Graduation was the day that I had been dreading ever since Jesse left. Before he left I didn't really want it to come, but now the thought of walking across the stage and taking my diploma made me sick to my stomach.

And that wasn't even counting the fact that I had to go up and say a speech that I had wrote myself. If someone else had written it for me it wouldn't have been as bad, but it all came from my heart.

My still very broken heart.

Our parents had flown in from California, and now all the girls in Cabin C were scrambling as they got ready and packed up all their things.

I couldn't believe that we were actually leaving the camp the next day. And then only two weeks later I would be going off to Yale.

I still didn't want to go to Yale. It had once been my dream; the one thing that I wanted to do in my life. I knew that once I went to Yale, I'd pretty much be set for life. But now, I didn't want any of that.

I wanted Jesse.

"Today's finally the day!" Molly exclaimed as she continued to run around the room, her hair only half curled as she shoved her clothes into her duffle bag. "Today's the first day of the rest of our lives! Isn't this exciting? It's going to be so much fun!"

Surprisingly, I had gotten up before the seven girls in my cabin and got ready all by myself. Normally I was always the last one to wake up, but I wanted to work on my speech and mope for a while without being bothered by the rest of the girls.

"Does my hair look okay?" I heard Emily asked Yolanda, who timidly nodded at her best friend as she continued to do her hair. The entire cabin was in chaos as everything started to go back to looking like it did before we scattered our stuff around. The entire cabin was becoming bare once again...

This hurt so much more than I thought it would. Even if Jesse was still here, I probably would still been upset. After being at the camp for months... I was attached to it now. I didn't even feel this bad when we had to leave Adeline... I just didn't understand why.

I looked down at the piece of paper I held in my hand, taking deep breaths as my grip on it tightened a little. It was just a stupid speech... No one was going to think anything of it. I'd be up there for a few moments, and then I'd go back down the steps of the stage and sit back down. It wasn't that big of a deal...

But I couldn't help but feel horrible. This was supposed to be Jesse, not me. He had absolutely no problem with going up in front of people, but he wasn't the one making the stupid speech... I was.

I didn't like the dress that I was wearing under my gown, but I guess it didn't really matter very much since no one would see it until later. It was a pretty dress, but I didn't like how it looked on me...

As my thoughts finally faded from the speech, I found myself relaxing. It really wasn't that big of a deal... If I messed up, then I messed up. It would just be how it was supposed to be.

I looked at myself in the mirror, not really believing that I was in a cap and gown. I fingered my valedictorian stole, liking how smooth it was. It reminded me of a big ribbon, and I couldn't help but pull on it just a little as it hung around my neck.

"Okay, we're all ready!" AJ smiled, running out of the bathroom and shoving her hat onto her head. "Do we all have our stuff together? We're not going to leave anything, are we?"

"I'm not ready yet!" Chelsea and Molly called out from the bathroom before anyone could answer AJ's question, and I couldn't help but roll my eyes at them as I smiled only slightly. Everyone else was ready but them, of course... But I knew they just wanted to look perfect for the big day.

"The cabin looks just like it did when we first got here," Cindy assured her with a sigh, sitting down at her bed and looking around the room. "Everything's just how it was all those months ago..."

I had packed the night before, so I was finished before all the other girls. Usually I was always the last one, but things had changed since then. I knew that I was a different person, and I didn't know if it was for good or for worse. I didn't even think I wanted to know.

"It's going to be tough to leave," Emily sighed, resting her elbow on Yolanda's shoulder as they stood by the bathroom door. "We're all so attached to the place. Not to mention the people here."

I stared down at my feet, silently agreeing with her. It was going to be one of the toughest things ever to just leave this place like it didn't have any kind of effect on us at all.

When I got up from my bed, every head in the room turned toward me.

"Where are you going, Jordan?" Yolanda asked me timidly, and it caught me so off guard that I almost tripped over my shoes as I walked toward the door. Yolanda never talked unless she was spoken to... unless it was her friend. I couldn't help but smile when I turned toward her.

"Just going on a little walk," I told her with a smile.

I opened the door and shut it behind me before the girls could say anything more. I hopped down the steps and hurried all the way to Cabin B, where I knew who I was looking for would be.

When I knocked on the door, the person who I wanted to see opened it. I smiled at him, jumping forward and wrapping my arms around his neck in a hug.

"Well," Ryan grinned, obviously caught off guard. "Hello to you, too."

"It just seems like I haven't talked to you in a while," I told him, separating myself from him as I continued to smile. "We used to be best friends, even if it was so long ago. I've missed talking to you."

"I guess we both just got preoccupied with things," he shrugged wide a wide grin.

He had no idea...

"I thought that we could all walk over to where we're supposed to line up," I informed him, trying my best to grin as I slipped my hand into my pocket and fingered the stupid speech. "Since this is the last time we'll all really be together, I thought everyone from Cabin B and Cabin C could go together..."

Alex suddenly emerged from behind Ryan, wrapping his arms around my shoulders and hugging me so tightly that I almost fell down the steps. "Of course we'll go with you!"

I rolled my eyes at him, glancing over at Jesse's old friends that had come with us from California. They always thought I hated them, which was actually kind of true, but it wasn't like I was going to just leave them out on a day like this.

"You guys can come, too," I told them with a smile, turning away from them right afterwards and headed toward the door. Dalton and Adam were there as well, but I knew that they knew that they were invited. It was just Jesse's stupid old friends...

"Are you still going out with Emily?" I asked Ryan as we all made our way to Cabin C.

"Yep," he grinned, tugging on his gown before almost tripping over it. He gave me a sheepish look as he continued, "She's an amazing girl, you know."

I smiled right back at him, "It's good to hear you're happy."

I was glad that other people were happy, because I definitely wasn't. They all had someone to be with, and the love of my life was off somewhere for my own stupid protection. Wouldn't it be safer if he just stayed with me? Yeah, Hunter hadn't bothered me at all, but still... I'd rather have Jesse with me.

"Come on, come on!" Lexi was crying out when I opened the door to the cabin. "We're going to be late if you don't hurry up!"

"We're coming, we're coming," Chelsea assured her, stepping out of the bathroom with Molly right behind her. I smiled when I saw how beautiful they all looked, but I then frowned when I remembered that this was the last time we would all be together like this. Before we came to the camp, the only one I ever spoke to was Emily, not counting AJ, Chelsea, and Lexi. Now I was afraid that I would never talk to any of them again, especially since they were all going to go back to California and I was going to Connecticut for Yale...

Stupid Yale...

We all hurried along, all fifteen of us, to the main hall as quickly as we possibly could. The closer we got, the more my stomach would twist. I knew that the room that we were going to be stepping in was going to be filled with hundreds of people, my parents and Austin included. Was I really ready for this? Was I ready to live the rest of my life as I true adult?

It sure didn't seem like it.

If we hadn't practiced this a thousand times before, there was no way we would have gotten into alphabetical order. But luckily we were all able to do it just before the music started to play.

When Pomp and Circumstance began to play, I wanted to just collapse and ball. I was scared to walk down the aisle of the big room because I was different from everyone else, since I had the valedictorian stole around my neck. Sure, the class president had one as well, but it was different from mine and for some reason not as noticeable. I was just afraid that I would stick out to everyone, which wasn't really a good thing...

I tried my best to smile when people looked at me, and I was afraid of what they were thinking. What if the thought I didn't look smart enough to be valedictorian? Or what if they were mad at me because I took valedictorian away from their kid? I did come in the middle of the school year...

When we all sat down, I let a rush of breath escape my lips. I was glad that the walking part was over, but I still had the speech part to worry about. I was still terrified that I was going to screw up... I didn't want people to laugh at me. That was what I was afraid of the most.

Matthew went up to the podium and began speaking, but I wasn't really listening to anything he had to say. The only thing I had to listen for was my name, and I was paying enough attention for that.

I heard him say something about the class president, and I let out a sigh of relief when I realized that that wasn't me. Some guy named Daniel Watts came up to the podium and spoke for a while about something I didn't find very important, so I just tuned him out almost completely.

When I saw that Matthew had taken the podium again, I started to pay a little more attention and listen. I didn't want to get called and then not get up because I was daydreaming or something... That would be even more embarrassing than messing up on the speech itself!

"And now for our valedictorian, Jordan Emery," Matthew finally said, and I let out a deep breath before pushing myself out of my chair and walking out of my row and into the aisle. I walked up the stairs as quickly as possible without making it look like I was rushing, and when I got to the podium, I really thought that I was going to pass out or even puke.

I knew ever since I entered high school that I was going to be valedictorian. So why was this so hard for me?

"Welcome, and thank you for coming today to celebrate with the graduating class of 2011..." I began, looking down at the sheet of paper that lay on the podium as I tried my best not to shake. "It's so hard to believe that this day is actually finally here..."

I looked out into the crowd, gulping when I saw how big it was. I couldn't find my mom or dad anywhere. I couldn't even see Austin, and he said that he was going to be right in the front videotaping the entire time. But obviously that wasn't happening, since people had beaten him to the front.

"I'm one of the students that came here in the middle of the school year," I informed the crowd, biting the inside of my lip lightly before continuing. "And I couldn't be happier that we were able to do this exchange."

I hated the fact that we were going to have to go to a camp all the way across the country at first, but now I couldn't have been happier that I was able to go. Even though I had met Hunter here, I was sure I would have met him in California if I hadn't come to Maine...

"I remember when we all got here on our first day," I continued on, only glancing back down at the piece of paper. I had memorized most of it already. "I definitely wasn't happy, but I definitely wasn't the only one. I mean, they moved us all the way across the country... to spend the rest of our senior year in a place that we didn't even know."

As I continued speaking, I felt more and more confident. No one was laughing at me like I had feared, and everyone continued to listen. This was what I had been waiting for ever since I entered high school four years before, and I couldn't be afraid. I knew that this was coming...

"We've lost a few classmates along the way," I swallowed nervously now, my grip on the podium tightening just a little. "Both of them had come along with us back from California. One of them was Alexandria Quirk. She wasn't a great friend of mine, but she was good friends with an old friend of mine... I was the girl that was... kidnapped along with Alexandria, and a day doesn't go by when I wish that it was me that was killed instead of her."

I wasn't so sure about mentioning them in my speech. Matthew encouraged that I do it, but I was afraid that I would start crying or hyperventilating. I was even more afraid that I would make other people start crying...

I looked down at AJ, then at Chelsea, and then Lexi. They had been smiling at me the entire time until I started talking about Alexandria... If only they knew the truth. I wanted to tell them so badly, but I knew that I never could...

When my gaze landed on Alex, he smiled at my sadly. All I could do was look away and continue on.

"And the other... was Jesse Jacobsen," I breathed, trying my best to keep my voice steady. "Some of you might remember him as the loud, obnoxious boy that always seemed to be there when you didn't want him to. Some of you might have remembered him as the cool, popular boy that didn't really seem to care about anything at all... He would always annoy me and make my life miserable, but as the time passed I realized that he wasn't that bad of a guy, and he didn't deserve to go the way he did. I called him my enemy for these past four years, but I'm starting to wonder if that was always what he really was..."

The tassel on my cap began to annoy me, but I knew I was going to have to stick through it. I had to try my best not to cry, but thinking about Jesse and Alexandria depressed me too much. It reminded me of how my grandma was supposed to be sitting out there, watching with my mother, father, and Austin. But she wasn't with them, and she was watching somewhere else...

"So I'm here to thank Jesse and Alexandria, and I hope that... wherever they are, they're happy."

I looked back down at the speech I had written and took a deep breath, wanting to continue but finding that I couldn't. Why wouldn't my voice work with me anymore? I had to continuing speaking! I couldn't just leave the speech on a depressing note like that!

"I'm sorry," I found myself blurting out, my voice cracking as tears threatened to fall. "I just... I can't do this."

People exchanged glances to each other as I took a few more breaths to calm myself. My friends looked at each other worriedly, obviously wondering what was going on with me. I was perfectly fine before I started talking about Jesse and Alexandria...

"I'm not supposed to be valedictorian," I sighed, shaking my head as I stared down at the podium. "Jesse is. And just because he's... dead... doesn't mean I can just take it from him. It just doesn't feel right."

I looked up at my three best friends, deciding right then that it was the perfect time to tell them, and everyone else, about Jesse and me. I had told myself that I would never tell them, but standing there in front of them when it was supposed to be Jesse... just made me crack.

"Guys," I almost whispered, referring to Lexi, Chelsea, and AJ. "I... I should have told you this a long time ago. Jesse and I... Jesse and I were--"

Before I even knew what was happening, I was hearing a loud pop and I was crashing to the ground. My cap flew off, but it wasn't like I was complaining. That tassel was starting to annoy me way too much.

Whoever had knocked me over was now on top of me, crushing me to the stage just enough so that they weren't killing me. I looked up at this person to see who it was, and my jaw dropped when I saw his face.

His hat and sunglasses had fallen off when he pushed me down, and I was now staring up at Jesse Jacobsen as he huffed and puffed over me.

People were starting to freak out in the audience, but I didn't really blame them. What was that popping sound? And why had Jesse tackled me down onto the ground?

"He's alive?" I heard someone shriek from the audience when Jesse jumped up and pulled me to my feet.

"How is he alive?"

"He was dead!"

"It was on the news and everything!"

People were now starting to hop of from their chairs, now freaking out even more. I saw people heading toward the exits, but they were quickly stopped when every door that let people out slammed shut, which just freaked people out even more.

"What's going on?" I asked Jesse as people started screaming and shouting. "Why are you here? What was that sound and why can't people get out?"

Before Jesse could answer me, another popping rang through the room. This caused everyone to shut up immediately, looking to where the sound had come from.

My jaw dropped when I saw Hunter standing in the back of the giant room, a smirk plastered on his face as he smirked up at me. I looked around for my friends to see to see them all huddled together by the stage, and their eyes bugged out of their sockets when they saw Hunter.

"I suggest that everyone sit down," Hunter called out as he began walking closer and closer to the stage. "Don't try to overpower me or anything, because I have a lot of followers outside these doors... You'll all be able to leave soon, don't worry... Just after the show is finished..."

Something told me that Jesse and I were going to be in this show that he was speaking of, and I definitely didn't like the sound of it.

People all sat down wherever they could, in chairs or just on the floor. I let out a shaky breath as I clutched onto Jesse's arm, afraid that Hunter was going to hurt someone. It would have been my fault again...

"I thought that you weren't really dead, Jacobsen," Hunter chuckled, continuing to take more and more steps closer to the stage now. "Jordan was way too calm when I kissed her at her brother's wedding..."

Jesse's grip on my arm tightened, and I knew I was going to have to explain some things to him after we got out of this. Well, if we even got out of it... Hunter continued to point the gun at us, seeming like he didn't even notice that there were hundreds of people in the room with us right then.

"I think you should get out of here, Hunter," Jesse suggested, even though it sounded a lot more like an order than a suggestion. "Unless you want me to make you leave."

"Come on, Jacobsen," Hunter rolled his eyes now, making sure to hold the gun a little higher as he aimed it at Jesse. "Who's the one here with the gun?"

"What do you want?" I demanded, coming out from behind Jesse now so I could speak to him. Jesse wasn't very happy with this, but he didn't make an attempt to shove me back behind him. "Tell me what you want and I'll give it to you. Just don't hurt anyone else."

"What do I always want whenever I'm around, Jordan?" Hunter smirked at me. "I want you."

People looked terrified and confused at the same time, but I didn't blame them. If I was them, I would have been the same way. Except I was still terrified, just not confused.

"Get out of here," I ordered boldly, even though I knew that that would have done no help. Hunter had already exposed himself to everyone... There was no way he was getting away a free man. "You know that this is stupid, Hunter."

Hunter grinned at me now, moving the gun from Jesse and now to me. "Do I?"

When I heard another popping sound, I let out a loud shout along with everyone else. I expected to feel the bullet penetrating through my skin, but what I felt was the exact opposite. I felt nothing but fear as I saw Jesse leap in front of me, taking the bullet right in the chest and shoulder before falling off the stage.

"No!" I screamed, and I heard a few other people in the room scream as well. Everyone started scrambling once again as I jumped off the stage, my gown getting stuck on the podium and ripping off, but I didn't give a damn about that at all. It was complete garbage to me then.

I was glad that he had landed on his back and not his stomach, because then I would have had to turn him around. He was bleeding like crazy, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do. People were running all around me, and I had completely lost track of Hunter.

Even though everyone had jumped to their feet, I for some reason noticed Aimee instead of everyone else. It was probably because she was running toward our direction, and Hunter was now aiming the gun at her. My eyes widened and I lunged, pushing her out of the way and onto the ground.

"You saved me," she breathed, her eyes widening in awe. "I... I thought you hated me..."

"You used to be my friend," I told her almost unemotionally. "And even though I don't think we'll ever be able to be friends again, you did mean something to me before. And even after everything you did, I'm not going to let anyone else get hurt because of me."

I heard the doors open, and I knew that Hunter was letting everyone out now. I looked around for any of my friends or Alex, but I saw none of them. All I could do was brush Jesse's hair from his face while I told myself not to cry.

He was bleeding so badly... It was all my fault! That was meant for me!

"Jordan!" I heard someone shout, and my head snapped up to see Lexi, AJ, and Chelsea waving me over to them urgently, obviously trying to get me to leave with them. I looked at them and then back at Jesse, my grip on his hand tightening.

"Come on, Jordan!" AJ cried, running toward me now as the two other girls followed. "We have to get out of here!"

"I'm not leaving Jesse!" I shouted, rocking back and forth ever so slightly as I continued to clutch onto Jesse's hand. "I can't leave him!"

"Jordan," Jesse muttered, his hand twitching in my grasp. "Go. Get out of here. Now."

"No!" I cried out, leaning forward so my face was even closer to his. "I'm not going to leave you, Jesse. After everything you've done for me, I'm not going to leave you."

"He has a gun," Jesse groaned, trying his best not to move his shoulder as he looked up at me. "There's nothing you can do against a gun, Jordan. Get out of here."

I leaned forward, crashing my lips down onto his. I knew my friends were watching, but I didn't even care anymore. This was all ending here, and it was time for them to know everything that I had been hiding from them.

When I pulled away from Jesse, I nervously looked up at my three best friends. All of them looked so shocked that it would have been funny if we weren't in the situation that we were in right then. I felt my heart sink when I saw how betrayed they looked, and my brain quickly scrambled as I tried to think of what to say to them.

"Guys, I was going to tell you, but--"

"How does it feel to be lied to?" a new voice said now, causing all four of us to jump as Hunter emerged from the running people. "It hurts, doesn't it? Being lied to by your best friend in the world... especially about something like who she's in love with."

Lexi's eyes widened even more at me. "In... love with?"

I stared down at Jesse, who was giving me a look that was lined with pain. What was I supposed to do? The room was starting to clear out pretty quickly, but my friends were still there! How the hell were they going to get out of here alive?

"Hmm, now I'm wondering which one of you is closer to Jordan..." Hunter sighed, pacing around my three friends with the gun still in his hand. When his gaze landed on Lexi and he raised the gun, my heart almost stopped. "You were the one that was dancing with Alex at the prom. I think I'll choose you."

"Don't touch her!"

I thought I had shouted the words, but it didn't sound like my voice. My eyes widened when I saw Alex out of the corner of my eye, quickly jumping in front of Lexi and my other two friends before bashing Hunter right in the jaw as hard as he could.

Though he took a few steps back, he didn't really falter very much. He smirked at Alex as he wiped the blood from his chin, and I couldn't believe the punch barely affected him at all.

"Did you boyfriend tell you about how he used to be in a gang?" Hunter sneered at Lexi, who's eyes widened as she looked over at Alex, who continued to stand in front of her. Hunter then smirked. "Oh... I guess not."

"Get out of here," Alex ordered over his shoulder at my three best friends. "Now!"

They all turned around and ran out, and I was surprised Hunter hadn't done anything to stop them. I let out a breath when I saw the door shut behind them, and I couldn't have felt more relieved with the fact that they were safe from Hunter.

"Now," Hunter grinned, and the gun was suddenly being shoved into my face as I continued to sit on the ground, clutching onto Jesse's weak hand. Though the gun was pointed at me, he was talking to Alex. "I suppose you get out of here before I blow her brains out."

"You bastard," Alex growled, taking a step forward but stopping quickly when Hunter shoved the gun even closer into my face.

"Just go, Alex," I whimpered, my grip on Jesse tightening even more. "I'll be fine, okay? Make sure everyone's okay..."

Alex's eyebrows furrowed at me, and the look in his eye was telling me that he couldn't believe I was telling him to leave. I cocked my head toward the exit, and he shot one last cold glare at Hunter before quickly making his way out the same exit my friends had taken.

Jesse let out a groan of pain, and I quickly turned back toward him and brushed his hair out of his face once again.

"Hang in there," I sniffed, squeezing my eyes shut to stop myself from crying. "Just hang on, okay? Everything will be alright..."

"Jordan," Jesse said weakly, his hand twitching once again in mine. "I'm not going to make it, Jordan."

"Don't say that," I whimpered now, letting the tears fall down my face. "Please don't say that!"

"Falling in love with you was the best thing that ever happened to me..."

"Is, Jesse..." I almost choked now, not ready to accept what was happening right then. It just couldn't have been happening... "Not was... Please not was..."

Jesse smiled sadly at me. "Promise me you'll do everything I asked you to do when I left."

My bottom lip quivered, and I knew what was coming. His hand began to go limp, his voice got quieter and it got harder and harder for him to keep his eyes open. Jesse Jacobsen was dying, and there wasn't anything I could do about it.

"I'll do everything," I nodded, freely letting all my tears pour down my face now. "I'll do everything you say."

"Just promise me you'll get out of here alive," he pleaded, squeezing my hand as well as he could with the energy he had. Why was Hunter being so quiet? He could have shot me right then and there and got away... No one was here anymore!

"I promise," I whimpered, pressing his hand to my forehead now.

"Have those two kids you want, the boy and the girl..."

I nodded at him now. "I'll... I'll... I'll name my son after you, okay? I'll have as many kids as I have to until I have a son! His name will be Jesse and I don't care what my husband has to say about it..."

Jesse chuckled lightly. "That's my Jordan..."

"I love you," I whispered, pressing his hands to my lips now. "I love you so much..."

Jesse smiled weakly at me now, his eyelids fluttering. "I... I love you... I love you, too... Don't... don't forget that..."

His eyelids continued to flutter until they moved no more, and his hand went limp in mine. I froze as his breathing slowly stopped, and his hand slowly slipped from my grasp and thudded onto the floor.

I didn't move at first. I knew Hunter was there behind me, yet I still couldn't move. Jesse was finally here with me again, and then again he wasn't. He was laying here in front of me, but he wasn't really there anymore. He wasn't with me anymore...

I started shaking, sobbing so hard that I was almost out of breath. I slowly rose to my feet, still shaking, before turning around to face Hunter. I wiped at my tears with the back of my hand, scowling as I looked over at him now. I wasn't really surprised when I saw that the bastard was smirking.

"You!" I spat loudly, my hands clenching into fists at my side. I could finally yell at him. "You bastard! You heartless, self-centered, psychopathic maniac! Why do you have to ruin my life? What's so great about ruining everything for me? Why do you have to be so evil?"

Hunter smirked at me. "I love you, Jordan."

"You don't love me!" I screamed, stomping my foot onto the ground as hard as I could. "You're insane! You can't love, you can only obsess! And that's what you are right now! You're obsessed! You were obsessed with Erica, you were obsessed with revenge on Jesse, and now you're obsessed with me! Are you happy now, you bastard? You got what you wanted! Jesse's dead! You killed him, just like you wanted!"

"I haven't gotten what I wanted just yet," Hunter grinned archly at me, holding up his gun and aiming it right at me. "I want you, Jordan. That's all I want now. Killing Jesse was just something that I had to do to get you. Now that he's dead, we can be together."

"I thought you were a man of your word," I scowled, my fingernail digging into the palm of my hands, but I didn't really care very much. "You said that once Jesse was dead, you'd leave me alone! Now Jesse's really dead, you have proof because you're the one that did it! Why can't you just stick to your word like you supposedly always do and just leave me along?"

Hunter just continued smirking at me. If he didn't have a gun, I would have killed him! Nothing would have been stopping me from just ripping his head off!

"When it comes to you, Jordan, I just can't keep my word..." he informed me with a sly smile, taking another step toward me, but that only caused me to take a step away from him. "I love you way too much. We're just meant to be together, which is why we're going to run away together."

I shook my head at him, my teeth grinding together angrily. "I'm not going anywhere with you!"

Hunter only smirked. "You don't have a choice, Jordy," he told me, making sure the gun was aimed perfectly at my head. "You either come with me, or you die. Simple as that."

Killing me would have been the best solution, but I knew he didn't want to do that because that would have meant that I would have been with Jesse again and not him. That wasn't what he wanted, so I knew that he wasn't going to shoot me... even though I wanted him to.

"You know it too, don't you?" I asked, my eyebrows pinching together. "You know you can't get out of here a free man. Even if you do manage to run away and get free, you're going to get caught and spend the rest of your life in jail. There are too many witnesses to kill this time, Hunter. So do it. Come on, shoot me. They'll know it was you who killed my grandmother. They'll know it was you who killed Alexandria and Jesse. And they'll know that you're the one that killed me. So shoot me. I dare you."

Hunter scowled at me, raising his gun right at me once again. "If I can't have you, no one can."

I heard that dreaded popping sound once again, and I shut my eyes tightly and waited for the bullet to hit me. When it never came, my eyes widened when I saw Hunter on the floor, the gun on the ground a few feet away from him. His arm was bleeding, and someone was now walking over and standing above him.

My jaw dropped when I saw Erica, gun in hand, handcuff Hunter to one of the skinny beams that held up the room that we were in right then

She stared down at Hunter intensely. "You're lucky that I was in love with you once, because if I hadn't been, you would be dead right now."

"Bitch!" Hunter hissed, trying his best to pull free from the handcuffs, but failing. "What, Erica? Why are you saving the brat? She's the reason why you never got to be with Jesse! She's the reason why he's dead right now."

Erica's gaze slowly moved to Jesse, and she grimaced when she saw the state that he was in. I didn't blame her, because I probably would have grimaced as well if I didn't see him get shot...

"I just have to deal with the fact that Jesse loves Jordan and not me," Erica scowled down at him, her eyes narrowing only slightly. "And you have to deal with the fact that Jordan loves Jesse more than she could ever love you."

Hunter tried to strike her, but the wound on his arm stopped him from doing so and she took a step away and he thrashed against the handcuffs. I knew he was fuming, but that was obviously what Erica wanted. Hunter was now getting what he deserved.

I took a daring step forward toward Hunter, close enough that he could have grabbed me if his arm wasn't messed up from being shot. I scowled down at him, my lip rising in a sneer.

"This is for my grandma and Alexandria," I spat, kicking him as hard as I could in the stomach.

If this was the only way I could let out my anger, then so be it.

"This is for my friends," I continued, kicking him again, and again when I said, "This is for Jesse... And this..."

I kicked him even harder, causing him to cough loudly. "... that was for me. Because for the first time in a long time, I'm going to start thinking about myself."

"Bitch," Hunter huffed, still trying his best to break away from the handcuffs. "You're going to regret doing that."

"How does it feel to be completely helpless?" I asked, squatting down next to him and staring down at him intently. "How does it feel, knowing that you can't do anything to help yourself? How does it feel, Hunter? Because this is how I've been feeling for the past few months. And all because of you."

"I'll get you back for this someday, bitch," he growled menacingly at me. "I can assure you that."

I smirked at him, standing back up onto my feet. "Sure you will, Hunter. Sure you will..."

When I heard sirens and shouts from outside, I knew that this was over. I knew that Hunter was going to jail, and all of this madness was going to be over. I had gotten my wish, I didn't really graduate, but I was sure that we'd have a make-up day or something for it later. Not that I really cared...

I looked over at Jesse, tears filling my eyes almost immediately. I scrubbed at them with the back of my hand, but I knew that that wasn't going to stop the waterworks from coming. Because the love of my life was dead, and I had no idea what I was supposed to do.

When I felt a hand on my shoulder, I almost jumped out of my skin. I was afraid that Hunter had somehow gotten out of his handcuffs, and now he was coming to kill me all over again. But when I turned around, I found myself sobbing onto Erica's shoulder.

"It's okay," she whispered, soothing my hair lightly as the doors burst open and cops ran in. "It's alright, Jordan... Everything will be fine..."

"No it won't," I choked, so angry that I wanted to just beat Hunter up until he moved no more. "Jesse's dead. Jesse's dead!"

Erica patted the top of my head. "Not necessarily."

I broke away from her, staring up at her face in shock. What did she mean? I was right there when he was shot, and right there when he closed his eyes! How could he not be dead?

"I've seen someone with even worse injuries get up after a fight with Hunter and walk away," Erica informed me as cops unlocked Hunter's handcuffs and quickly handcuffed his hands behind his back. "There's still a chance, Jordan. If we get him to the hospital..."

But I didn't really believe her. Maybe she was only saying this because she still loved Jesse, and she just wanted him alive because there was a chance that he would choose her over me.

Hunter scowled at me as he passed by me, three cops hanging onto him so he wouldn't attack. I averted my gaze from him, unable to look into those beautiful yet cold eyes anymore. I remembered when I had first saw those two different colored eyes, and it just seemed like so long ago...

I looked back over at Jesse, who was now being put into a stretcher and rushed out of the room.

I didn't believe what Erica was telling me. She could have just been trying to make me feel better, but nothing could ever make me feel better after what had happened. Erica wasn't the one there when Jesse's eyes closed. She wasn't the one there when his hand went limp in mine and thudded to the floor. She wasn't there, and she didn't know. I was the only one that could know, and I knew... I knew.

There was no way Jesse Jacobsen could have been alive.

Erica led me out of the room, helping me dodge all of the mess that had been created from all the fleeing people. I was so out of it now that I didn't even know where I was going. She had to hold onto my shoulders from behind and lead me out, or I never would have moved. 

When I got outside, I was checked by paramedics to see if I was okay. All I could watch was the ambulance that held Jesse's body speed off into the street, to the nearest hospital. But it was too late. They might not have knew it, but I sure did.

"Jordan!" I heard someone call out, but I just couldn't recognize the voice anymore. Everything was getting blurred together, and nothing was making sense anymore. Everything was my fault... "Jordan, thank God you're alright! Thank God!"

First my grandmother, and then Alexandria, and now Jesse. Not to mention all the people that had been scarred from what had happened in the main hall...

I was a monster.

It was more like I was the key to keeping the monster in its cage.

"Come on, Jordan, we're going this way," Erica instructed me, clutching onto my arm and leading me another way before whoever was calling my name could get to us. "We're going to the hospital. Hurry along."

I did what I was told, but I was still in the little trance of mine. I couldn't believe that Jesse was dead, after everything we had been through together. How could he just be gone? It wasn't fair...

Grandma, I thought as Erica practically pushed me into the passenger seat of her car. If you're with Jesse, please take care of him. You now formally get to meet him. So, Grandma... here he is. Just like you wanted... here's the love of my life, Jesse Jacobsen.

When I finished my little prayer, I curled up into a little ball and Erica began to drive. But all I could think about was how it was over. Everything was over. Everything horrible in my life was finally over.

But if it meant losing Jesse, maybe I didn't want it to be over with.

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I almost started crying during this chapter. Not because of what happened in it, but this is pretty much the beginning of the end... There's only two more chapters left, not counting the epilogue and the surprise. (If you could call it that...)

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