No Way (#Wattys2015)

Antonio

It's the end of the day and I'm waiting outside with Ella, Zach, Ivy, and Jamie. Ella is over by the wall, talking to Jamie and Ivy, with a grim face. I suspect she's talking about Justice and Cori, because even Jamie is frowning and I've never seen him like that besides for when he was sitting the hospital with the other street kids.

Zach sighs. "Today was such a long day."

I nod in agreement. "The day should have been over as soon as Alec beat the crap out of Ella."

"She handled herself well though, you gotta admit." Zach says, grinning but it's fake and I can tell. "By the way, you and January? A thing?"

I blush slightly and shrug, looking over at her again. She has her back to me but I know if she were to look over at me, there would be bruises on her pale face. I continue to watch her and smile when Ivy says something that makes Ella laugh. She tilts her head back, her wavy blonde hair cascading down her back and her breath making a small white cloud.

"You really like her, huh?" Zach asks, smiling softly.

"She's... amazing, Zach. You may not be able to see through the tough exterior and meaness but I can underneath she's just such a beautiful, inspiring girl." I say, shaking my head, grinning.

"Wow, Tony. You really like her, don't you?" Zach teases me and I just shrug.

She looks over her shoulder and sends me a reassuring smile, though it doesn't have the same sort of effect when she has bruises and cuts on her face. She's still one of the most beautiful girl's I've ever seen with her black eye and split lip. I raise my hand to wave to her, beginning to smile right as there a squeal of tires from behind us.

I whip around at the same time that everyone else does and my eyes widen, seeing a black SUV with tinted windows speeding towards us. Someone screams right as the windows roll down and all I hear is gunshots going off and that scream. I'm frozen for all of five seconds before I tackle Ella to the ground, covering her head with my arms.

She's silent and still, unlike whoever else is screaming, and for a moment I'm afraid she's been shot until she flinches and covers her head too. She's stiff and her body trembles beneath mine and I'm partially afraid that I'm hurting her by having my body on top of hers, but I can't think too much about that. She'll have to be okay for now, because if I move, she could be shot.

We wait. That's all we can do while more shots go off. We just wait to hear the squeal of the tires driving off and we pray that our friends don't get shot. It feels like forever until those tires squeal and the shots stop and I can finally sit up. My ears are ringing and my heart is pounding. Bodies and blood litter the ground, the sight making me want to throw up. I help Ella to her feet, feeling dizzy, using her as support.

She pulls away from me, screaming. I look at her, wide eyed and confused, not quite sure why she's screaming. She drops to the ground, next to a body, pulling it into her lap, tears running down her face and sobs racking through her body. It takes me a moment to register who the body is. Ivy.

Her eyes that used to hold a childish sort of light in them, now stare at Ella, glassy and empty, unblinking. Jamie sits on the other side of her, eyes wide with shock, her blood on his face and his clothes. I look around for Zach, deciding to give Ella her space. My eyes scan the ground, as cops and paramedics begin to arrive.

"NO!" I shout, eyes wide, full of tears as I finally find Zach.

He's slumped against a wall, struggling to breathe, bleeding heavily from a bullet hole that's right above his heart. I kneel down besides him, blood soaking through my jeans, but I couldn't care less. I try to stop the bleeding but Zach knocks my hand away, giving me a weak smile.