“Stay away from me, Ralph! I won’t go anywhere with you!”

He twitched his lips, unhappy by the words I said. He started to step forward, kicking the small rubbles out of his way. I could feel the loud thud of my heart in my ears as he kept on closing the gap between us while I flinched away from him. I stopped when I reached the end of the flooring and the absence of the wall after it was wrecked almost lost my equilibrium.

“Nooo!” I screamed, my arms instinctively waved to keep my balance on my right foot and save myself from falling down the third floor of...