He shakes his head, a frown marring his face. “Don’t put yourself down. I think you’re pretty awesome. You have no idea who you really are yet.”

“Who I really am?”

“You can change the world, Piper, or take it over.”

“Hmm, I don’t hate the idea of owning the world.”

He tilts his head back and laughs. “I knew you were going to say that. Perfect answer, and when we’re out of here, we’ll get working on that.”

“We have to get out first.”

“We will. There is no way our destiny is to die in this building.”

I lean a little closer to him. His warmth is comforting, his words spurring me on, strength seeping into my pores. I’m ready to fight to get out of here.

“Thanks, Evan. You always seem to know what to say.”

“I know you better than you think.”

“Which is incredible since I’ve known you such a short time.”

“You said it yourself, time means nothing in here.”

It’s true. Evan, Theo, Lucie, Priya, and Kevin, along with Hazel of course, have become so important to me in such a short amount of time. We’ve made a family in here, bound by fear, the need to survive, and the same horrifying circumstances.

But that’s not to say that just because we’re the heroes of the story, we’ll get out alive.

“I can’t wait to do normal things like going to see a movie with my mom, eating breakfast out with my dad, riding my bike, and, I can’t believe I’m about to admit this, but I’m even looking forward to school again.”

Evan laughs. “I need to figure out my whole life when I get out of here. College, work, everything.”

“There will be plenty of time for that. What you really need to do is spend time with your family. Ultimately, that’s all that matters.” Being here makes me realize that I haven’t appreciated my parents enough. Sure, we spend time together, but I took it all for granted. Evan after Penny died, I still assumed they would always be there. The three of us was the new constant.

I should have spent more time with them, had more conversations, and now I’m facing us being apart for the rest of my life—however long that is.

I just want one more conversation, one more hug, one more chance to tell them I love and appreciate them.

Dipping my head, I press my fist into my aching chest and bite back the tears for my parents. What’s the point in crying? It’s only going to feed the evil inside Caleb, Owen, and Matt.

“Piper?” Evan whispers. He leans over to me and wraps his arm around my shoulders. Shouldn’t it be me comforting him right now?