Page 102 of Racing Hearts

“No, it can’t be,” she whispers. “He was always so nice to me. He genuinely cared—” She stops, realization coming over her as a shudder of horror rocks her body.

“But if he’s a teacher,” Alek starts, and I turn to see him, following his train of thought.

My eyes go to the door. “Then he has a card!”

Crawling across the floor to the door, I hold the handle, pressing my back against it. My eyes meet Alek’s gaze as he kneels, his chest heaving. “Evan, get back here,” he demands.

“No, we can’t let him get in,” I hiss. “The cops will be here soon?—”

Glass shatters next to me, and I jerk, my arm coming up over my face before I drop it to see a chair on the floor. In the next second, he’s up and through the window. I leap to my feet, wanting to smack myself, my eyes landing on my knife by Alek.

“Get out now!” I yell at the others, then I throw myself at him, hitting him while I have the element of surprise. We hit the wall hard, and I slam my hand into his arm, trying to get him to drop the knife, but he elbows me, and I stumble back and then jump to avoid his wild swing. Bringing my arm down across his, I grab his wrist and twist, trying to break it to get the blade, but he switches it to his other hand and stabs.

Stumbling back, I watch Lally drag Alice out, Bones and Skylar following, making sure they are safe. Alek and Tommy hesitate, gripping weapons to try and help as I avoid his desperate slashes.

He comes at me fast, and I leap across the desk, then he rolls over it, following me. I duck and weave, moving backwards before grabbing a chair to hold up as a shield.

“Hey, asshole!” Tommy throws a chair. “Leave my friend alone, you sick fuck!”

Alek leaps over the desk, bringing his bat down on Ford’s back, and I thrust the chair out. It hits him, and I run him into the wall, pinning him with a grunt as I glance back at Alek and Tommy.

“Tommy, get him out of here now!”

“No!” Alek roars, but Tommy grabs him.

“Go! I’m fast, remember? I’ll catch up to you!” I yell, struggling as he fights to get free of the chair, his mask knocking to the side to reveal a familiar face.

Autumn was right.

Alek lets Tommy grab him, but at the door, he pushes Tommy out, gripping the frame. “Get out here now!” he roars.

Knowing he won’t leave me, I push the chair with all my strength to keep Mr. Ford there, and then I turn and sprint, grabbing Alek’s outstretched hand as we slide into the hall and run to the stairs, where Tommy is waiting.

“Go, go, go!” I yell, and he hurries down the staircase, holding onto the rail as he slips. Alek and I are slower due to his wound, and I won’t leave him, but when we hit the stairs, a hand grabs my hair, throwing me back against the wall as he kicks Alek.

I hit the wall, crumpling with a groan as Alek is thrown down the steps. Horror fills me as he hits every stair and then lands in a heap on the next landing.

“Alek!” I scream, but he doesn’t move. Turning my head, I look up as Ford puts his mask back into place. “Fuck you,” I spit at him as I struggle to sit up.

“No, I’m going to kill you. She’s mine. You can’t have her,” he growls, his knife pointed at me. “I saw how you looked at her, how you touched her in the dining hall. You’re always hanging on to her. You can’t have her!”

I smirk as he lifts the blade. “Neither can you.”

I roll to the side as he brings it down, hitting the stairs and falling down a few before I stop myself and flip him off.

“You’re dead, you sick fuck! Nobody fucks with Team Super Gay!” Tommy yells and runs up the stairs, hitting him with a fire extinguisher.

“Tommy, let’s go!” I yell as I hurry down the steps and grab Alek, shaking him. “Wake up, now!” I hiss. He groans, and I glance back to see Tommy struggling, but then he loses the extinguisher, and Ford hauls him up by the throat. His legs kick in the air, and then he flies down the stairs. Tommy hits the wall hard, and I stare at him.

“Tommy!” I beg.

“I’m okay. I have a thick head.” He crawls over and shakes Alek. “We need to go. Can you lift him?”

Nodding, I help Alek to his feet and glance back to see Mr. Ford stomping slowly down the steps, taunting us. Grunting under Alek’s weight, I drag him to the first floor, where we can see the others outside the front door, nervously looking at us. Their shouts reach us, urging us on, and I grit my teeth, dragging Alek as Tommy takes his other arm.

“Go!” I yell at them, but they refuse, waving us on, those motherfuckers.

Something hits us from behind, and we go down hard. Scrambling back, I turn to see Mr. Ford waving with his blade. Fuck this. Looking at Tommy, I nod at Alek. “Get him out of here.”

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