She sat up, her heart banging loudly. She could barely make out Jamie till he switched on the gooseneck lamp on the desk. He looked ghoulish. “Who is it?” he yelled in a high-pitched voice. “Fire drill!” somebody hollered. “You’re shitting me. It’s probably ten degrees outside,” he screeched, but nobody answered. There was only the thrumming of feet in the hall and on the nearby stairs. She wriggled out of her sleeping bag, wearing the sweatpants and an old T-shirt that were her pajamas. She grabbed her winter jacket and pulled on her boots. “Come on, Jamie.” “I’m not going,” he said. “Do you smell any smoke? There’s no fire. Some asshole pulled the alarm again.” She hesitated. “I’ll go check.” She shut the door behind her. The hall was empty. She went to the common room and saw Karen and another girl both in pajamas standing at the top of the stairs. She took a few steps toward them. “Are we going up in flames?” Karen’s hair stood pretty much on end.
