𝐇𝐈𝐑𝐀𝐄𝐓𝐇 》 LEO VALDEZ ¹

―three. that's a lot of near-deaths

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𝐘𝐎𝐔'𝐑𝐄 𝐇𝐀𝐋𝐅
𝐃𝐎𝐍𝐊𝐄𝐘!
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THE STORM CHURNED INTO A MINI HURRICANE. Funnel clouds snaked towards the sky walk like tendrils of a monster jellyfish. And Charlie wasn't fond of the no brained creature in the first place, (seriously, what kind of animal has no anus? Only the untrustable ones). Kids screamed and ran for the building. The wind snatched away their notebooks, jackets and hats. Charlie has zipped up her coat pocket in hopes of keeping her deck of cards safe.

At this point, she was practically a koala bear, hugging the rail with all her might, not daring to look down. The second she had known hell was about to break loose, she had sprung away from Coach and Jason in favour of not being flung through the air.

Someone cursed next to her and Charlie turned to see Leo losing his grip. Moving automatically and on well aged instincts, Charlie released the bar and used her momentum to grab his jacket and pull him backwards, forcing him to crouch down as she practically shielded his body with hers.

Leo gaped up at her. ''Wow, thanks,'' he said, voice light with disbeilef.

''Don't mention it,'' Charlie said, not so mush as looking down at him. From her words, Leo could tell she weirdly meant them. He honestly didn't understand.

"Are you sure―? Because if I had I saved someones life, I definitely wouldn't stop dangling it in front of their face―"

''Go, go, go!'' Coach Hedge yelled. ''Charlie you keep that boy safe, he's one of them!''

''Aye sir!'' Charlie yelled back at him, giving him a clear, strict nod.

''I thought your name was Jodi...''

''I lied.''

 ''Why would you―?''

Charlie's hand was suddenly behind Leo's head, pushing it towards the ground even more. Not for safety reasons, just to shut him up. ''Move slowly and stay low,'' she ordered. It wasn't the best plan, but it was the only thing they could really do, the wind didn't really reach the two anymore as under the railing was a thick sheet of glass that worked like the wind-blockers you'd take at the beach. But they'd give in eventually.

Piper and Dylan were holding the doors open, herding the other kids inside. Piper's snowboarding jacket was flapping wildly, her dark hair all in her face. Charlie thought Piper must have been freezing ― she knew she was ― but Piper looked calm and confident, telling others it would be okay, encouraging them to keep moving.

Leo was practically crawling towards the doors, Charlie on her knees beside him as she protected him with her body. Whilst they settled for crawling, Jason and Coach tried to tun across, but it didn't make much difference either was as the wind had suddenly changed directions. It was like moving through quicksand. The wind seemed to fight against them, pushing them back.

Dylan and Piper pushed one more kid inside, and then lost their grip on the doors. They slammed shut, closing off the skywalk. Piper tried tugging at the handles and inside the kids pounded on the glass, but the doors remained stuck.

''Dylan, help me!'' Piper shouted.

Dylan just stood there with an idiotic grin, his Cowboy jersey rippling in the wind, like he had had a change of heart and decided he rather liked the storm.

''Sorry Piper. I'm done helping.''

He flicked his wrist and Piper flew backwards, slamming into the doors and sliding to the skywalk deck.