Mason stooped down behind his desk and brought his knees up to his chin. He clamped a hand over his mouth. The door to classroom slammed open and it took every ounce of his self-control to not jump. His ADHD was going haywire, his eye was twitching, eyeballs darting around, and he felt like a phone on vibrate. He tried to listen for the footsteps of the person that he knew was in the room, but he could barely hear anything over the sound of his rapid heartbeat thundering in his ears.
     Calm down, Mason, he ordered himself. Cut it out or they’ll hear you!
     “Check the desks,” someone barked in a gruff voice.
     The blond had the sudden urge to p--- himself. As beads of sweat started to race down his face, he desperately looked around for something—anything—to help him. A desk a few rows behind him toppled over and he let out a muffled whimper.
     Something! Anything!

     Then, with a jolt, he spotted the fire extinguisher. It was still lying on the floor where Tomas had knocked it over earlier. Thank you, Tomas, you clumsy angel, you! Mason tried to discreetly stretch his leg and pull it over to him, but he couldn’t reach. He tried again desperately, but to no avail. More desks were being destroyed and the crashes were getting closer. Somewhere in the back of his mind, he knew that he’d have to crawl to get it. But, it would expose him. Maybe, if he was quick, he could grab it and distract them long enough to escape.
     As the men got closer and closer, he made up his mind. Mentally saying good-bye to all of his friends and his uncle, he took a deep breath and leaned forward. His knees moved to settle below him as he crawled. The fire extinguisher was only a yard or so away and he soon felt his hand wrap around the cold metal of the cylinder tank. Quicker than he’d anticipated, the desk behind him came crashing down.
     “Hello, Usagi-kun.”
     Discreetly pulling out the pin and hiding it in his shirt pocket, Mason turned around and faced a tall man with distinct Asian features, a small beard, and a wide smile. Mason gulped and his eye twitched again.
     “Hello,” he said. He raised the fire extinguisher and pointed the nozzle. “Good-bye.” He squeezed the trigger and the man yelped as foam was shot all over his face. Mason waved the nozzle around, trying to coat as many of the men as possible. As soon as he ran out, he turned around and chucked the piece of fire safety equipment as hard as he could at the window. He cheered internally when the glass shattered. With one last look at the blinded men, Mason leapt out of the window and broke into the fastest run of his life.