Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66997 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 335(@200wpm)___ 268(@250wpm)___ 223(@300wpm)
Jude frowns. "What pictures?"
But Axel isn't looking at Jude anymore. He's looking toward the entrance of the club. We all follow his gaze. Police officers escort a man outside. His hands are cuffed. His tie hangs loose around his neck. His face is pale. My fingers tighten around Jude’s.
"Dad?" I whisper.
He doesn't answer. He doesn't fight. He just keeps talking. In fact, this is the most I’ve seen him talk. He doesn’t even spare us as much as a glance. He just keeps talking and talking and talking to the detectives.
He’s trading secrets, trading lives, all to save himself. I’m not stupid enough to think it has anything to do with me or Jude. This is all for him.
The realization crashes into me all at once. Seven years ago Jude’s father handed him over to save himself. Tonight, my father is doing the exact same thing.
Jude’s father watches the scene unfold. Then he looks at me. A slow, cruel smile spreads across his face. "You really thought your family was any different than mine?"
My entire body goes rigid. My father never once looks back at me. He just keeps talking.
And somewhere beside me, Charlie starts laughing.
A chill runs down my spine. The sound is soft, broken, and completely utterly hopeless.
Everything happens in slow motion.
I hear someone scream.
Then the crack of a gunshot rings out; it fills the parking lot and echoes off the brick buildings around us. For a second, nobody moves, then another shot follows. I grab Jude’s arm, and he looks down.
Sees what I see, and his eyes flare wide.
Blood.
My stomach drops. Fuck, it’s everywhere. Warm, sticky. Is it his? My stomach rolls, it’s dark, too dark, I check my chest, my shaking hands, my legs, then move to Jude, doing the same.
A body crashes into me softly, then falls to the pavement. I blink down. Once. Twice. No, no, no, no this can’t be happening.
Axel looks up from the ground, one hand pressed to his stomach, blood seeps through his fingers. His face is completely pale. Someone screams out his name, and I abruptly realize it’s me. And then it’s like cotton has been shoved in my ears. I hear the shouts around me, but I can’t seem to make it clear above the pounding of my heart.
Charlie doesn't move, she just stares. I look around wildly. My father. The police. Detectives. Everyone’s shouting and running around at once in a chaotic response. My ears begin to ring. Jude and I drop to our knees next to him.
“Axel! Axel!” cries Jude.
He laughs. Actually laughs. “Well…” Blood drips out of the corners of his mouth. “This sucks.”
"You idiot." Jude’s voice breaks. “You absolute idiot!.”
He coughs. “I know. I know.”
I grab his hand. "Who did this?"
His eyes drift past me.
I turn.
Charlie is still standing there. The gun is gone from her hands but they’re shaking as tears stream down her face. She looks small. So small.
Axel squeezes Jude’s hand. “We good?”
“What? What the hell?”
"We good, man?" he asks.
Jude shakes his head. "Fuck no."
He smiles anyway. "Good, just like I expected." He winces. “Would’ve hated to die with you pissed at me.”
"You're not dying," Jude says through clenched teeth.
I’m full on crying, sobbing. But somehow I find my voice. “Somebody help!”
Police rush forward. Paramedics. More chaos.
Everyone’s shouting. Shouting.
Everything blurs together. Axel reaches beneath his coat with what little strength he has left. My heart stops as he pulls out a folded piece of paper. Blood stains the edges. He presses it into Jude’s hand. “The page I pulled…for Charlie. Not in thumb drive.”
Jude stares down at the paper, and I read it over his shoulder.
One page.
Torn from the original Dean's List.
Charlie's page. Her origin. Her mom. Everything.
Jude’s gaze falls back on Axel. "Axel..."
He shakes his head.
"Keep it safe, wanted to keep her…keep her."
Charlie finally moves. One shaky step. Then another. She drops to her knees beside him. "You stupid—" Her voice cracks. “Man.” She sobs. “Why! Why would you save me!”
Axel smiles at her.
It isn't the smile he gave Jude.
Or me.
It's softer. Like he finally understands what a real smile means. “I know.”
She hits his shoulder. "I never asked you to do that."
"No, you didn’t." His eyes close for a second. "But you deserved one person who would fight for you, and the minute you said yes, I volunteered."
The entire parking lot disappears.
The police.
My father.
Jude’s father.
The Dean's List.
The lies.
None of it matters.
Charlie breaks down falling across Axel as his blood pools. Jude’s cousin is dying. I have no idea who shot him. And our world will never be the same.
He glances at Jude. Then at me. His voice is barely there. "Take care of each other, world’s ugly, list is uglier."
His hand slips from Jude’s.
Paramedics push us back.
People shout.
Someone is arrested.
Someone is reading rights.
I don't know who.
I don't give a fuck.