Page 17 of Something Unforgettable

“Noo,” Ev whined. “Stay awake and talk to me, Finny.”

Finn laughed as he got to his feet and started for the stairs, flicking off the last of the lights on the way. “Fine, but only until I’m upstairs. I’m not letting you listen to me brush my teeth.”

He started up the familiar stairway. It was dark with the store lights out, but his eyes had adjusted enough that he could just make out the landing at the top.

“Ooh,” Ev teased in his ear. “Toothbrushing. Sexy. Does Xavier listen to you brush your teeth and then tuck you into bed every night?”

Finn made a choking sound and hissed “Ev!” His best friend was such a weirdo. He stepped through the doorway into the apartment and reached for the light switch.

Just then, a dark shadow flew at him. Finn jerked back with a yelp.

“Get out!” his grandfather shouted. “I called the police!”

The shadow crashed into him and Finn stumbled.

“What—” There was nothing but air under his back foot. The stairs. Finn’s arm flailed out for the railing in a desperate grab. His fingers closed around it, but he couldn’t fight the momentum and it was torn from his grasp. He fell, the world twisting and spinning around him in a wild blur. The next thing he knew, everything was still. He was sprawled against the door at the base of the stairs, but he felt okay, like he’d maybe come through that unscathed. He let his heart calm for a moment, then pushed himself to his feet.

Fire tore up his arm. He yelped like a wounded animal and hit the floor again when his arm gave out. He choked back a whimper as tears spilled down his cheeks. Oh god. That hurt. Shit. With careful movements, he cradled the throbbing limb to his chest and tried to breathe through the pain.

Everything was silent. What had happened? Had someone broken in? Where was Pops?

“Pops?” he tried to call, but his voice was weak and thready.

No one responded, and there was no movement at the top of the stairs. Finn struggled upright and pushed himself to wobbly feet. He needed help. They needed help. Somewhere behind him there was a faint sound that resolved into sirens. Pops had shouted that he’d called the police. That was good. They would help. Finn stumbled toward the front of the store. He needed to let them in. If they broke the lock it would be expensive to fix.

He found Pops’s keys on the hook where he always put them at night. It took three tries to get the right one in the lock. By then the front of the store and the parking lot behind it was lit with flashing lights. He turned his face away from the brightness as he pushed the door open, then yelped when hands grabbed him, pulling him outside, his sneakers scrambling on the front walk.

“Finn, are you hurt?” a familiar voice asked.

Finn shook his head, then nodded. Who? “Pops. Where’s Pops?” he managed to ask, craning his neck back toward the store.

“They’re looking for him,” Micah’s dad answered, his hands on Finn’s upper arms to keep him still. Or maybe keep him on his feet. Finn wasn’t sure which.

“I heard him shout.” His eyes burned and his jaw wobbled. “Where is he?”

Micah’s dad’s radio crackled to life and spit out something Finn couldn’t decipher. That was right, Micah’s dad was the sheriff. Sheriff Avery. Finn felt slow, like his thoughts were moving through molasses.

“Finn.Finn.” Fingers cupped his jaw and turned his face until he was looking into the sheriff’s familiar brown eyes. “He’s okay. They’ve got him. It looks like he took a knock to the head, so they’re sending an ambulance to be safe, but he seems all right otherwise.”

Finn’s knees went weak.

“Woah, there,” Sheriff Avery said, tightening his grip as he helped Finn sit down on the curb.

Someone found the lights inside and he had to turn away from the glare. There were people everywhere. How did they get there so fast? Paramedics wheeled a stretcher past and Finn tried to get up to go after them, but Sheriff Avery pushed him back down again.

“Bri,” the sheriff called. “We need you over here.” A moment later, a blonde paramedic with a high ponytail stopped in front of him. Finn blinked. She looked familiar. Did he know her?

“Hi, Corey,” she said as she crouched in front of him. “It’s been a long time.”

Finn frowned. Wait, Bri. He remembered her now. They went to school together. She’d been the homecoming queen Micah’s year.

“You’re a cheerleader,” he told her, then winced at how stupid that sounded.

Luckily, she just laughed. “That’s right. I was also class president and captain of the varsity lacrosse team. Now I’m a paramedic. Will you let me take a look at your arm?”

Finn tried to hold it out for her, but the fiery pain came rushing back and he gasped, clutching it tighter to himself instead.

“I—I think it might be broken,” he managed, his voice embarrassingly shaky.

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