âWhere the hell are you taking me, dude?â Natalie asks from the passenger seat of Shaunaâs car. Sean stole the keys and picked up Nat for a âjoyride.â
âJust some place I found. Yâknow those woods out behind the old arcade?â Sean asks, smiling wide before taking a long drag from his pre-roll.
âThe one that went out of business?â Nat replies, confused. Sean nods. âTheres a lake almost a mile hidden in those woods. I found a pretty cool spot there.â Sean says as he blows out the smoke from his joint through his nose.
After a couple more minutes of comfortable silence, Sean parks next to the building that used to be an arcade.
He opens up the car door and steps out. He didnât wear his seatbelt, so he didnât need to unbuckle. Nat unbuckles her seatbelt and does the same, stuffing her hands in the pockets of her leather jacket.
Sean gestures for her to follow him, and he leads her to the lake. Itâs small, but too big to be a pond. Near the shore sits an algae and rust covered boat with a large gash near the bow. âWoahâŠâ Nat mumbles. âRight?â Sean laughs excitedly, before hurrying over to the wreck.
He hops on board and starts ringing the bell that was barely hanging onto the walls of the boat. âAhoy!!!â He yells. Nat shushes him quickly. âDude, shut up!â She laughs, and jogs over to him. She climbs on board and grabs his hand.
The two make eye contact, now realizing how close they are. Natalie practically yanks her hand away from his and backs away with rosy cheeks. Sean smirks slightly, but doesnât say anything. âSo⊠nationals, huh?â Sean asks, walking toward the stern, careful not to slip on the slimy damp floors of the boat.
âYep. Iâm gonna miss you, man.â Nat replies, sighing. âOh, donât tell me youâre goinâ soft on me, ScatorccioâŠâ Sean giggles. Natalie playfully rolls her eyes at him, a small smile on her face.
âFor real, though. It wonât be the same without you.â Natalie replies. Sean shrugs. âIâm not a sports guy, so iâm not sure iâd be fun to see in the stands.â He sighs. âStill.â Nat states, and he shrugs once more.
âWho knows? Maybe I could call you ând stuff.â Sean suggests. âYeah, but your parents would probably kill you. Imagine the phone bill.â Natalie chuckles, and Sean smiles at that. âYeah, thatâll probably be rough. But iâll find a way, donât worry.â Sean says, facing her with a warm smile on his face.
Sean is sat on the bleachers. His parents have put Shauna on babysitting duty again. The team is practicing, and Seanâs eyes are watching Natalie. Soccer bores him, but Nat doesnât. So at least thereâs that.
The assistant coach blows the whistle and walks onto the pitch. âAll right, bring it in. Take a knee, ladies.â He says, and they all fall in. âWhatâs up, state champs? Okay, so JV is gonna help us out with a little scrimmage today. Uh, Coach Martinez had to take care of a family thing, so JV youâre gonna grab a pinny from Misty and letâs get started!â Coach Scott claps slightly.
âUh, excuse me, Coach Scott, shouldnât we say a prayer first?â Asks Laura Lee. Coach Scott chuckles awkwardly âUh⊠itâs just a scrimmage, Laura Lee.â Coach Scott replies.
âOh, my god the agony! God is in tears, Mr. Scott!!â Sean shouts sarcastically, and Natalie fights back a chuckle, earning a glare from Shauna.
âUh⊠but, uh⊠sure! Yeah. Knock yourself out.â Coach Scott says. Laura Lee takes a deep breath, and begins her prayer. âHeavenly Father, let our efforts remain fruitful, so that we may perform on ways glorious to You. In your name we pray, Amen.â Laura Lee concludes.
Scrimmage has started, and the ball is being passed around. Nat tries to pass the ball to Allie, but she doesnât get it. Coach Scott blows the whistle. âCâmon, Allie. That shouldâve been yours.â He says.
Taissa runs up to him. âI want to switch sides. Iâll take Allie.â She says, and Coach gives her the go ahead. âAll right! Letâs go, Varsity! Taissa wants to see you step it up. And, quite frankly, that makes two of is. Letâs see some hustle!â He shouts, and blows the whistle once more.
Taissa runs into Allie, who grunts and looks at her, upset. âThis is the game. Step it up.â Taissa scolds. The whistle blows and Shauna approaches Taissa. âItâs not helping, Tai.â Shauna states. âIf we canât freeze her out, sheâs gonna have to learn to play under pressure.â Taissa replies.
The game starts again, and as Allie runs for the ball, Taissa runs toward her and trips her, resulting in Allie falling to the ground with a loud snap. She immediately starts crying and holding her right leg.
The bone is sticking out of her shin, which is a sight that is clearly upsetting as she looks down in horror at her leg. Coach Scott runs over. âHoly fuck.â He curses.
âHelp!â Allie screams, and Misty immediately runs over holding a red cloth. âOkay, apply pressure-â Misty mutters to herself as she does exactly that, pushing onto the protruding bone in Allieâs leg, and she cries out in pain.
Laura Lee, Shauna, and Lottie sit down with Allie to offer comfort and support. Sean gets up from the bleachers and run over to see whatâs going on, and screams at the sight. âHoly shit, dude, your legs a goner!â He shouts. âNot helping!!â Shauna scolds him.
The teamâs mood is down, for good reason. Everyone is either showering or sitting quietly in the locker room. âI know weâre all really worried about Allie. But⊠it might not be as bad as it looks.â Jackie tries to cheer them up. âYou could see her fucking bones, Jackie. Iâm pretty sure itâs exactly as bad as it looks.â Nat scoffs.
âOh, god⊠iâm gonna throw up.â Van says, looking at the ceiling. âOkay, but, I mean⊠weâre still a team. And we still have each other.â Jackie states. âAnd the lord works in mysterious ways.â Laura Lee is cut off by Natalie loudly slamming her locker shut.âNice work, Taissa.â She says, and leaves the room.
âOkay⊠should I wear my black sabbath tank or my nirvana crop top?â Sean asks Natalie, whoâs busy applying makeup, her eyes locked onto the bathroom mirror. The two are in Seanâs bedroom, where he has his own bathroom.
âI donât know. Try them on, let me see.â Natalie suggests. Sean shrugs, and takes off his shirt. Natalie can see a glimpse of his back in her peripheral, and immediately tries to focus on her makeup.
âOkay, take a look.â Sean says, and Natalie turns to look at him. Heâs wearing the tank top. âHmmâŠâ Natalie thinks for a moment. âDo the crop top with a leather jacket.â Natalie suggests.
âI donât have a leather jacket, genius.â Sean scoffs. âJust wear mine, then. Itâs a little big on me, so it should fit you. Might be a bit tight, though.â She offers. âYou sure?â Sean asks, and she nods, looking away to focus on her makeup again.
Sean changes into the crop top and puts on Natâs jacket and looks at himself in his floor length mirror near his closet. âDamn, you were right.â Sean chuckles. âArenât I always?â Nat smiles.
âWell, there was that time-â Sean is cut off by Natalie throwing a tube of lipstick at him. âRhetorical question, dumbass.â She laughs. Sean tosses the lipstick back to her and she catches it and puts it on.
âAlright, dude, ready?â Nat asks. âGive me a secondâŠâ Sean trails off, and grabs his favorite denim jacket and throws it at her. âWear it. Jacket for a jacket.â Sean says. âThere were other ways to give it to me..â Nat sighs, pulling the jacket off her face and putting it on.
âNow weâre ready.â Sean smiles, and gestures toward his door. âLadies first.â He smirks, and Nat rolls her eyes. âGuess chivalry isnât dead.â Natalie says sarcastically.
Music is playing, and the party is in full swing. Rich runs up to Sean and Natalie. âWhy the fuck are you wearing each otherâs jackets? Holy shit, did you two go to pound town?!â Rich asks, eyes wide. âDude, that is the worst way you couldâve said that, shut the fuck up. Weâre friends, not fuck buddies.â Sean scoffs.
âDid you get the stuff?â Nat asks. âOh, yeah! My cousin hooked us up. Got six words for you, my friends. Lucy⊠in the sky⊠with diamonds.â Rich grins, and Natalie grabs the pill baggy he was holding up to look at it.
She opens it up, and grabs a pill. âDonât you go to the fuckinâ⊠triathlon or whatever the fuck tomorrow?â Sean asks. âYeah. I do.â
Sean is wandering the party aimlessly, looking for Natalie. Heâs high off his mind, and he ends up stumbling into a truck. âSean! What the hell?â Shauna huffs. âDâoh⊠hey, pissbitch.â He slurs.
âI swear to god, youâre drunk already? Off what, watered down beer from a keg?â Shauna says, annoyed. âNah⊠in the diamonds with skiesâŠâ Sean laughs. âYou have three eyes.â He burps and then trips and falls to the ground.
âGoddamn it, Sean.â Shauna sighs, and helps him off the ground, which makes him immediately scream like heâs getting shot. âWhere are you taking me?!â He cries. âOh, my god, I was helping you up, you moron!â Shauna shouts.
âWhereâd Nat goâŠâ Sean mumbles and walks away. Leaving Shauna alone. She downs her beer. She walks over to Taissa. âI admire your resilience, Tai. Canât be easy knowing you fucking crippled someone today.â Shauna says.
âCool. Great talk.â Taissa says and starts walking away, but stops once Shauna starts talking again. âJust admit you did it on purpose.â Shauna replies. âExcuse me?â âYou heard me.â
âYouâre wasted.â Taissa scoffs. âAnd youâre a fucking sociopath.â Shauna insults Tai, and Van interrupts. âWoah, guys, calm down.â She says.
âNo, listen you guys, we donât have to worry about the Allie problem anymore, because Taissa fixed it for us.â Shauna explains.
Almost the entire team is gathered around Taissa and Shauna. Sean stumbles over and approaches Natalie from behind. âHey, gorgeousâŠâ He winks. âWanna head back to my place?â He offers, slurring his words slightly. Heâs sobered up some, but not from the beer he drank.
âSean, what the fuck?â Nat asks. âOh my god, youâre Natalie!! I was looking for you!â He practically throws himself into her arms to hug her.
âWhat is she talking about?â Laura Lee asks, and Natalie, still holding onto a now sad drunk Sean, who is quietly weeping into her shoulder, speaks up. âSheâs talking about Taissaâs little plan.â Natalie explains.
âOh, please. Since when do you give a shit anyway? Donât you have a bong to hit or a dick to suck?â Taissa sneers.
âDonât talk to her that way.â Shauna defends Nat. âOh, fuck off, Shauna. I donât need you to defend me.â Nat groans.
Almost instantly, Sean seems to sober up a bit from the tense conversation. He lets go of Nat. âShauna, last I checked you were still rolling your eyes about me spending time with Natty.â Sean scoffs.
âI donât give a fuck about you what you do with your girlfriend, Sean. You know this.â Shauna snaps at him. âSheâs not my girlfriend!â âHeâs not my boyfriend!â Sean and Natalie deny it at the same time.
Chaos and arguing ensues, which catches Jackieâs attention. Shauna and Taissa start getting physical, and Sean immediately tries to pry them away from each other. âCat fight!â Randy shouts.
Jackie stomps over to them. âThatâs it! Enough!â She shouts. Everyone quiets down at that. âYellowjackets, with me! Now!â Jackie says, before taking a moment to approach Sean. âI never thought iâd say this, but thank you for separating them, Sean.â Jackie thanks him, and walks off, the team following after.
Sean grabs Natalieâs wrist as she leaves. âDo you need me there?â He asks, and Nat shakes her head. âNo, youâre good, go have fun.â She reassures him, and walks off.
âWhat do you mean I have to go?!â Sean shouts at his dad, upset. âI know youâve been sneaking around with Shaunaâs car, and that youâve been doing all kinds of drugs, Sean.â Mr. Shipman replies.
âBullshit, those rumors arenât true!â Sean argues, and Mr. Shipman throws a pill bag with little pink pills and a lunch bag full of weed at Seanâs feet. âHow do you explain this, then?â Mr. Shipman asks.
âFirst off, the pills are fucking benadryl because momâs dog is giving me allergies. Secondly, thatâs fucking catnip for Mr. Kraft.â Sean explains. He does smoke weed, but it is catnip and benadryl, so heâs not technically lying.
âDoesnât matter. Youâve lost trust, and your mom and I are very disappointed in you. Your bag is already packed and ready, go grab your backpack.â Mr. Shipman demands, and Sean groans. âFuck you, dad!â He says, and storms off.
âSee, I told you, honey. That Scatorccio girl is a bad influence.â Mrs. Shipman clicks her tongue. âHe was like this before.â Mr. Shipman sighs.
The plane is⊠fancy. As everyone puts their bags away, Sean is eventually noticed by Lottie. He was trying to remain unseen by everyone until he got to sit next to Nat. âSean?â Lottie asks. âUh⊠yeah.â Sean sighs. âWhat are you doing here?â She smiles.
âUh⊠sitting down?â Sean says as if it was obvious, and he takes the window seat. Lottie immediately sits down next to him. âNo, I mean⊠on the plane. Shauna didnât say you were coming.â Lottie clarifies. âIt was last minute.â Sean shrugs.
âWell, iâm glad youâre here.â Lottie smiles. She pulls a pack of gum from her pocket and offers it to him. âGum?â She asks, and Sean fights back a smile and grabs a piece and unwraps it and pops it into his mouth.
Sean opens his eyes slowly, and is greeted by an oxygen mask being put on his face by Lottie. His eyes widen as he realizes whatâs going on.
All kinds of beeping, screaming, crying. The plane is going down, and quickly too. He locks eyes with Lottie before frantically looking around for Natalie, which he canât see from where he is.
He looks over at Shauna. Suddenly, he feels a hand grab onto his forearm and gripping him tightly. He places his other hand on it and holds onto it as well, his eyes finding Lottieâs once more.
He moves his hand away to pull Lottieâs head to his chest in an effort to protect her. Sheâs crying, and her nails are now digging into Seanâs arm.
The bar cart is sending cups flying all over the place. Sean looks out the window and immediately ducks down, still holding onto Lottie. The only thing on his mind is making sure he can protect himself and anyone else he can, especially Natalie. But, for now, all he can do is duck and hold Lottie.
Sean wakes up to more crying, Lottie is gone and the emergency exit is open. He peeks out the window to see Natalie. He sighs, at least sheâs safe. However, his relief is cut short when he hears Van screaming for help as flames get closer and closer to her, and sheâs stuck.
âVan!â He shouts, and runs toward her. The chair sheâs stuck behind catches on fire, and the sleeve of his shirt catches on fire as well as he pries the seat off of her, giving her a chance to escape.
Van slowly starts to crawl her way out. âQuickly, Palmer!!â Sean shouts. His entire arm and part of his shoulder is on fire. âIâm trying!â She shouts. Eventually she gets out and runs for the exit, leaving Sean behind.
Sean lets go of the chair and immediately runs outside, still on fire. âSean!!â Natalie shouts and starts to run towards him, but is stopped by Shauna. âStop! He knows what to do.â She explains.
Sean drops to the ground and starts rolling, which is incredibly painful because various sticks and pebbles are stabbing his charred arm.
Finally, the fire is put out, and he stands up. The sleeve of his shirt is gone entirely. The burns arenât bad on his bicep and shoulder. However, everything below his elbow is black and charred, bits of white skin here and there, and he could swear he sees his bone on his hand. He tries to move his fingers, but he canât. Heâs in shock, and the adrenaline is still rushing through him.
Misty runs over to him and wraps some cloth around his bicep and shoulder. âWhat about the rest, Misty?â He asks. She doesnât answer. âWhat about the rest of my arm, Misty?!â He repeats, but again, to no response.
Itâs been a few minutes. Coach Martinez and all of the flightâs crew and pilots are all dead. Coach Scottâs leg had to be amputated.
Sean is sat next to Natalie. âWhat a mess.â Sean croaks out, fighting back tears now that the pain in his arm as set in. Misty said that his shoulder is a 2nd degree burn, the bicep is a 3rd degree burn, and everything below the elbow is a 4th degree or higher.
Misty hasnât answered his questions as to why she didnât bandage more than his shoulder and bicep. Natalie goes to grab his right hand, only for him to cry out in pain. âShit! Sorry.â She says, before Sean ends up chuckling. His laughter slowly morphs into sobs.
âI look like a roasted marshmallowâŠâ He mumbles. Lottie walks over and sits next to him and starts to comfort him.
Misty comes back, holding an axe. âSean, I need you to lay down. Can you do it?â Misty asks. âWhy?â âJust do it!â Misty shouts
Sean lays down. âShauna, Taissa, I need you hold him down by his shoulders.â Shauna and Taissa do exactly that and pin him to the ground. âWhatâs going on?!â Sean cries out.
Misty sets down the axe temporarily and sits next to Sean. She starts to undo his belt. âWoah, woah, Misty, what the fuck?!â Sean starts to try and wriggle out of the girlsâ grasp. âCalm down, itâs for a tourniquet.â Misty explains, which gets him to stop wriggling.
She fastens the belt above his elbow and jams a nearby stick into it and spins the stick around, tightening it. Sean starts crying again due to the pain. Natalie rushes to grab his (un-burnt) hand, now catching on to what Misty is about to do.
Misty spreads his arm out onto the ground and picks up the axe again. âWhatâs the axe for, Misty?! Put the axe down!!â Sean begs. âHey, hey, eyes on me, dumbass.â Natalie says, trying to calm him down. Sean looks her in the eyes. âDonât look at Misty, look at me. This is for your own good. Stay with me, dude.â Natalie says.
Misty raises the axe above her head, and Sean starts to panic again. Shauna looks away, not wanting to see Misty chop off her twinâs arm. Natalie places on hand on Seanâs face. âKeep your eyes on me. Breathe. You can do this.â Natalie says, her voice just above a whisper.
âAAAARRGGHHHHAAAAGGH!!â