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Chapter Forty Seven

I flew down the metal stairs. Noah was hot on my heels. The noise we were making was deafening. I was sure the stairwell was going to collapse from our recklessness. I swung my entire body around quickly as I passed the large number two that indicated the second floor and began to pound down another set of stairs.

I was halfway down that set of stairs when I heard what sounded like Noah jumping halfway down. My lead was narrowing. I let out a shriek as his hand reached out and almost grabbed my shoulder. I leaned forward and put everything I had into the run. All of the dancing on tour had put me in pretty good shape.

"BROOKE!" he screamed.

I jumped three steps and landed by the large number one. My hands reached out in front of me and I hit the door full force. My legs pumped faster as we wove through the first floor. I practically knocked down a cleaning lady. I rounded the corner into the lobby and sprinted across it. The twinkling lights and open doors to the hall were straight ahead.

I felt like a long distance runner who had just completed a marathon as I ran into the room. Dad was talking with Howie just feet away. I held out a hand.

"DAD!" I yelled.

That was all I had time to yell. Noah ran into me and we stumbled to the ground. I scrambled up, but he was faster than me. His hand clamped over my mouth. He wrapped his other arm around my waist and hoisted me up into the air. I kicked my legs out in front of me angrily. Dad turned around. His eyes widened in surprise. We were attracting the attention of nearly everyone left in the hall. By the looks of things, the party was almost over.

I brought my right hand up and pressed my nails into his stupid boy arms. Noah stumbled back against the wall.

"What's going on?" dad asked. He marched over. "Noah, put her down."

He put me down, but he didn't remove his gorilla hand from around my mouth. I tried elbowing him. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Trevor walk in. When he saw Noah's hold on me, he headed our way.

"What's going on?" mom asked. She was carrying a totally knocked out Landon in her arms. His face was covered in cheesecake and he was wearing a hat made out of a linen napkin.

At that point, I did the only thing I could think of. I bit into Noah's fingers.

"OW!" Noah screamed. He dropped his hand from my mouth.

"Dad, I went upstairs and caught Noah--"

I didn't have a chance to finish the sentence. Even though I was sure his fingers hurt, Noah still had the insight to turn around and yank the fire alarm.

Water started pouring from the ceiling.

Every single person in the room began to scream. Landon woke up as the water fell on him.

"Is it raining?" he asked drowsily. Peyton ran up. Her face was lit with excitement. This was probably a dream come true for her.

"I NEED A BOAT!" I heard Brenna scream nearby. She scrambled up on top of a chair and was about ready to climb up on the table when Mason grabbed her.

Everyone started running for the exit. The netting, weighed down by the sudden onset of the sprinklers, broke free. It covered some of the people running towards the exit like a huge jungle trap.

"Are you okay?" Trevor shouted at me. I brushed water out of my eyes.

"I've got to find mom and dad!" I shouted.

"I think they already ran out!" he yelled back.

He took off his jacket and tossed it over my head. We ran out of the hall. The staff was directing everyone outside.

Trevor and I walked through the doors. The moment we hit the pavement, I was pulled out from Trevor's makeshift umbrella. I looked up into Noah's angry eyes.

"You're in trouble," I said. "Dad's going to kill you for pulling the fire alarm."

"I don't care. You can not tell them what happened."

I folded my arms. My dress was clinging to me. Water droplets dripped off of my hair.

"Why not?"

The anger drifted out of Noah's eyes.

"Kay's hurting, Brooke," he said softly. "I want to help her."

"You can't," I said. "She's going to hurt you. She will never love you like you love her."

"I don't care. It's my choice to make. You broke her freakin' heart up there Brooke," Noah said.

Now that I was outside in the fresh air feeling like a drowned rat I began to realize that we both might have overreacted a little bit.

"What the hell were you two thinking?"

Noah and I whirled around. Dad was heading towards us looking angrier than I had ever seen him. He never got mad at me.

"Do you realize how much damage you caused?" he asked.

"I'm sorry," Noah said. "I--"

"You two were horrible when you were babies and now you're repeating it fifteen years later," dad said. He turned around. "Come with me."

Noah and I looked at each other and meekly followed dad.

Dad walked right towards Uncle Brian and Aunt LeighLeigh. Poor Aunt LeighLeigh's dress was soaked.

"Here's the two culprits," dad said.

"I'm so sorry," I said quickly.

"I wasn't thinking," Noah said.

Uncle Brian started to smile, but then he caught a look at my dad's face. He tried (and failed) to adopt a stern posture. He started to laugh. Aunt LeighLeigh covered her mouth but I saw her smile. My eyes widened.

"I think that was a nice end to the evening, right Leigh?" Bri asked.

"We like to go out with a splash," she said.

"But--"

"Baylee and Claudia made a grand entrance about twenty minutes ago. They aren't coming back to the hotel until we're gone," Brian explained.

Dad turned to us. "You're not off the hook," he said.

"Before you do your dad thing," Brian said. "Have either of you seen Kayleigh?"

Noah looked at me. I took a deep breath. I saw Trevor hovering close by.

"She wasn't feeling well, so she went up to my room to lay down," I said. I swore I saw Noah's shoulders relax.

"No," Trevor said.

Everyone looked at him in surprise, but before he could say anything else, I saw a couple firefighters come out. One was talking loudly on a walkie.

"No fire, all clear, but we need an ambulance on the third floor. Teenage female. Nonresponsive."

Our whole group turned towards the firefighters. I looked around wildly. I didn't see Kayleigh anywhere. I was sure there weren't many teenage females on the third floor.

I turned towards the door, but Brian and Leighanne were already on their way.

Noah wasn't far behind.

All I could think was...

What have I done?