Page 101 of Head Over Feels
Fuck.Myentire body turned ice cold.Iplastered myself against the wall and started easing towardMalcolmand the doorway.
Vinceslowly leaned down to place his gun on the floor and nudge it towardShawn.
Malcolm’svoice shook a little when he said, “Andthere’s another gun.Pleaseevacuate the restaurant.”
“Hangup the phone and shut the fucking doors!”Shawnshrieked.
Malcolmdropped his phone to the floor.Heleaned heavily on his cane and slowly walked over to the double doors and pulled them shut. “Done,” he said, turning back around.Hisvoice was steady, but his fingers were white where they gripped his cane. “Whatelse do you want,Shawn?”
Shawnkept his gun pointing atJames, who was shieldingGarrettwith his body.Shawn’sgun was smaller thanVince’s, but he handled it like he knew how to use it.
Outsidethe room,Icould hear a rising roar of people shouting and panicking.Iempathized.
Malcolmmade a little grunt, andIturned my head.Hewas mostly facing me but his eyes were onShawn.Theway he was leaning against the wall made it look like his leg was hurting, butIdidn’t see any pain in his expression.
Malcolmcut his eyes over to me, then looked around the room and back at me again.Hetilted his head toward the door and grunted one more time.
Istraightened up and crossed my arms.Iwanted to protest, but it was the most logical division of labor.Dangit.
Weall listened to the noise of the restaurant patrons exiting the building.Wheneverything was silent,Malcolmlifted his head towardShawnlike he was about to say something, butAndyspoke first.
“Shawn, what the hell?Whydidn’t you tell us which character you really were?”
MentallyIcheered whenShawntook the bait.Weneeded to buy time so the cops could get here.
Shawnsneered. “Allof you are such self-satisified, pious pricks.Likeyou’d have wanted to be my friends if you’d known.”
Holdit.Hedid all this to havefriends?
Tylermust’ve been thinking along the same lines because he asked, “YoukilledDonaldThorpeso we wouldn’t find out you pretended to, uh, be him?”
“Well, yeah.HegotFelix’sapology on the app.Hedidn’t even know about the show before then.SoheGoogledor something and foundAndy’sTikTokvideo.Heapplied to join the server, soIhad to track him down and make sure he didn’t talk to any of you.”
Ifelt sick.PoorDon.
Andysaid in a placating tone, “Shawn, you haven’t acted like the character on the show since we’ve known you.Whydidn’t you tell us the truth.Wewould’ve understood.”
Shawnscoffed. “Understoodwhat?ThatI’vebeen faking my personality?Iwas lonely, not a dumbass.Beingthe real me never got me anywhere.Butthere you guys were, ready to band together againstFelix, and for the first time in my life,Iwas part of a group.Iwasn’t about to letDoncontactFelixon the app orAndyonTikTokand ruin it all.”
Tylerasked, “Andwhat aboutFelix?Whythe bomb?”Oh, good question.
“WhataboutFelix?”Shawnshouted.Thegun jerked in his hand andJamesflinched. “Felixmade me look like a monster on that show.Yourlittle glitter bomb campaign was never going to be enough payback.Ilearned how to make the kind of bomb to sendmymessage.”Heglared at me. “Toobad you didn’t die.”
Whoa,Shawnwas desperately in need of a psych eval.
I’dbeen so involved in listening toShawn’smonologuing,Ialmost jumped whenMalcolmsaid, “Hey,Shawn.Look,Idon’t appreciate you trying to kill my boyfriend, butIneed to make sure you’re aware you’ve got a numbers problem here.”Hepointed at me then swept his hand around until it stopped onJames. “Thereare twelve of us but only one of you with one gun.Therewill come a time when somebody’s going to play the odds and make a run for it, either at you or out the door.”
Inodded in agreement, and some of the others nodded too.
Malcolmtook one step away from the wall, leaning hard on his cane. “Youwon’t get away without a hostage, right?”Hetook another halting step. “Leteveryone else go and take me.”Hegestured at his leg. “It’snot likeIcan get away from you, and my car’s in the handicapped spot right out front.”
Shawnswung the gun around to point atMalcolm, and my entire chest seized up.Malcolmstood still, no sign of nerves.Havinga gun pointed at him again was probably his worst nightmare.
Hewas so freaking brave, andIwas so freaking in love with him.
Icouldn’t wait to tell him.RightafterIkilled him for pulling this freaking stunt.
Aftera pause,Shawnsaid, “Okay.Whereare your car keys?”
