We Were Giants

Chapter 21

The night air is cool against my warm face. The breeze carries with it promise and anger. I want to scream. I can't scream. There's a media team inside that would love to run a headline about my demise.

Local Artist Has Breakdown in Alley

I can't let him win. I can't give him any power over me. He hasn't had power over me in four years. He hasn't even seen in me four years.

I can't breathe. I can't think. I don't know where I am. When I left the art gallery, I went running, but I have no idea where I've wound up. I look around me, but I don't recognize any of the buildings. I look at the skyline as if that will help me. But I'm hopelessly lost. Where am I?

Shit.

Shit.

I spin 180 degrees and try to get my bearings. I have no idea. I'm going to miss my own show. I'm going to get murdered in this alley. At least my art would sell. Van Gogh didn't sell until after his death. Artists are always romanticized after their deaths.

I start to breathe hard and heavy. I can't catch my breath. I can't see straight. Where am I? Why is he here? This was supposed to be the night that things go well for me. Even Kayla was being nice. Why the hell did he have to ruin it?

I try to slow my breathing, but I can't. Breathe in. Hold it. Breathe out slowly. In. Out. In. Out.

It's not working.

I feel tears pool in my eyes and I lean against the side of a building.

I don't know what I'm doing anymore. I want to just crumple up here and let the world pass by.

As I focus on my breathing, a loud click-clack sound echoes down the alley. I hear muffled voices and I freeze. I've got nowhere to hide. I really am going to die in this alleyway. I've watched enough true crime shows to know that this is how it ends. I bend at the waist and bury my face in my hands. I throw my weight into my heels and slam the small of my back into the wall.

"Cade?" I hear Kayla's voice call. The click-clacking gets louder and faster until I can feel her hovering beside me.

"Guys!" She calls down the echoing, brick alley. "He's over here!"

I look up at her, knowing exactly how much of a wreck I must look. I must look awful. I feel awful.

"Cade, are you okay?" Kayla asks gently as clunky footsteps close in on us.

I try to speak, but I can't. I'm gasping too hard. I shake my head yes and then no. I don't know if I'm okay.

The sky's supposed to open me up and swallow me whole right now, right? Shouldn't the earth crack and buildings crumble around me? Isn't this the part of the movie where I realize I have supernatural powers and destroy my high school or something?

"What happened in there?" She asks, pulling me into a tight hug. She's taller than me in her heels and somehow that's comforting. I feel small and tiny and delicate and broken. I feel pocket-sized. I keep shrinking. Every time Kayla looks at me, I get smaller.

I try to tell her, but it doesn't come out.

"Breathe, sweetie," she says softly. "Breathe in and hold it."

I do as she says. I do as she does. Something about doing it in synchronicity with somebody else helps. I breathe in. I count to ten. I exhale.

When I finally calm down, I see Cameron and Isaiah there, too. Their looks of worry mirror Kayla's. They look almost rehearsed.

I want to fling myself into Isaiah's arms, but I'm afraid if I let go of Kayla, I'll fall. Kayla is holding me up. Kayla is holding the world up. For the first time in months, Kayla is keeping the sky from caving in around me. Around us.