Did You Get What You Deserve?

I leaned back and stared at the paper in front of me.

“It sucks.”

James looked up, then realised what I was talking about and rolled his eyes.

“It does not suck, Alecsandra. Your artwork is just fine.”

He grinned as I jumped up and strode around the table towards him, pushing up my sleeves.

“You haven’t got the balls.”

“Wanna bet?” I laughed, punching him in the shoulder. He winced and cringed.

“That didn’t hurt.”

“Course it didn’t, wimp. Don’t call me Alecsandra.”

He laughed as I sat down and carried on with my art assignment. Then he paused and looked around.

“Where’s Dani?”

“In the music hall.”

He nodded.

“Good. As long as she hasn’t locked herself out. Mrs Hastings left the door locked, so if she’s pulled it completely closed she’s screwed.”

“I’ll check. DANI!”

There came an answering shout from several corridors away.

“She’s fine.”

He grinned.

After a moment of silence, he sat up and arched his back. Then he took his jersey off.

“It’s so damn hot today.”

I nodded.

“It wasn’t this hot at lunchtime.”

He sighed and picked up his pencil again. There was silence while I tried to improve my art. Then I looked up at James.

“Is it just me, or is it getting hotter?”

He shook his head.

“It’s getting hotter.”

He stood up and walked over to the heater.

“It’s not on.”

As he turned to walk back to the table, he glanced out the window into the corridor. He stopped dead, his face instantly pale.

“Fire.”

The one word set all my nerves on edge. I jumped up.

“What?”

“Fire!”

I could see it, in the corridor, racing up the walls and along the floor.

“Duck!” I forced him to the floor as the window next to us exploded. We were showered with molten glass that burned our faces. James pushed me out of the way as flames licked through the empty hole where the glass had been. He pulled me to my feet and dragged me into the corner, out of reach of the flames. And then the fire hit the bottles on the table.

I screamed as a bottle exploded next to us. James grabbed my hand and pulled me into the other corner. As we ducked past the table I grabbed my schoolbag, which was sitting on a stool. I reached my hand in and pulled out my cell phone.

“Come on, turn on, turn on, turn on... Shit! Low battery!”

I dialled 911.

“Hello? Our school is on fire and we’re trapped inside-” I screamed again as the window above us exploded. I picked up the cell phone, which I had dropped, and held it to my ear.

“Okay, kid, slow down and start again. What’s your name?”

“Alecsandra Iero.”

“Good. Where are you?”

I gave her the address of our school.

“We’re in the art block and it’s on fire. SHIT! My friend is in the music block! She’s eight years old and she’s blind! SHIT!”

“Hush, dear, it’ll be fine. Stay as far away from the flames as you can, there are fire engines on the way. Can you hear the sirens?”

“No...” my head was whirling, and it was only when James grabbed my hand and tugged me to the floor that I realised I had been standing in a cloud of smoke. My eyes were stinging, and I realised there was something hot in my left eye. I whimpered, and James put his arm around me, gently prising the phone out of my hand.

“Hello? Yes... yes... my little sister... yes... I don’t know... I- hello? Hello?”

He stared at the phone in his hand.

“It’s out of battery,” he said softly.

I shuddered as a wave of heat passed over me. The room was spinning around me, and I clung to James as another window exploded. Then I heard sirens in the distance.

“Hear that, Alec? That’s-” he was stopped by a sound. A sound that turned my blood cold. A scream. A long, high scream that was abruptly cut off. Then all we could hear was the roaring flames and the sirens gradually growing louder.

“DANIELLE!”

I will never forget the sound of James’ voice as he screamed his sister’s name. The terror in his voice is something that will haunt me for the rest of my life. His grip tightened on my arms, and for the first time that afternoon, I realised he was scared. I realised how helpless he felt, and for once I actually felt older than him.

“She’s- she’s fine, James.”

He shook his head, tears flying from his eyes.

“DANIELLE! STAY WHERE YOU ARE! DON’T MOVE AROUND!”

I strained my ears to try and catch Dani’s voice, but there was nothing. James let out a sob.

“DANI! DANI!”

The sirens were growing to a deafening wail. Then, suddenly, they stopped, and I heard something else: The sound of an engine, right outside.

“James... it’s okay... they’re here...”

Less than thirty seconds later the door flew open and several large shapes appeared in the thick cloud of smoke.

“Mark, there they are! Ken, there’s a little girl in the other block, you go get her.”

I felt myself lifted off the floor, and a voice said, “it’s okay, darling, you’re safe now.”

“Oi, Roger!”

The fireman holding me turned around.

“What?”

“He’s in a bad way.”

I froze.

“What’s wrong? Is he okay? James!”

The fireman holding me made a shushing noise.

“He’s fine. Can you get him out, Mark? There’s an ambulance outside, they can look at him there.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw the fireman hoisting James onto his back.

“Let’s go.”

I closed my eyes against the smoke that was pressing against my face. I coughed and choked, and Roger paused, bending down so that I was near the floor. After I had taken a few deep breaths, he straightened up and continued out of the building. Suddenly sunlight hit my face. I blinked, trying to clear my eyes of the smoke. There were several fire engines and a few ambulances parked in the school grounds. Roger the fireman carried me over to one of the ambulances and set me down on a stretcher.

“There, love, you’re alright now. Mark! Can you see Ken?”

“Yeah, here he comes. He’s got the girl.”

I tried to sit up, but the paramedic restrained me.

“Lie still, dear, I’m sure your friend is fine. She- oh.”

I heard a new voice, which I assumed to be Ken’s, talking to Roger. I heard the words “little girl,” “blind,” and finally, “dead.” Then I passed out.