Page 92 of The Rebel of Raleigh High
34
ALEX
“I’mafraid you’ve caught me in the middle of a crisis,” Leon says, laughing shakily. His hands are steady on the rifle, though. They don’t waver an inch. The gun remains firmly aimed at my forehead. “Kacey and I were just ironing out a few issues, weren’t we, Kace? I was just letting her know how much I fucking hate her for dumping my ass via text after four years of dating. Coming to my house, acting like she still belongs there, draping herself all over Jacob fucking Weaving. Thought it was hilarious, didn’t you, Kacey? Go on. Tell Alex what you did at the party after he left. I’m sure he’s justdyingto hear.”
Stall, stall, stall. The longer I can keep him talking, the longer I can keep him from killing anybody. “I could use a story,” I say evenly. “What d’you do, Kacey?”
The girl who threatened me in the parking lot only yesterday looks at me with pleading, desperate eyes. “That’s not important right now, Leon. What we really need to do is get you out of here before the cops show up.”
She just pissed herself, but it appears Kacey still has enough fire in her veins to try and manipulate her ex. Leon knows her better than anyone, though. He dealt with her for four years; he sees straight through the act without missing a beat.
“Oh,please, Kay Kay. You’ll be shoving me in front of a firing squad the second you get. You’re a horrible fucking actress. Always were. Tell Alex what you did after he left the party or I’ll shoot you in that vicious, ugly face of yours and I’ll tell him myself.”
“I—I slept with my boyfriend. At a party. Big deal, Leon. People hook up at parties all the time.”
“WHERE!” Leon screams. “Wheredid you hook up with your boyfriend?”
“In your bed,” she whispers.
Leon’s eyes are full of madness. He nods violently. “And there you have it. You fucked Jacob fucking Weaving inmyfucking bed.”
“It was supposed to be funny, Leon. Jesus, it was a joke.”
“Funny? What kind of fucking psychopath are you? What kind of sick, twisted mind do you have, if you think something as spiteful and shitty as that would befunny?”
“Everyone…everyonethought it was funny,” she pants.
Leon stills. He’s staring at me, dead in the eye, but his focus is most definitely on the girl behind him. “Exactly. Youtoldeveryone. You used me as a source of entertainment. You ridiculed me, made me look like an idiot, and everyone laughed along with you because you’re Kacey fucking Winters, and if they’re not laughing along with you, then you’re singling them out and tearing their lives apart. Don’t you realize? You think people worship the ground you walk on in this school, but they don’t. They fucking hate you. They’re afraid of you. They walk around on eggshells, hoping you don’t even notice them, because you are a vile, vindictive, spitefulcunt.”
She can’t keep her tongue in her head. She just can’t help herself. “You think anyone’s gonna loveyouafter this? You’re the fucking psycho, Leon! You’ve killed half the fucking school!”
“I’ve killed eighteen people, actually. You never were any good at math,” Leon spits.
“Leon, it’s seriously fucked up that she did that,” I say, inching closer. “You and I both know Kacey’s a piece of trash, though. Is she really worth all of this? Is she really worth any more violence?”
Leon narrows his eyes, adjusting his grip on the rifle. For a second, I'm hopeful—he looks like he doubts himself—but then he clenches his jaw, his shoulders tensing, and the moment has passed. His finger shifts on the trigger. “I thought you of all people would understand this, Alex. You're with Silver. Cillian, Sam, Kacey…they all hurt her, y'know. How can they hurt anyone else if they're all fuckingdead?How can any of them laugh at someone else’s pain again, if they’re not around to see it?”
“Man, you’re right. These guys should all be punished for what they’ve done. But that doesn’t mean you should arm yourself and go on a…on a…”
“Killing spree?” His brows rise. “It’s okay. You can say it. I know exactly what I’ve done.”
“How are you going to live with all of this?” I whisper. “When you’re finished, and you’ve painted every single wall in this building red? How are you going to reconcile yourself with that?”
“Don’t you watch the news, Alex?” he says bitterly. “The troubled kid who murders half his classmates neverlives. I don’t plan on being the exception to the rule.”
“Leon. Leon, please, man. Let’s just take a step back for a second. We’re traveling at a hundred and eighty miles an hour right now. No one’s thinking clearly.”
“I am. I stood up for the first time in my life and said enough. Enough is enough. This is the clearest I’ve been able to think in a long, long time. I have no issues with you, Moretti. You’ve only been stuck at Raleigh a month. You seem like a decent guy. You should just leave now. Get the hell out of here. Be the last man standing.”
“Fuck, I’d love to do that, I really would. But there’s a girl inside this building who I love more than life itself, and I can’t just let you hurt her. And all of these other kids? They might be assholes, and they might treat other people like shit, but they have people waiting outside who love them. Would I be a decent guy if I turned my back on this and let it happen? How many hearts have to break? How many people have to—”
I’ve been so focused on trying to get through to him that I haven’t noticed Kacey. She’s not sitting on the floor in a puddle of her own piss anymore. She’s on her feet, and suddenly she’s rushing at Leon, screaming…
Leon spins, firing the rifle into the stack of books as he turns, spraying a hail of bullets in his wake.
Fuuuuck!
I charge him, grabbing for the rifle. The metal is warm and deadly in my hand, unrelenting. Leon has a firm grip on it, though, the weapon braced into his shoulder, locked against his body. I drop the empty gun, freeing up my other hand, and I drive a right hook into his ribs, trying to wind him. I wind him, all right, but Leon’s a stubborn bastard. He doesn’t let go. Staggering backward, he slams himself into the book stacks behind him, and Kacey screams out in pain. She falls to the floor, whimpering, scrambling away as I kick out at Leon’s legs, trying to take him out at the knees.
