharing Pooja with Rocco this whole time, maybe she can share you with me, too?” I gulp, using all of my energy to think, act, and control my panic.

When Pooja tries to object, Cameron puts a hand over her mouth. “What are you suggesting, dancer?”

“I’m suggesting that it must have been hard for you to watch her fuck Rocco all the time.” The words feel like bricks. Pooja begins muttering under Cameron’s hand. I have his entire focus though. “You should make her watch you fuck me. Take me, too.”

I hear the fire trucks outside.
If I could just delay him
.

Cameron loosens his hand on Pooja’s mouth. “Listen, you little whore. I don’t have time for your games.”

“No games.” I walk to Pooja and look her in the eye. When I’m a few inches from her, I try to tell her, hoping she can read me, the way she always can.
Trust me. Let me do this for you.
“This is the Cameron you’ve been telling me about, right?”

Cameron squints at me, but I can tell he’s losing focus. I touch his hand and move it away from Pooja’s mouth, then I kiss Pooja on the lips. As I kiss Pooja, I run my hand down his perverted body. “Let’s share,” I say to Pooja.

Then I make my next move—I kiss Cameron. Touching him makes me sick to my stomach, but I do it. I do it for Pooja, and I do it for Justine. I do it because, right now, my sexuality is the only weapon I have. He responds when my hand makes it to his pants. I rub him over his jeans. He’s holding Pooja around the waist with one arm and the gun, and gropes me with the other. I let him shove his tongue into my mouth. He grabs my breast so hard I wince. “You know how many times I jerked off to you, dancer?”

“I’m not sharing,” Pooja says. Her voice is still steady, but I know she’s scared for me. She knows what Cameron can do. So do I, and it’s a risk I’m willing to take.

“I’m going with you,” I say quietly. I unzip Cameron’s pants and stick my hand inside. I’ll do anything to keep him from leaving this building with her, including having sex with him.
I’m actually going to have to do this
. I fake a smile.

I grab his dick in my hands and fumble around. He’s focused on me, not Pooja. I feel him loosen his grip. I force the bile that’s rising in my gut back down.
I can do this
.

“Juliet, no. Let us go,” Pooja begs.

“Not without me,” I tell her.

All three of us jump when the stampede starts again. Students reenter, climbing the stairs to their rooms. “Shit,” Cameron says. He pulls away from me and zips his fly. “Nobody says a word, got it? This room is empty until I get us out of here.”

The tension leaves my body at his words. He’s not going anywhere with Pooja for the time being. But then he looks at me. “Now you can take your time, dancer.”

Pooja steps in front of me, but he moves around her and grabs my face, holding my chin to force me to look at him. “Why do you act like such a prude with the guys? You’re a slut at heart, just like all the others.” Cameron holds the gun in one hand and my chin in the other.

“Cameron,” Pooja begs. “No!”

“Sorry, hon. Juliet says she wants a turn.” To me, he says, “Continue.”

Fucking perverted asshole psycho.
I fight nausea and fear and utter dread as I unzip his pants again. If it were just me, I’d die before I’d do this Cameron. Or I’d rip his fucking dick off. But I know that here, now, it’s not just me. It’s Pooja, and there’s a gun.

I’m going to save her,
I think over and over. He grabs Pooja and holds her so closely that she and I are almost cheek-to-cheek. I feel her hip pressed against mine, and I focus on that contact instead of what I’m doing with my hand. Soon, Cameron’s whole body relaxes.

Sometimes, the best laid plans go awry, and sometimes the worst plans turn out all right. I’m thinking my plan is close to horrible, when I hear a key in the lock. Because of me, Cameron doesn’t hear the key turn and the door unlock. It’s not until the doorknob turns that Cameron jerks away from me, holding the gun to Pooja’s side.

Frank walks in, holding our key. In a split second, his eyes dart from me, to my hand down Cameron’s pants, to Pooja and the gun. He yells, “No!”

Ben follows Frank into the room. I yell. I don’t want Ben here at all. “He has a gun!”

Ben reaches for me, and Frank lunges at Cameron. While Frank and Cameron struggle, Ben pushes me toward the door and reaches for Pooja. “Run,” Ben screams. Pooja and I scramble for the door.

“Ben!” I yell, as I turn to see him pull Cameron off of Frank. Cameron holds the gun on them.

We’re almost to the staircase when we hear gunfire.
One. Two. Three shots.
Pooja looks at me and her eyes roll back, as she passes out and falls to the floor. I kneel down next to her, shaking, and turn to my room.
Ben. Frank.

Police officers storm the basement and I weakly point to room one. “Ben,” I manage. “Please.” They rush past me into room one.

Chapter Twenty

Chase

When Rob tells me there’s been a shooting at NJU, I can’t believe it. When he tells me that it took place at Sheridan, I panic. I call Juliet but get no answer. I try everyone, but nobody’s responding.

Dear God, please let her be okay. Please don’t take her, too.
I pray like a mad man as Rob drives me to the school. We can’t get near Sheridan. Rob drives us to the closest emergency room.

Inside General Health, it’s a madhouse. Press, students, and police swarm everywhere. Still, I don’t know what’s happened.

I tap an officer on the shoulder. “Excuse me, ma’am?” I ask with as much patience as I can muster. “I’m a resident of Sheridan. Can you tell me what’s going on?”

“There was a shooting, son,” she says.

No shit
, I want to say, but I take a deep breath. “Do you know if anyone was injured?”
Please let them be okay.

“Three shot, one minor, one critical, one deceased.” I fall to the ground at the officer’s feet. Rob and the officer squat next to me.

“It can’t be. Not Juliet. Please,” I beg, but nobody can help me. It’s like I’m in a dream. Rob is talking, the officer is talking, but I can’t hear any words.

Then I see her: across the room, surrounded by officers. I think I see her.
Please let that be her.

I tug Rob’s arm and try to point. “Is that…? ”

Rob pulls me up, and I see her still. She didn’t disappear. “Juliet?”

Her eyes meet mine. She’s crying, and I think I am, too. We run toward each other, pushing people out of the way. She jumps into my arms, and I squeeze her. Now I know she’s real. She sobs into my shirt.

I pull back to look at her tear-stained face. “Are you okay?” I manage to squeak out. I push her hair back and study her face
. She feels like she’s in one piece. There’s no blood
… “Tell me you’re not hurt, baby.”

She nods as more tears fall. “Frank…”

“No.” I shake my head.
Why is she saying Frank’s name?

She says it again, tears falling down her face.

“No, no, no,” I repeat. She touches my cheeks. “Not Frank,” I say, pulling her closer. I try to hide in her, hide from her words. I try to take us back to my apartment, to last night when we were the only two people in the world. “Please, no,” I whisper, hoping I heard wrong, hoping I can will the words away.
My dream. I had the dream. Frank saved Juliet from the cliff…

For the second time in one day, I break down in Juliet’s arms. The only thing that keeps me from collapsing is that she’s collapsing, too, and I know I need to hold her up.
Did she see it? What the hell happened?

I have to be strong for her. I pull back and hold her face in my hands. “I’m sorry this happened. I should have never let you leave this morning. Are you sure you’re not hurt?”

Juliet shakes her head. Her tears continue to fall. She whispers through her soft sobs, “Ben. He got shot. I don’t know where he is.”

I look to Rob, who is standing behind me, and he nods, understanding that I need him to find out Ben’s status. “He’ll be all right,” I say. “The officer said there was only one…”

I can’t say the word.
Deceased. There was only one. Oh, God, Frank.

“I have to find him, Chase,” Juliet says in a daze. “My Ben.”

She looks to me for answers, but I don’t have any. I don’t know what to say. I hold her tightly. “We’ll find him.”

Rob learns that Frank managed to get a bullet into Cameron’s gut before taking the shot that ended his life. Juliet shudders. I hold her tighter as Rob tells us that Cameron is in critical care, being prepped for surgery.

He also learned that Ben is in surgery having a bullet removed from his arm. It ripped through his shoulder to his bone.

“Thank God,” I say, thinking Juliet will be relieved to hear that Ben’s going to be fine.

But instead, she has a melt down. “It’s because of me,” she says over and over. “Frank. Ben. I can’t believe I hurt them like this.”

Telling her that none of this is her fault falls on deaf ears, so I let her cry. I hold her, keeping her close as she trembles in my arms. It’s all I can do. “First Justine, and now Frank and Ben. It’s me,” she says. “It has to be.”

“No, no, baby,” I keep telling her as she sobs into my shirt. “None of this is your fault.”

Eventually, the police catch up with us at the hospital, and again I rely on Rob to help delay them. Rob talks them down with the promise that he will get Juliet to the police station soon.

I let Juliet take all the time she needs. When she’s ready, Rob drives us to the police station where we meet up with Pooja and Rocco. Other residents of Sheridan Hall are scattered around giving statements to officers. Some are crying, others are dramatically moving their arms. They all stop and stare at Juliet as she walks by. She grips my hand like a vice, and I do my best to steady her, to be her support. Rocco and Pooja join us. We embrace, speechless.

An officer approaches and touches Juliet’s shoulder. She flinches and springs around then holds out a hand to me. I grab it to steady her.

“Just got word. Your friend is out of surgery. He’s going to be okay.”

“But Frank,” Juliet whispers. I look to Rocco, but like me he’s quiet. I’m sure inside he’s falling apart.

The officer taps Juliet again. “I’m sorry, Ms. Anderson. But we need to get your statement. Are you ready?”

Juliet wipes her tears away. “One second, please.”

She turns to me. “Do you want me to come with you?” I ask.

“I can do it.”

“You can,” I assure her. “You can do it.”

“You’ll stay here?” Her big brown eyes look unsure.

“Of course.” As if I would be anywhere else.

Juliet turns to Pooja, and they stare at each other, speaking without words. They embrace, then Juliet leaves to make her statement.

I walk Pooja and Rocco to the parking lot and return inside to wait for Juliet. The station quiets as I sit in a daze, waiting. Rob stays at the station with me but doesn’t hover, which I appreciate.

When Juliet rejoins me in the waiting area, she asks me to take her home. I can’t wait to get her out of there, to get her away from what’s happened. Rob leaves to bring the car around, and as Juliet and I walk toward the exit, she freezes and points to the doors. An older couple walks through.

“My parents,” she says. I see a piece of Juliet in each of their concerned faces. She has her father’s eyes and her mother’s chin.

“Juliet, honey, are you okay?” her father asks, rushing toward us. He reaches for her, his hands trembling. He pulls her into a hug.

While her father holds her, Juliet reaches behind herself with one hand and squeezes mine. Tears roll down her mother’s cheeks as she reaches out to touch Juliet’s shoulder. “I’m fine,” Juliet answers through her own tears.

“We were so worried about you. Ben’s parents came with us, too. They’re at the hospital. My God, this is so awful.” Juliet’s mother holds her hand to her chest, her eyes dart around the station.

Juliet pulls back from her father and turns to me. “This is Chase.” Juliet’s dad shakes my hand and her mom nods at me, but it’s obvious they only want to be with Juliet.

I move away from them and sit on the bench. I can’t hear their words, but I know Juliet’s body language well enough to know she’s uncomfortable. I stand to rescue her, then sit back down. She seems to have the situation under control.

I can’t figure out if she’ll be staying with them or coming home with me. I try to see her colors, but I can’t. I guess it doesn’t work that way, on demand. I call Rob, who’s waiting in the parking lot, to tell him we’ve been delayed.

Soon, Juliet walks back to me as her parents leave through the station doors. “What’s wrong?” I ask. “Where are they going?”

“They want me to go home. To Pennsylvania. They said Ben’s going back after his surgery to recover, too.”

“Oh.” I don’t want Juliet to go anywhere except to the city with me. I hold my breath and start to panic, fearing the strength of her connection to Ben. “Juliet…” I say, ready to beg her to stay.

She looks at the ground and says, “I told them no.”

I exhale. “Thank you.” I stand and squeeze her tightly, wanting to glue her to my side. “I know you’re worried about Ben. Thank you for not going.”

“You don’t have to thank me,” she says. “I love you.” It’s our line from the night before. “I want to be here for you, especially tomorrow.”

She remembered my grandmother’s funeral. I’d almost forgotten, but she remembered. I kiss the top of her head. “Thank you,” I say again. “I wish I could erase today.”

“Me, too. Can I stay with you?”

“Of course.” I don’t plan on letting her out of my sight.

Juliet

I wake on Chase’s couch feeling happy. For a few moments, I forget today is the day of his grandmother’s funeral and the day after the shooting that killed Frank. I wish I could bottle those few seconds of peace as I open my eyes to the beautiful colors of Chase’s painting hanging over the mantle.

And then I remember.

I hear the shower running. He’d put a pillow under my head and a blanket around me, and he’d left the light on. I sit up on the couch and try to pull myself together for Chase.
Maybe I can pretend yesterday never happened
.

The water stops. I walk to the bathroom and push the door open. The hot steam surrounds me as I watch Chase wrap a towel around his waist, his back to me, a perfect V as he stands in the shower.

He flinches when I touch him. I trail my fingers over his back, down his spine, enjoying the moisture on his warm skin.
Yesterday never happened
, I say to myself again as Chase turns around.

He doesn’t say anything at first. His eyes search my face. He places his palm on my cheek and says, “Have I told you I can see your colors?”

He had. When he was inside of me just a few nights ago—the night that feels like a million years ago—Chase had whispered that he saw my colors everywhere. “What do you see now?” I ask.

Chase shrugs. “I see that you’re beautiful. Everytime. All the time.” He moves his hand down my cheek and over my neck. I close my eyes.

Yesterday never happened
. When I open them, Chase’s face is blurry from my tears. “Yesterday never happened.”

He wraps me in his arms, my cheek against his bare chest. “Do you think we’re strong enough?” He seems uncertain. I can’t find words so I nod against his chest. “No matter what, I love you,” he says, as he runs his hands down my hair.

“I love you, too.” I look up to his face and find his lips, kissing the corner of his mouth.

I want to scream with everything in me. I want to scream for Frank, for Ben, for Pooja. I want to scream at myself, my parents, and for no reason whatsoever, I want to scream at Chase. I pray that Cameron didn’t make it through surgery. If he’s still alive, I want to kill him. Like, actually
kill
him for what he did to Frank, Ben…all of us.

“Rob found out that Cameron made it through the night. He’s out of critical care. Officers took him into custody, but he’ll stay at the hospital until he’s well enough to be moved.”

I let the tears fall, and Chase wipes them away. “I hate him, Chase.”

“Can you tell me what happened yesterday?” Chase asks in a whisper.

I shake my head. “Not now. Today’s a day to honor Gloria.” My voice shakes. I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to tell Chase.

Chase

Pooja brings Juliet a dress, and Rocco drives the four of us to the funeral home. Juliet and I sit in the backseat quietly, grasping each other’s hands. I wish this wasn’t all happening at once. Juliet and I are just getting started, and already we have to deal with life—Gram, the shooting, Frank, Ben.

About a hundred old women from Gram’s senior center show up at the funeral home to say goodbye and offer their condolences. Each one tells me how much my grandmother loved me. Since Gram had run the senior center, she was known throughout the community. The funeral home is packed; the line runs out the door. The city councilman for our district shows up, the Chief of Police, and an army of decorated officers.

Juliet stays nearby, lost in her own thoughts but trailing me with her eyes. Rob is always within my sight, too. The seniors don’t recognize him like they recognized me, except the ones who mistake him for me or my dad. Everyone’s attempts to make me feel better about Gram and the Sheridan shooting only make me feel worse.

I don’t expect anyone else from Sheridan to show up, considering what went down at the dorm yesterday. Juliet’s parents come though. Unlike the others attending the funeral, who manage to celebrate my grandmother’s life, they’re a wreck. “They hate funerals,” Juliet explains as they move to the back of the room.

“I understand.” Juliet’s eyes glaze over, and I can tell she’s somewhere else. I bend down and kiss her nose. “I’m sorry to put you through this,” I whisper. I wrap my arms around her, and she rests her head on my chest. I don’t know how I ever lived without her.