Retrospect

Twenty-one

As soon as the door of Room 767 flew open, Reeves and I burst through the entrance, panting and startling the rest of the group. Murl jumped just as he was raising a cookie to his mouth and Rich hurried over to us. I fell to my knees just in front of the door that closed behind me and Reeves leaned against the wall, holding onto his stolen suit, trying to catch his breath.

"What happened?" Rich tried, stunned by our scraped, dirty faces. He held out a hand for me to grab and I let him help me to my feet.

"Officers," I managed to say in between gasps of air. Ana narrowed her eyes, standing in front of the farthest couch.

"What did you do this time?" she muttered.

I ignored her and Alvin walked up to me. "Here," he said, handing me a water bottle. I dipped my head in thanks and unscrewed the cap before chugging it all down.

Reeves looked around the room and turned to Murl. "Has Miles come back yet?"

"No," Murl shook his head and Reeves began pacing around. "Why are you asking? What's going on?"

Ana was fixing her braid, pretending to be uninterested, yet I saw a flash of worry in her brown eyes once she realized something was truly wrong.

Reeves was about to answer when the entrance flew open again and Miles rushed inside. "Did you guys see that out there?" was the first thing he said, his hair wild. "A whole building just fell down on some street."

Reeves stared down at his boots and rubbed his forehead, closing his eyes and sighing. Miles looked at him, then looked to me.

"We were there," I spoke up, voice scratchy all of a sudden. Miles' eyebrows raised and Ana laughed, sauntering over to me with a disgusting smile on her face.

"Of course she was there. She was probably the reason the building fell down since she can't do anything right," Ana growled, stepping closer to me with a smug look.

I could see Miles out of the corner of my eye, or really everyone, now that the spotlight was directed on Ana and me. They were all watching me, waiting to see what I'd do. Since Ana was slightly taller than me, I stared up at her, trying to keep my composure.

Ana made a pouty face at me and tilted her head. "Aww, did I hurt your feelings, Catie?" she mocked in a high-pitched voice. Then, her tone changed. She aggressively pushed me backward. "Should I teach you how to grow up?"

I glanced over at Miles, feeling his stare on me the most as he was the closest out of everyone to Ana and me. Ana saw me look at him and her eyes darted between me and Miles, crossing her arms. "Oh, I see what's going on," she sneered, venom in her words.

"What?" I blurted. She was glaring at me, snickering wickedly.

"You may be able to crush hundreds of people with a building," she started, prompting me to return her defiant glare. She then jabbed her finger in Miles' direction. "But you can't fool me with this. You two good friends—?"

   "Ana, what are you even talking about?" Miles finally cut in.

  Ana turned on him now, fury burning in her brown eyes. "Oh, don't play dumb with me, Laurier," she returned, stepping closer to him. Murl got ready nearby to yank her away if she decided to attack anybody. "Cherry is desperate for attention and you're just giving her what she wants!" Something told me this wasn't about me at all and I started to wonder what it truly was that bothered her.

   Reeves was the one who shut down Ana, voice raised, unwavering. "Cory was the one who got me back here safe. You have not done one thing for any of us, so I think it's time for you to do the growing up." Everyone went quiet and Ana laughed, yet I could hear a nervousness in it behind the layer of her attitude. "The next time anyone is going outside is tomorrow. We're not risking anything else today."