Chapter 5 EXPLODE

OLIVE'S P.O.V

I shoved myself free from Caleb’s arms so hard that the wooden bench nearly toppled backward. “She’s going to—Caleb, she’s going to jump!”

The words ripped out of my throat. Caleb scrambled to his feet.

“Ollie—wait!”

But I didn’t wait. I ran.

The concrete tore at the thin soles of my flats as I sprinted across the courtyard, bursting past empty benches and laughing clusters of students who were oblivious to the tragedy unfolding above them. My lungs seized almost immediately, the familiar vacuum of asthma hollowing out my chest. I forced air in and out in shallow, burning gasps, every breath aching worse than the last.

Before I could collapse, Caleb caught up to me, his hand locking around mine and hauling me forward just as my legs threatened to buckle.

Together, we flew across the grass, sprinting past the administration building and the water fountain, racing back toward the structure we had just fled.

“Be careful!” I screamed at the top of my lungs as we drew nearer. “Get down! You’re going to fall!”

The path blurred into a smear of green and grey. I could only focus on the dark shape of Caleb’s shoulder guiding me through the haze.

She needed help.

I had tried. I had tried so hard to help her in that dining hall, and she had struck me for it. She told me to leave her alone. And now, this was happening.

Why didn’t I push harder? Why did I walk away?

The sound of her palm cracking against my cheek replayed in my mind. I had left her standing there alone. And now she was up there, eight floors above the ground, and the only thing left was this desperate, useless sprint.

A harsh wheeze tore out of me, causing Caleb’s grip to loosen instantly.

“Ollie—are you okay?” he asked, his pace slowing down.

Why was he slowing down? We need to keep running.

I couldn’t answer. I clasped my hands over my burning chest, my eyes rigidly fixed on the figure above.

“Wait here. I’ll go ahead,” Caleb breathed.

I shook my head fiercely, wiping my face. I was determined to keep moving, determined to help that poor girl.

Realising he couldn’t stop me, Caleb kept running, matching my stride guiding me with the firm pull of his hand.

We didn’t stop. We couldn’t. Somewhere above us, a girl was deciding whether the very next second would be her last, and the only thing that mattered was reaching her before that second arrived.

I cast my head upward. The girl hadn’t moved an inch.

“Get down from there! It’s dangerous!” Caleb roared, waving his free arm frantically to catch her attention.

She turned around slowly, her back now facing the empty air outside. She let go of the window frame, spread her arms wide, and leaned backward into the void.

“No!”

Caleb and I skidded to a halt, our eyes locked onto the body plummeting freely from the eighth floor.

In a heartbeat, the entire world narrowed down to that falling shape against the pale sky.

Caleb’s hand clamped around my arm, and we were running again, towards the spot where she would impact.

He released me almost immediately, his longer stride pulling him ahead so I wouldn’t slow him down. I sprinted after him, chest still hot as every prayer I had ever known spilled out.

Please, just let him get there in time to break her fall.

It was too late.

She came headfirst to the ground. Pale- blood erupted outward in every direction, her remains scattered across the pavement like shrapnel.

I stopped dead in my tracks, my fingers clamped hard over my mouth. My lips trembled, and my teeth rattled against them. My eyes grew as more tears spilled, taking in the shattered ruin of what was left of her.

Blood pooled from the wreckage of her head, seeping into the cracks. Her eyes were open and empty, fixed on nothing.

Caleb grabbed my arm, attempting to drag me away, but my limbs went limp. I tumbled to the ground under his violent pull as horror paralysed my body.

“Ollie, move!” Caleb yelled, his voice filled with panic.

“We can’t leave her,” I mouthed, the words barely finding breath.

“Now, Ollie!” he ordered, using his strength to tear me away from the gruesome scene. “We have to get help!”