Page 134 of Secret Baby for My Brother's Best Friends

“Claire?” My ex-friend is standing across from me, holding a gun right at me. Bizarre. What’s even more bizarre is the fact that she's wearing pajamas, her hair in a messy bun, clearly ready for bed.

But she's not in bed.

She's here.

Pointing a gun at me.

Her eyes are red like she’s been crying. Her face looks a mess.

"What the actual fuck is going on right now?” I wonder aloud.

She doesn’t answer my question. Instead, her gaze flicks up to the lamppost, and then she jerks her head to the side.

“What?”

She does it again.

I shake my head. “I have no clue what you’re trying to say.”

“For God’s sake, walk!” She was gesturing toward the side of the apartment complex that leads to a woodsy area, populated mostly by birches, red maples, and magnolias.

The trees are packed thickly enough to obscure the moon, and though some of the residents occasionally take walks here, it's typically never this late.

It's not hard to figure out what she wants. Right now we're out in the open. However, in there....

People might hear the gunshot, but only after it's too late.

Oh God.

She's going to kill me.

The realization strikes me like lightning.

My heart flies into my throat, pounding there.

I put my hands up automatically, alarm racing through my body, kicking my senses into overdrive as the paralyzing shock starts to wear off.

“Claire,” I say, voice shaking as I try to act calm. “Please put the gun down.” I have no idea how I manage to get the words out with my vocal cords so stiff. My heart is zooming like a runaway train, fear seizing my throat. The wordsshe has a gunkeep repeating in my head on a threatening loop.

Yet, I sound almost normal. I sound like I'm having a conversation with an old friend.

Wait, should I scream? Alert someone that I’m in danger.

Probably.

As I take a deep breath, the safety on the gun goes off, and she snarls, “I swear to God if you let out a single sound, I will blow your brains out right here and now."

That stops the scream in its tracks.

She might be bluffing. There’s a chance she is bluffing, but the look in her eyes…I’ve never seen her like this before. There have been hints of crazy, like Jenna said, but nothing to this extent.

Oh God, Jenna. She warned me about this. Not in so many words, but she tried to tell me how unhinged Claire was, and I never listened.

She’s going to give me so manyI told you so’sonce I get out of here.

If I get out of here.

No. Positive thinking.