Page 114 of Chasing Infinity

I cup her cheek with my hand, tilting her jaw up before kissing her again. It’s a brief kiss, but it holds the promise of more. “I’ll definitely see you later.”

“Bye, Noah,” she waggles her fingers at me in a wave and then skips away.

I watch her as she walks the rest of the way to the café, her curls bouncing behind her. My chest aches as she gets farther from me, and I breathe deeply, trying to ease it, reminding myself that I’ll spend more time with her later. As soon as she disappears into the café, I turn on my heel toward my friends.

“What’s up, man?” Jordan hollers at me. “Did I see you walking out of thelibraryon the first day of summer?”

“I was hanging out with Parks,” I tell them, and they look at each other in amusement, muttering an insinuating “Ooh.”

“You’re so whipped, dude,” Caleb adds, reaching over and socking my shoulder. “You should’ve seen your face during her speech. I swear your eyeballs were popping out of your head in little heart shapes.”

“We’ve lost you over to the dark side—love,” Jordan adds in, crinkling up his nose at the word.

I roll my eyes and lean down on my forearms over the railing of the bridge, watching the water of the creek roil underneath us. Caleb keeps talking out of his ass, and I do my best to ignore him, instead thinking about what I want to do tomorrow with Parks. The countdown has started until she goes off to college, and I want to take full advantage of my time left with her.

Though I’m sure she would love it, I would rather not spend all my time left with her hanging out in the library, so I need to come up with more fun things for us to do together.

The guys and I spend the rest of the afternoon alternating between talking and playing a game against each other on our phones. It’s a good way to hang out without having to spill our guts in conversation.

In between rounds, Caleb sniffs the air and then speculates, “The Parks must be making a whole bunch of pastries. Smells like burnt donuts.”

I frown down at my phone but take a deep inhale. Then the thought crosses my mind, why would the Parks be making donuts in the middle of the afternoon? Usually, that is a task reserved for the early morning hours. Not this late in the day.

“What is that?” Jordan asks. I’m not sure if it’s something about how he asks the question or if it’s a realization, but I get up from my position and look around, the hairs on the back of my neck standing straight up.

“Is that…smoke?” Caleb asks, shooting up next to me in alarm and pointing his finger across the square. “Why is it so dark?”

I follow his attention and notice a thick cloud of smoke. I trace the trail back to see it pluming from the café, and my heart sinks. My feet move before my brain can catch up. Jordan and Caleb call my name as they chase after me, but I don’t slow down.

I stop dead in my tracks when I get closer to the café. The entire building is in flames now. Red-orange licks of fire trail out of the front door and the windows. Cracks are already forming on the roof. I spin around and yell to Caleb, “Call 911!”

Caleb comes to a halt mid-stride and pulls his phone out of his pocket, immediately dialing. I spring into action again, and Jordan follows. “Noah, stop! What are you doing?”

I keep pumping my legs towards the café, not listening to him. A small crowd has gathered around the scene, but I break through. When I’m in front of the group, I turn around in circles, searching for those familiar honey-brown curls that belong to Addison. When I don’t see her, panic seeps into my body. I only hesitate for a moment at front of the door of the café before I rip it open and run into the fire, one mantra running nonstop through my mind.

I’ve got to get her out.

The minute I step into the café, my skin breaks out in a sweat, and my throat begins to burn from the heavy smoke. I cough, my body’s attempt to clear my airway. An idea comes to me as I spot a half-full glass of water sitting on a table nearby. I pull off my button-up shirt and douse it with the water, using it to cover my nose and mouth. Everything is dark, clouded by the smoke that’s flooding the space. As I walk through the burning building, I glance uneasily up at the roof. It’s cracking and popping, making sounds that threaten a cave-in. The incessant beeping of the fire alarms rips through the air ominously. It’s such a stark sound that my ears start to hurt. With my shirt grasped fully against my face, I scour the café, looking for those curls and any sign of life. Somehow, I manage to discern a whimper and alter my course towards the sound.

I make it to the front counter and then jump over it, using one hand to propel myself over the edge. My feet hit the floor with a thud, and I crouch low to keep the smoke out of my eyes. Andthere.

There she is.

Relief courses through my body for a second, then I dampen it, focusing on the situation again. Addison is crumpled up underneath the fallen menu board. Her head rests next to the items listed in chalk, eyes closed, and her lips slightly parted.

“Parks!” I exclaim, crawling towards her. She’s got a gash over her forehead that’s trickling blood over her eyebrow and down her cheek. Her eyes open into little slits, and she stares at me, still conscious but barely.

“My arm,” she murmurs so softly I almost don’t recognize she’s said anything. I gape at her for a moment before jolting into action. Her left arm is caught underneath the weight of the menu board. I give her shoulder a tug, seeing if I’ll be able to dislodge her that way, but she only cries out in pain.

“Sorry, sorry,” I tell her and then scoot back to reevaluate. More and more flames are creeping into the café from the kitchen and storeroom. I send a silent thanks to the heavens that she wasn’t back there when the fire started. From the intensity of the flames I see back there, I can’t imagine anyone would have survived.

I need to get her out of herenow. Using my shirt, I wrap it around both hands to protect them from burning as I lift the sign. “Parks, can you hear me?” She moans, and I know she’s still with me. “I’m going to lift this up on the count of three. I need you to move out from underneath it, then we’ll get out of here, okay?” She grunts, and I take that as a ‘yes.’

Positioning my covered hands on the edge of the wooden sign, I count out loud. Onthree, I grip the wood and lift the sign up. I’m relieved when I feel Addison scoot on the floor next to my legs and away. I drop the sign as soon as I think she’s put enough distance and then turn to her.

Her hair is frazzled and frayed, her eyes wide and alarmed as she looks down at her left forearm. I swallow bile as I look too. Her skin is mangled and scorched, the layers of her skin destroyed in a red oozing mess.

“Noah,” she says blankly, as if in shock. “My arm.”

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