Spencer was shaking Carly. "Carly, wake up!"
"Ugh, just five more minutes."
"Carly, it's not time for school. Wake up."
Carly rolled over and glanced at her alarm clock. "Spencer, it 3 a.m., why in the world...?"
Spencer cut her off. "It's Sam."
Carly bolted upright. "What happened? Is Sam okay? Is she hurt?"
"Sam's fine. Just get your coat and shoes on an I'll explain on the way."
Carly jumped out of bed. She took a sweater off the back of her desk chair and threw it on over her pajama tank top. Spencer handed her coat and shoes. She slipped them on and followed him down stairs. They hurried to the parking lot and got in the car.
"Tell me what's going on!"
"There was an incident with Mrs. Puckett's boyfriend." Spencer seemed thankful to be driving so he didn't have to look at Carly's face as he said this. "He came to the house drunk. She told him to leave. He started screaming at her. Sam must have heard the noise and came in the room to see what was going on." Spencer cleared his throat a bit. "He hit Sam. Her mom tried to stop him and...and he shot her. Then he shot himself."
"Is her mom okay?" Carly asked meekly, already knowing the answer.
Spencer shook his head sadly.
Carly sat in silence for a few moments trying to take in what she heard. "What about Sam?"
"I don't know. They wouldn't give me all the details on the phone. They just asked if I could come and get her because I was the only one they could contact."
Carly turned to stare out the window. They both remained silent the rest of the ride. The only sound came from the rain pelting the outside of the car.