(song: "Leave Your Lover" - Echos)

My heart thuds hard in my rib-cage. I can't breathe. Is it possible for a person to drown when they aren't even under water? I walk out of the office on auto-pilot. The voices around me sound like a blurry garble of randomized noise. I try to take a breath, but struggle to. It's a panic attack. I'm having a panic attack!

      I think someone is trying to touch my shoulder, maybe it's Peter? I can't be sure. I continue to gasp and wheeze. My father's warning screams in my head. This is bad, everything will get bad. Everything is not okay and I have to run away.

     I have to run away—there's no time, I have to go.

     No—we have to go. I have to take her, I can't leave her. We have to go, far away.

      I take a hold of Kaylee's hand and start pulling her towards the door. I can feel her fingers try to pry my hand off, but I don't let go. There's arguing, or maybe yelling behind me, I can't tell. I feel numb.

      "We need to go, we need to go now," I mumble, barely audible. Kaylee stops trying to fend me off and seems to comply without a fight. We continue to go until we're outside in front of my car.

      We get inside and I start the engine and peel out of the library parking lot. I ignore red-lights and stop signs and I can hear Kaylee release a scream every-time I do. I can't vocalize to her that the doomsday scenario everyone feared is real and there's no time to worry about traffic tickets.

      I finally park the car in my driveway and turn the engine off, but I don't stop moving. My legs carry me over to the garage and I throw it open to look inside and search for the gas cans. I start tossing over open boxes and wrecking the garage space like a mad man.

      "Kaylee, help me! My dad says there's red gas cans in here, we need to get them and some maps and go. Don't ask me why, I'll explain everything later. We just have to go now, there's no time."

      "I'm not Kaylee!"Serena shouts.

      My heart sinks into my stomach and I slowly turn and face her.

      Serena stands at the mouth of the garage with tears running down the sides of her face. "I've been trying to tell you that since the library, but you wouldn't listen to me."

      Jesus, I took the wrong girl!

      I knew how Kaylee's arm was supposed to feel, Serena has softer skin and I could feel that. Why did I think she was Kaylee? What is wrong with me?

      There's no time for guilt. I keep searching for the gas cans. "We'll get the cans, fill them up and swing by the library to pick Kaylee up."

      "I'm pretty sure Kaylee wants nothing to do with either of us after your little stunt! What is wrong with you? Why did you drag me out like that? Peter and her will get the wrong idea about us!" Serena keeps yelling at me and moving closer with each word.

      I turn around abruptly to face her, I'm so fast that she loses her breath for a moment. "Remember when we talked about that hypothetical doomsday scenario? And how in movies there's the cliché of some person having insider information about it?"

      She doesn't look amused, but humors me for the moment. "What about it?"

      I point at myself. "I'm the cliché, Serena."

      "What?" her voice asks, unsure and stunned.

      "My dad called with a warning. He told me that we have to leave town right now, this very instant without stopping or looking back. I have to get to Texas, when we make it there, you can get up with your dad. Ah ha!" I say suddenly as I discover the gas cans. "Let's go."

      I don't give Serena time to process the information. We dart into my house where I collect what little food we have in the fridge and the maps from my father's desk. It takes me about five minutes to do all this and then we're out the door and back in the car. Serena keeps asking me questions, but I don't give her any answers. All I know is that I can't delay.

      As we reach the road that leads to the library I can see police cars heading in that direction. A portly shaped policemen drags out a wooden roadblock sign to keep cars from leaving the library.

      "Are they closing off the town?" Serena asks with her face practically against the window.

      "Looks like they might be making the shelters mandatory. If we go there now we won't be able to leave."

      "Maybe that's a good thing, we should be staying at a shelter. Kaylee and Peter are there."

      "Kaylee and Peter have their family with them, we don't. I'm going to trust my dad and say that we go."

      She presses her fingertips against the glass. "Well, what if I want to stay?"

      "Serena, please trust me. We need to get to Texas," I plead with her.

      Serena lets her hands drop from the window and our eyes lock in a gaze. "Why me, Logan? Why did you grab my hand?"

      Why did I?

      "I . . . don't know. I was in shock and confused."

      She takes a breath and nods her head. "Okay, let's go to Texas. When we stop for the night we can try and call Peter and Kaylee . . . if they even want to speak to us ever again."

      "Look, I'd rather them be okay and angry at us over the alternative. If this all turns out to be nothing, we can spend all year making it up to them."

      I turn the car away from the library and stare at it in my rear-view mirror. I mentally try to convince myself that both Peter and Kaylee would be okay. Their families would protect them. Soon we pass the welcome sign for the town of Fullerton and we're on our way towards the state line.

      Something nags at my conscience, if I love Kaylee, shouldn't I do anything it takes to have her with me, even at the risk of my own life? Isn't that what love is? Caring about someone else more than yourself?

      And what about Peter? We'd been friends since we were in kindergarten—I mean, sure he was a dick to me sometimes, but still. Shouldn't I have grabbed his arm?

      Why did I save Serena and leave behind the two people who'd been in my life for years?

      I am the world's worst friend and boyfriend, a total traitor.

      "Logan look out!" Serena screams.

     A meteor shoots through the sky in a blaze of fire. It streaks down fast and I press on the gas to try and get as much distance between myself and it. It delivers a hard impact into the woods along the side of the road followed by a sonic boom that shakes the trees and causes the cement to crack. Animals dash wildly from the forests onto the road in a frenzy. I steer the wheel sharply to avoid the rush of deer and raccoons.

      Smoke rises fast and the tree along the meteors path are set ablaze.

      I do my best just to keep control of the car and speed as far as I can away from the chaos. In the sky above, I can see a few more fireballs aiming for forested areas close to Fullerton and just hope they don't reach the town.

      "Your dads right," Serena barely manages to say. Her whole body is shaking.

      Mine is shaking too.

      "Logan . . ." tears form in her eyes. "I know it was a mistake, but thank you for saving me."

      I saved the wrong girl.

      But why doesn't it feel wrong?