Jaymie trembled as she crouched below a desk, hugging her knees as close to her belly as she could. She held her breath as she watched a pair of black boots and slacks walk slowly past her; the barrel of a semi-automatic, swinging stiffly by their side. Jaymie bit her lip roughly as her belly tensed in spasm. It had been cramping periodically for the past hour and a half that she had been hiding. She was desperate to crawl out from under the table and stretch but she couldn't be sure that once she had done so, that someone wouldn't return. Behind her, the classroom door opened and she heard the husky rasp of a familiar voice.
"Hey man..." the voice said. "find anyone?"
"Nah." another voice - whom Jaymie assumed was the black booted assailant who had passed her moments before - replied. "This room is completely empty."
"You sure? Did ya check under all the desks?"
Jaymie's heart leapt up into her throat. It was racing so hard and fast against her rib cage, that her fingertips felt tingly as she listened to desks being overturned, one by one. She covered her mouth with the palm of her hand and clenched her eyes tight as the desk next to her own was flipped over and she sat under the only one left standing.
She felt near faint as she waited in anticipation for her shelter to be overturned and her to be exposed. After what felt like hours, the desk slowly slid backward, revealing her to the only other two people, standing in the classroom. Opening her eyes, Jaymie slowly lifted her head to see a classmate of hers, dressed in camouflage and black combat boots, black paint smeared all over his face. In his hand, he grasped the semi-automatic that Jaymie had seen pass her.
"N-Nathan?" she stammered, barely above a whisper.
Her classmate, Nathan, pursed his lips and gripped the gun tight.
"Well, well, well..." the other voice, behind her, said slyly. "What do we have here?"
Nathan glanced up at the other gunman and shrugged. Jaymie wondered who it was but was too afraid to look over her shoulder to see.
"Looks to me like we've got ourselves a stow-away." they continued. "What grade you in?"
"She's a junior." Nathan replied.
"Dude. I'm not fucking asking you." the other man snapped. "I said what grade you in, bitch?"
"Eleventh." Jaymie replied, shakily.
"Why you in a senior classroom, if you are a junior?"
"I'm...I'm taking 12th grade classes."
Jaymie crooked her head to the left, trying to catch a glimpse of whoever was behind her. All she could see were his legs and boots and she didn't dare to look any higher and make out his identity.
"Why? You think you are a genius or something? I fucking hate geniuses." he said, lifting the gun and adjusting his grip. "They always think they're so much better than the rest of us."
"I'm not a genius." Jaymie replied. "I'm just trying to graduate early."
"Well, I hate to break it to you, bitch..." the voice said, pointing his rifle towards Jaymie's head. "But you're not graduating."
Jaymie blinked back tears as she took a sharp, shaking breath.
"You're not leaving this room. Nate, shoot her."
Jaymie glanced up at Nathan, who stared at the man behind her, wide-eyed.
"What?" he said, looking down at Jaymie and back up at his partner.
"What, are you fucking deaf? Shoot the stupid bitch!"
"I can't shoot her!" Nathan exclaimed. "She's pregnant!"
"I don't give a fuck if she's fucking Jesus. She's made you out as one of the shooters. If you think you have any chance of getting out of this, she's going to fucking you over, hard."
"I wouldn't tell anyone." Jaymie whispered, shaking her head. "I promise."
"I don't plan on getting out of this." Nathan argued. "I planned on shooting myself when we finished! It doesn't matter if she's seen my face.! I'm not shooting a fucking baby. I'm sorry."
"Man, you're a fucking pussy."
Suddenly, there was a loud pop and Jaymie screamed as she watched Nathan get shot between the eyes and fall to the floor. She held her shaking hands close to her face, defensively, as she watched bits of skull and blood drip slowly down the wall. The man slowly walked around Jaymie's side and stood in front of her, lingering over Nathan's body. He then knelt down to pick up Nathan's semi-automatic and paused, his hand on the barrel, to look over at Jaymie. Tears streamed down Jaymie's cheeks as she stared into the cold eyes of John Harper, a boy she sat by in Algebra II.
"John?"
"Hi, Jaymie." he replied, smirking.
"I don't understand..."
"Yeah, I'll bet NONE of this makes any sense to you." John laughed, shaking his head.
"No. It doesn't. Why are you doing this?"
John looked down at the floor, still shaking his head.
"Man, this fucking school. It'll get to you, if you're here for too long. I'll tell ya..."
"What about the school causes you to do something so drastic?"
"It's just...this place."
"What about this place makes you a psycho?"
"You don't know anything, Jaymie." John growled.
"Then explain it to me, John."
"It's the teachers, with their ludicrous rules and lesson plans that don't do a damn thing for any of the student body. Dogs could teach us more! And the fucking students, with their pompous know-it-all attitudes, thinking they're better than everybody else. They all gave me hell. Every day. For just being who I am. I was never good enough for anyone in this damn school."
"So, you bring a gun to school and kill everyone?" Jaymie exclaimed.
John looked up at her, angrily.
"Like I said...you just don't understand."
"No, I guess you're right John, I don't. High school sucks. But it's supposed to! The teachers are supposed to make you miserable. Your classmates are supposed to give you a hard time. It's one of the shitty things about high school that you just have to deal with. And when you do, after four short years, you're gone. And you never have to face any of those people ever again."
"Don't you get it, Jaymie? It was never going to end for me!" John cried. "It has ALWAYS been this way for me, ever since elementary school. And it will continue to be this way, forever. There's just no winning!"
"Life isn't a game, John." Jaymie sighed. "There is no winning or losing. You just live it and then you die."
"Yeah..." John nodded, picking up his rifle and placing it below his chin. "And now's my chance."
"NO!" Jaymie screamed, reaching out her hand.
But it was too late. John pulled the trigger, causing his head to burst, sending bits of skull and brain matter flying every which way. Jaymie covered her face as blood splattered into her hair and all over her clothes. After a moment, Jaymie lifted her head and looked over at Nathan and John's bodies, their heads in pieces. As her emotions finally set in, Jaymie began to hyperventilate.
"Oh my god." she sobbed.
Steadying herself on the palms of her hands, Jaymie scooted herself backward, towards the classroom door. Once across the room, with the help of a nearby desk, she slowly rose to her feet and backed slowly out of the room. Jaymie walked, blank-faced and silent, down the corridors, towards the lobby. Strayed students ran past her, some in groups of two or three, rushing towards a room they'd claim their safe haven. To everyone in the building, who was still alive, the massacre was still occurring. But Jaymie couldn't bring herself to open her mouth and tell them that they were safe. No one but Jaymie was aware that it was over.
On the floor, in classrooms and hallways, the bleeding bodies of Jaymie's classmates, lay lifeless. Jaymie shook violently as she crept past them, taking a moment to acknowledge every face. She knew each and every one of them, some more personally than others. With each body she counted, the more her heart broke. These were her classmates, her friends since kindergarten. And now they were dead, much too soon, much too young.
When Jaymie finally reached the lobby, she was met by an officer, donned from head-to-toe in protective gear and carrying a loaded gun. At the sight of him walking towards her, Jaymie collapsed to the floor into a heap, sobbing uncontrollably. The officer rushed over to her and knelt down by her feet.
"Miss, are you alright?" he asked, lifting the shield over his face.
"They're...they're...they're dead." she gasped, stumbling over her words.
"Where are they?"
"...everywhere." Jaymie replied, eerily. "They're everywhere."
The officer touched her arm gently and rose to his feet. Jaymie looked up at him, her eyes wide with terror. He looked back down at her, a tear in his eye and pointed towards the double doors.
"Go."
Without another word, Jaymie climbed to her feet and ran out of the school. She burst out of the doors, into a crowd of police officers, emergency personnel, news reporters and frantic parents. She scanned the mob for a familiar face but none caught her attention. Her parents hadn't come to make sure that her and her baby were alright. That they weren't dead. However, this didn't surprise Jaymie at all. They didn't care about anything that didn't have to do with themselves and alcohol consumption. As she made her way down the front steps of the school, an EMT rushed over to her and took her by the arm, leading her towards an ambulance.
As Jaymie sat on a gurney, waiting for the EMT to begin his assessment, a tall man wearing an LVPD hat and vest walked over to the back of the ambulance, where she sat.
"Hi." he smiled. "You must be Jaymie."
"Yeah, that's me." Jaymie said quietly, nodding.
"I'm Nick Stokes. I'm a criminalist with the Las Vegas Crime Lab."
"Nice to meet you."
"You as well." he smiled, slightly wider than before. "Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?"
Jaymie shrugged and watched as he climbed into the back of the ambulance and sat beside her.
"Were you shot?" Nick asked, as the EMT rolled up Jaymie's sleeve to check her blood pressure.
"No." Jaymie replied, shaking her head. "No, they didn't shoot me."
"Who's blood is this? Do you know?"
Nick pointed down at the blood splattered all over Jaymie's shirt and jeans.
"Uh...that's probably John's."
"Was he a victim?"
"Depending on who you ask..." Jaymie replied, looking down at her hands.
"What do you mean?"
Jaymie fidgeted with her fingers and swallowed hard as she tried to think of an answer that could make him understand. Or possibly a better answer to help HER understand.
"John didn't have it easy. Neither did Nathan. They were bullied a lot...by teachers and students. Nobody really understood them. They didn't really try..."
"Were John and Nathan the shooters?"
Jaymie nodded, looking up at Nick.
"Could you tell me what happened?"
"I don't know..." Jaymie whispered, as her eyes filled with tears.
Nick sighed and reached over to take Jaymie's hand.
"It's okay. Just start from wherever. Take your time. Don't worry about getting everything perfect. You just tell me everything you remember and we'll piece it together."
Jaymie looked down at his hand, enveloping hers, and took a shaky breath.
"I was in the hall, walking back from the bathroom..." she began. "...and I heard this loud popping sound."
Nick sat patiently as Jaymie slowly explained to him what she had seen, up in the classroom.
"At first, I thought it was someone pulling a prank, like last year. Or someone mixed the wrong chemical in the science lab and caused a minor explosion. I don't know. But after a few seconds, it kept happening, one after the other. And with each minute that passed, it got louder and louder. And then I heard the screaming."
Jaymie closed her eyes, envisioning the horrifying hours before.
"And that's when Principal Brown came on the intercom and said that it was a Code Black. We've had drills before but never had an incident where we actually had to use it. I was scared; I didn't have any idea of what to do. No one was around, no teachers or students and the bathroom was too far away, so I ran into the closest classroom I could get to and shut the door behind me."
Nick brushed his thumb over Jaymie's knuckles as he stared down at the floor of the ambulance.
"They teach you during the drills to lock the door and shut off the lights, so that it looks like the room is empty. But the door didn't lock, so I just shut it and pulled the blind and I ran to hide beneath a desk. It felt like hours, sitting under that desk. I just sat there, listening to pop after pop. And after a while, the door opened."
The EMT sat down next to Nick, gently listening to Jaymie's chest, as she continued.
"It was Nathan. He looked around the room for anyone and was about to leave when John came in. He asked Nathan if he found anyone and when he said no, he told him to start turning over desks, to see if anyone was hiding. They found me underneath the last desk."
Jaymie started to cry as she clenched Nick's hand tight.
"Then what happened, Jaymie?" Nick said quietly.
"John told him to shoot me. And when Nathan said he couldn't shoot me because of my baby…John shot him in the face." Jaymie replied, choking back sobs. "And…and then he came over and knelt down beside me…and I asked him why he was doing what he was doing…and I said something stupid…"
"What did you say?"
"I said…" Jaymie sniffled. "I said that life wasn't a game. You live and then you die. And then he shot himself."
Jaymie began to tremble as she broke down in sobs.
"I killed him."
"Jaymie." Nick sighed, squeezing her hand. "John came to school with a firearm. He came, knowing that people were going to get hurt, that they were going to die. You are not at fault for the lives lost because of his actions."
"But if I didn't say what I did…John could still be alive."
"Or he could have killed more people and then himself." Nick argued. "You didn't and won't know what he was planning. He kept this to himself. And this is a tragedy that could have been prevented. But you are NOT to blame."
Jaymie looked up at Nick and forced a smile as he touched her cheek, lightly.
"You remind me of my sister, Angela." Nick said, smiling. "We're really close. You look a lot like her."
"No offense, sir…but that's kind of creepy." Jaymie giggled.
"Yeah, I guess it is." Nick laughed, standing up and fixing his hat. "I guess that's the end this, for now."
"Okay."
"Thank you." Nick smiled. "And I hope that you get back to feeling better soon. Life is too short to experience tragedies like today. Good luck with your baby, also."
"Thank you." Jaymie smiled, blushing. "Take care."
"You too, Jaymie." Nick replied, jumping out of the ambulance and walking towards his SUV.
Jaymie leaned over to watch Nick walk away when she got a warm sensation throughout her legs. She glanced down and gasped when she saw that her jeans were now soaked.
"Uhm…excuse me?" she stammered, turning around towards the EMT. "I think my water just broke!"
The EMT rushed over to her and looked down at her pants.
"How far along are you?" she asked, looking at Jaymie, concerned.
"36 weeks." Jaymie replied. "Is that bad? Is he early?"
"Typically, obstetricians like to get babies to the 40 week mark but most babies who are born at 36 weeks are born perfectly healthy." the EMT replied, helping Jaymie lay back on the gurney.
"Have you had any contractions?"
"Yes, all morning. I thought they were just cramps from being in the condition that I was in for so long."
"How far apart were they? Do you know?"
"They started off every ten minutes or so. But once I got out here, they were…I don't know, maybe every five?"
"We'll get you to the hospital right away. Do you have anyone you need to call?"
Jaymie shook her head, her heart starting to race.
"Dispatch this is bus 24, we have a victim of the Henderson High School shooting on her way in to HGH. Patient is 17 year old Jaymie Harrington. She is approximately 36 weeks pregnant. Her water broke in the middle of my assessment. Contracting, roughly every five minutes. BP is 130/80, slightly elevated. Estimated time of arrival, 5 minutes."
Jaymie closed her eyes, wincing from every bump the ambulance hit. When she arrived at the hospital, nurses rushed her to the maternity ward and hurriedly changed her into a gown and began hooking her up to many different IVs and monitors. The entire process of her labor, her heart raced hard inside her chest. This was easily the most terrifying day of her life, with the shooting that morning and having to experience childbirth alone, that afternoon.
Later that night, Jaymie laid quietly in her bed, staring out the window, at the moon. She didn't hear the soft knock on the doorframe or the footsteps on the tile. Instead, she was startled by the sound of crinkling cellophane. Jumping, she turned and saw Nick, the CSI from earlier that morning, standing by the door, a bouquet of flowers in his hand.
"I didn't scare you, did I?" he asked, taking a step towards her.
"No. Not at all." Jaymie smiled, sitting up. "Please, come in."
Nick walked further into the room and handed Jaymie the bouquet. They were lilies, her favorite.
"Thank you." Jaymie blushed. "I love lilies."
"You're welcome. I hope I didn't further weird you out, by stopping by. I heard that you went into labor after I had left the ambulance. I wanted to make sure that everything was alright."
"Everything is great." Jaymie nodded, beaming. "He's perfect."
"That's good. Does he have a name, yet?"
"His name is Liam Nathaniel Harrington."
"That's a wonderful name." Nick smiled. "It has a nice ring to it."
"Thank you. I was a little hesitant about his middle name being Nathaniel. After Nathan and John did what they did today. But part of me likes to think that Nathan didn't really want to hurt all of those people. Things were just too hard for him to sort through. He was too confused. And John brought him down with his heavy thoughts of death and destruction. He just got lost." Jaymie sighed. "He was a good kid. And I know that he would have grown to be an amazing man. And an amazing father, in time."
"Is he…" Nick began, gesturing towards Jaymie's now empty womb.
"No!" Jaymie exclaimed, shaking her head. "No. I just felt that I owed him a thank you for sparing our lives today. He could have killed Liam and me, like the other lives they took. But he chose not to. Because Liam did nothing to him and he had a right to experience life."
"Oh. That's very kind of you."
"Not really. But thank you. Would you like to see him?"
"Liam?"
"Well, I'm certainly not going to visit the morgue." Jaymie giggled. "Yes, Liam."
"I'd love to." Nick smiled, reaching out his hand to help Jaymie out of bed.
Together, Nick and Jaymie walked quietly down the halls of the maternity ward, towards the nursery.
"You're really tall." Jaymie said, looking up at Nick.
"Maybe you're just really short." Nick chuckled, looking down at her.
"How tall are you?"
"I'm 6'1"."
"I'm only 5'5"." Jaymie sighed. "You should shrink, so you're closer to my height."
"It could be worse. You could be still in the 4 foot range. Don't worry; I'll get you some platform shoes."
"Or some stilts?" Jaymie giggled.
"Exactly. That way we're the same height and everyone is happy."
"Except for Liam."
"Well, yes, except for Liam. But once his feet are big enough to fit, I'll get him some baby stilts."
"Will you put on little pegs, for balance?" Jaymie smirked.
"Like training wheels?"
"Yes! Exactly! Just like learning how to ride a bike. He'll need them until he learns how to walk on regular stilts."
"Well then, you have yourself two new pairs of stilts. Regular sized for you and mini ones for the little man."
At the end of the hallway, they reached the window of the nursery, where the newborns lay.
"He's right there." Jaymie smiled, pointing down to a baby, lying directly in front of them.
"Wow. He's beautiful."
He wouldn't tell her but the moment Nick laid eyes on Jaymie's son, he knew he was hooked. For years, Nick had laughed at the thought of love at first sight. But, even though he had only met her that morning, when he thought of Jaymie, he was slowly starting to believe in it. She was young, too young in fact, but part of him didn't care about how old she was. He only cared about getting to know her and possibly being with her and Liam, forever.
"I should go." he sighed, after looking at the babies for a few minutes. "It's pretty late and you need your sleep."
"Will I see you again?" Jaymie asked, looking hopeful.
Nick raised his eyebrows, in disbelief. Had she really just asked him that?
"I mean…that's probably unprofessional." Jaymie said, shaking her head and rubbing her temples. "I'm sorry. That was really inappropriate of me to ask. I'm sorry."
"It's okay." Nick smiled. "I'd love to."
Jaymie smiled from ear to ear.
"Really?"
"Yeah! But…aren't you concerned about our ages? I don't want to come across as a creepy old man to you."
"How old are you?"
"33." Nick replied, looking uncomfortable.
"Well…that's certainly a lot older than me. But it's doable. We're just friends, right?"
"Right."
"Then, where is the crime?"
Nick smiled.
"Nowhere."
"Exactly." Jaymie smirked. "So, when can I see you again?"
"How's next Friday for you? Can I take you out for lunch or an early dinner before my shift?"
"Okay! That sounds good."
"I'll see you then." Nick smiled as he turned and walked down the hall.
"Bye." Jaymie replied, watching him disappear around the corner.
The following week, Jaymie was forced to cancel with Nick, due to not having a sitter for Liam. And the following weeks, Nick was loaded with cases, so it was nearing a month before Nick and Jaymie could finally see one another. When she saw Nick step out of his SUV, Jaymie almost ran from her spot on the picnic table to jump into his arms as he walked towards her. But she didn't want to appear overexcited or pushy, so she stayed still and tried to keep calm.
"Hello stranger." Nick smiled, handing her a single lily. "It's been a while."
"I know." Jaymie blushed, smelling the flower. "How have you been?"
"Busy. But I've been good. How are you and Liam?"
"We're good. He's growing like a weed."
"That's good. I'm glad he's doing so well. Should we sit?" Nick asked, gesturing toward the table.
Jaymie nodded as she and Nick took a seat opposite each other. For three hours, they sat at the table, talking about everything they could think of, under the sun. Favorite foods, television shows, friends, family, hobbies and habits. They left no stone unturned, no subject untouched.
"Is it wrong that I can't stop thinking about you?" Nick smiled, brushing a lock of hair from in front of Jaymie's face, behind her ear.
"A little bit." Jaymie giggled, blushing. "But I won't tell anyone."
"Well, that's good." Nick chuckled. "Just curious though...when do you turn eighteen?"
"The end of May." Jaymie replied. "On the 27th."
"That's not too far away. What do you say, on your birthday, I take you out to dinner? A nice official date, to celebrate you becoming an adult."
"Is that so you can have the freedom to legally have sex with me, at the end of our date?" Jaymie smirked.
"Actually, it's so I can treat a beautiful girl to a date that she deserves. And yes, it would be so I could finally be able to interact with you publically, without the risk of getting into unnecessary trouble. If you think that it's only for sex, because of past dates you've been on, then you have clearly been aiming for too young of boys. Because that's not who I am. However, I'd love to finally kiss you!"
Jaymie smiled.
"But my intentions aren't to have sex with you, Jaymie. I just enjoy spending time with you. But I don't want to scare you, because of our big age difference. Things can get complicated with that standing in the middle. I'm a lot older than you, I have a lot more experience with some things that you have yet to experience and the last thing I'd ever want to do is pressure you about anything. "
"Well, clearly since I have a child, I have already gone down the road of sex and reproduction."
"I don't mean it like that. I mean about everything in general. If we were to ever become more than friends, after you turn eighteen, I want it to always be at your own pace."
"Thank you. That's very thoughtful."
"Anything for you. Now, about that date?" Nick smirked. "How about Anthony's Ristorante, 8:00?"
"It's a date."
Three weeks seemed to pass in the blink of an eye. Before they knew it, it was already the evening of Jaymie's birthday. Her hands trembled as she carefully applied her makeup and did her hair to perfection. She wanted everything to be just right for her first date as an adult. At exactly 8:00, the doorbell rang and when she opened the door, Nick stood on the doorstep in a blue striped dress shirt, black slacks and dress shoes, holding a bouquet of lilies. Which, he now knew was her favorite flower.
"You look beautiful." he smiled, handing her the flowers and kissing her cheek. "Are you ready to go?"
Jaymie nodded, looping her arm with his and walking down the walkway to his car.
"Oh, hold on just a moment." Nick mumbled, rushing forward and opening the passenger door for Jaymie.
Jaymie stopped before stepping into the vehicle and looked at Nick, with wide eyes.
"I like being an adult!" she giggled.
"Get used to it, beautiful. You deserve it." Nick chuckled, as he shut the door. "Watch your feet."
At the restaurant, Nick ordered sparkling grape juice and steak for Jaymie and himself. He poured her juice, with shaky hands and blushed when the waitress commented on what an amazing couple they were. He was trying not to show Jaymie how nervous he really was but he could tell that she knew.
"Are you alright?" Jaymie asked, cracking a smile as the waitress walked away. "You seem nervous."
"Nervous? Not at all, I'm fine." Nick said, pursing his lips and shaking his head.
"Good. Cuz you have nothing to be nervous about." Jaymie replied, cutting her steak. "We've hung out before, we've discussed all the major ice-breaking subjects; we've basically done the entire first date checklist beforehand, besides eating and the kiss."
"The kiss…right." Nick nodded, swallowing hard.
Jaymie glanced up in time to notice the look of concern on his face.
"I was only kidding around. We don't have to if you don't want to…"
Nick looked up at her, his eyes wide.
"No! No, no, I want to! Trust me, I do!"
Nick paused and then began to laugh.
"I probably sound like a needy school-boy now."
"A little bit." Jaymie giggled. "But that's okay. I don't mind."
"Oh, hush." Nick smirked, taking a bite of his steak.
After dinner, Jaymie and Nick walked out of the restaurant, out to the parking lot. They were almost to the SUV, when Nick paused and pointed towards the lit up park nearby.
"Would you like to take a walk?" he asked, reaching for her hand.
"Sure." Jaymie smiled, taking his hand in her own and following him towards the park.
They walked through the whole park twice, spending the entire time talking about everything, as they always did. On the corner of the trail, under the glow of the street lamp, Jaymie suddenly stopped walking, causing Nick to stutter-step to a halt. He turned back towards her, his eyebrow cocked in suspicion.
"Everything alright?" he asked, taking the few steps back over to her.
Jaymie nodded, brushing a stray curl from out of her face.
"Thank you for such a wonderful night."
"It's no problem, at all."
"It meant a lot to me, to have someone so sweet to share it with. I had a really great time."
"I did too. I AM too." Nick chuckled.
"I'm glad." Jaymie smiled.
His heart racing, Nick nervously placed the palm of his hand at the nape of Jaymie's neck and kissed her gently. It took everything in him not to jump out of his skin. Instead, the corners of his mouth curled slightly, into a smile, as her lips meshed smoothly with his own.