stinging in my eyes to go away. I look around through blurred vision. People are running back and forth and there are red and blue lights everywhere. I wipe away another set of tears and begin blinking again. As soon as I can see, though my eyes hurt so bad they can barely stay open, I scan the crowd for Nathan.
I see many girls, like me, with their eyes running and mascara ruined as if they've been crying for hours. I look around some more and see that there's mainly men outside. Did they all push through to the front leaving the women at the back? Assholes. There's no sign of Nathan anywhere.
Suddenly there’s an arm around my shoulders pulling me further away from the building.
"Ari?! Ari?! Are you okay? Come, get out of the way," demands a familiar, very worried, voice. Dad.
"Dad?" I ask through a cough.
"Thank god, you're okay. I just got here to drop off a jacket for you for the party tonight. Thank god. Thank god, you're okay. What happened?" he asks frantically as I continue to cough and cry. I’m not sure if the tears are still from the smoke or if I am actually crying now.
"I don't know. The lights went out and the sound cut out and then a little bit of a fire started somehow on the curtain on the stage and it spread. I mean one second it was just this little tiny spark and the next it was covering the entire room. It was like someone drenched the room in gasoline," I say using Nathan's earlier analogy and reminding myself that he's probably still in there. "I have to find Nathan. He was with me until like three steps before the door. We were at the far back of the room and he helped me push all the way to the front. He was holding my arm until about three steps from the doorway," I cry, still gasping. "I have to go back in."
"You will do no such thing!" he shouts. “I’m sure he’s made it out and is looking for you too.” He hesitates for a moment and I'm too busy having a coughing fit to argue. "I have to go in, Ariella."
"No!" I shout.
"Kids have stopped coming out of the doors now, Ari. It looks like many are still in the building. You know what that means right? I'm just going to see if there's anyone I can pull out by the door. If I can save even one person I will feel better. I can't just stand here when I could be doing something." He's right, I know exactly what that means. It means those who have not already suffocated from the smoke or burnt to death from the fire are dying right now, passed out in the burning building.
"They won't let you go in there," I shout at him.
"Ari, I'm the chief firefighter. I call the shots. Speaking of which, I have to go," he says apologetically and then releases me from his grasp. "They're going to want to have a doctor or someone check you over. Go home, you're fine. There are many other kids that need the help more than you do. My keys are in the gas tank of my truck parked across the road. I'll get a colleague to drop me off at home afterwards. They won't like you leaving without getting checked but there's so much going on that you can probably sneak away without notice."
I've always loved that my dad's a firefighter. I mean, I've always been able to call him a hero. He saves lives for living. But never before, have I totally understood how dangerous his job is. How much he risks for people he doesn't even know. That is, until today.
He disappears into the crowd and I decide to walk around and see if I can spot Nathan. If I worry, I will be even more useless. I put on the mask that my dad taught me to and push my fear to the back of my mind so I can think clearly.
"Ari? I'm so happy you're okay! This is all so crazy! Have you seen Geoff? I can't find him anywhere! We were both right beside the doors when it all went down, I'm sure he had to have made it out." Nathaly Matthews wraps me in a firm hug. Geoff is her boyfriend and also my neighbor which is how I know the both of them.
"No, I haven't. I just got out a second ago though. Have