December's Moon

23 | LUCA

| LUCA |

Luca swung open the back door to Stowe and Tame Hall. The smell of mold and mildew was even stronger when it rained, masking everything else in the building like an oppressive cloud lingering in the air.

A group of underclassmen crossing the hall brought their conversation to a whisper when they saw him coming.

"Hi, Luca Wakelin," one of the girls said, nodding to him as they passed.

Luca had never made the effort to learn the names of all the underclassmen, but now, he wished he had. He felt guilty for never taking an interest in them.

Not knowing what else to do, he nodded back, continuing toward his destination. There was no point stopping them and telling them to get out of the building. There wasn't enough time to go around and find everyone and explain over and over again what was going on. Luca needed to work smarter, not harder. Luckily, he had an idea, and it was something he'd wanted to do since he was in primary school.

"Can I help you, Luca?" the Lone Wolf of the day asked as he approached the front desk. The girl was either a sophomore or a freshman, he wasn't sure which. Her heavy, black hoody hung limply off her thin shoulders, and her large, black framed glasses looked way too big on her narrow face.

"Yes, what's your name?" Luca placed both palms on the desk as he leaned next to her, drumming the fingers of his right hand against the oak wood.

A light pink blush bloomed over her pale face. "Emily."

Luca nodded. "Okay, Emily. I need you to do me a favor." He paused, examining her as she stared at him expectantly. "Get the hell out of the building. Now."

"What?" Emily's glasses nearly fell off the bridge of her nose as she startled. She caught them and pressed them back up.

Luca glanced over to the wall next to the desk. The red handle of the fire alarm glistened behind the thin guard of plastic. Before he could change his mind, he flipped the guard up and pulled the lever.

The screech of the alarm blasted through the entire building like the wail of a banshee, and emergency lights flashed across the hall like strobes.

"What the hell!" Emily screamed over the noise. Her hands shot up to the sides of her hood as she pressed against her ears. "Why did you do that?"

"Emily," Luca said as calmly as he could manage, "the building is on fire, and I need you and everyone else to get out. Now."

She furrowed her brow, but then she pushed her chair out and stood, making her way towards the door.

Within a matter of seconds, footsteps barreled down the stairs on the east and west wings of the building like a roaring stampede. Dozens of angry voices filled the hall as the entire student body rushed towards the front doors.

"They really need to get these damn fire alarms fixed," one of Luca's classmates muttered as he passed.

"Well at least it didn't go off in the middle of the night this time," another student remarked.

Luca allowed himself to be caught up in the wave of commotion and surfed out along with everyone else. Outside, the students gathered in quadrants by class around the fountain, like they'd been taught to do during fire drills. The alarm continued its incessant blast as the students chatted among themselves.

Luca pushed through the crowd until he reached the group of freshmen. "Is everyone from your class here?" he asked one of them.

The kid glanced over the rest of his classmates, counting to himself before nodded back at Luca. "Twenty-four. Yes, we're all here." He paused for a second, his eyes meeting Luca's and holding contact. Luca didn't know how to read his expression. It was innocent. Trusting. Like a child might look up to an adult.