Page 114 of Soul of a Psycho

My mouth falls open as I turn and gape. At Callie, at Ruby, at my mother, who smiles back encouragingly.

We’re all still here.

I twist back in my chair and find Cade still on the stage, standing off to the side of his mother, stock still and out of place. His eyes are wide in disbelief, jaw hanging, as he gapes too.

“Oh my god,” I breathe and clamp a hand over my mouth.

They didn’t go off.

Not a single one of them.

“Jessica Anderson,” the headmistress calls as Cade still stands there awkwardly.

Tears spill down my cheeks in relief. It’s over. It’s done. I want to clutch my stomach and laugh as a petite girl steps onto the stage.

“Congratulations,” Dorothy whispers buoyantly as she hands her one of the rolled up diplomas.

It’s not until the girl passes Cade that he seems to wake up, and slowly, ever so slowly, his eyes follow her as she descends the stairs.

“Melvin Abbott.”

The names keep getting called but Cade doesn’t take his leave, and his mother casts him an odd glance, one that he doesn’t notice. I try to will him to look at me, but he’s too shell-shocked, and I wish I knew what was going through his mind. Is he angry? Relieved? I can’t tell, and it takes far too long for my own name to be called.

When I finally climb the stage, my legs are weak, and I barely acknowledge Dorothy as she hands me my parchment. I train my eyes back on Cade, scared that he’s broken, and I stumble. He’s staring right at me. His dark irises are narrowed, as if he’s trying to figure me out. My heart stutters as I watch the gears turn in his mind. I straighten, suppress the urge to gulp, and force myself to walk past him, hoping the wolf isn’t hungry. I turn my back on him and descend, feeling his gaze tracking my every move and singeing my skin. I don’t dare look at him until I’m safely back in my seat.

I gasp when I realize he’s taken to the center of the stage.

“You…” he says for all to hear, his voice cracking, wet eyes searing into mine.

Whispers whip through the commencement as the headmistress looks around at a loss, but I’m trapped in his stare and the question within it. I don’t even care that everyone’s attention has turned to me. There’s only Cade. There’s onlyus. And I give him the smallest of nods, confirming what he’s already figured out.

A sob rips from his throat as his shoulders wrack forward. My own body trembles in response, and then hejumps, vaulting off the stage. He starts sprinting down the aisle, his cap falling away, and I’m suddenly out of my seat, clawing my way past people, desperate to meet him no matter what his wrath might be.

“You…” he rasps when we collide, grabbing my cheeks, “You…”

“Yes,” I cry, my whole body shaking. “Don’t hate me. Please, don’t hate me.”

“Hateyou?” He rears back as if I’ve slapped him. “How can I hate you when you just saved my soul?”

Epilogue

Sky

The airport is crowded. The line through boarding too long. It’s only been two hours since graduation, but every second that passes causes my heart to seize. I feel like I’m back under the chairs, the grass damp on my knees, as I frighteningly clipped the wires.

I had watched Cade from the rooftop, my phone clutched in my hands as I searched how to disarm a bomb. I waited until he left, watched him pause by the sycamore, and then snuck down. But what I actually found strapped beneath the chairs looked nothing like the images online. The wires were all black, no colors to differentiate, and there was tape in the way. I had to carefully peel it back, one after the other, afraid that at any second I would accidentally trigger them.

The first one was the worst. I had to pick a wire, not knowing which might cause it to detonate or which might render it useless. I chose the far right out of ten. I held my breath and then snipped, no other options. When nothing happened, I repeated it on all of them, only hoping that the one I chose would actually save us.

“If we don’t make it,” Cade leans down to whisper in my ear. “Remember, I love you.”

“We’re going to make it,” I tell him and check over my shoulder, expecting to find a flood of police storming our way.

It could take days for Bobby to be found, though I don’t think Cade knows I know about Bobby, but those chairs will be packed up soon—if they haven’t already—and what’s under them is covered in prints.

“Just remember.” He places a finger under my chin and turns me back to him.

Despite that we could be gunned down at any moment, he looks happy, the most at peace I’ve ever seen him.

---