I rounded the corner, and the end was finally in sight. I could see daylight at the end of the very long (how freaking long was this ride anyway?) tunnel. I pumped my legs for all I was worth, not even caring how many little people I knocked over on my dash for freedom.

One that was cut short when I heard the crack of a gunshot behind me.

“Make another move and you’re a dead woman!”

I saw the gunshot hit the little dancing cowboy next to me right between the eyes. I liked my forehead hole free. So, I froze.

In a second, Lani was beside me, pressing the gun to my rib cage again.

“God, you’re fast.”

“Thanks,” I mumbled. “Hey, how did you even get a gun in here? They check at security.”

Lani laughed at me again, the same tinkling thing she did every week in the fake hallways of her fake high school with her fake best friend. I’m on Pippi Mississippi. I’m a star. You think anyone’s gonna frisk me?

Suddenly I really, really hated that show.

Now, time to take your final bow, Bender, she said, and I heard the gun cock at my side.

I closed my eyes, sucked in a breath. Thought of Aunt Sue and wondered who was going to remind her to turn off the oven? To wear a scarf in the winter? To tip the pizza delivery boy when she burned dinner every night?

And, oddly enough, I thought of Cal. How pissed he was going to be when he found my dead body. I didn’t want Cal’s last thoughts about me to be pissed ones.

I felt a tiny tear gather in the corner of my eye, slipping down my cheek as the gun pressed painfully into my ribs. I waited for that last loud bang to go off.

Only instead I heard the sound of motors whirling, gears turning. I looked down. The boats were starting to move in the moat again. The ride was back on.

Shit, Lani mumbled, her gaze following mine as a boat full of tourists eased into the room.

Quickly she herded me behind a display tower, fumbling in the curtain until she found an exit door. She pushed it open, shoving me out in front of her.

The sudden onslaught of sunlight blinded me. I blinked, trying to make my eyes adjust, as Lani propelled me forward, gun still pressing into my ribs.

Don’t try anything funny, she said. And I wondered what cheesy movie she’d gotten that line from. Only I knew better than to ask. She was one small step from the edge, and I didn’t want to be the first person she pulled over with her. Instead, I scanned the crowds suddenly at our sides for help.