It wasn't supposed to be like this.
It was supposed to be a normal day at school. Homework, lunch, more work and then go home.
Not chaos, bated breath and blood mixed with tears.
It wasn't supposed to be like this.
"I hate History," Stephanie groaned, placing her hands on her head in exasperation. Clementine couldn't help the titter that escaped her, and Stephanie glared at the curly haired girl in reply. Clementine smiled and bit into the orange provided for lunch. Stephanie was rapidly eating and writing at the same time, eyes darting back to the page and clock to keep track of time.
"How long is the report supposed to be again," Stephanie asked, her writing steadily becoming messier and messier as her hand became more frantic to reach the goal of completing the essay "five pages right? Please let it be five pages, because Mr. Everett can be a total a- awesome guy when it comes to homework." Stephanie smiled as another faculty member walked by, staring intently at Stephanie.
Just then, Clementine and Stephanie's friend, Sarah sat down, smiling happily as she began to animatedly talk to Clementine. Clementine gladly talked back, happy that she didn't have to listen to Stephanie's ramblings. The entire cafeteria seemed at ease, though the football team and choir were practising for lunch. Clementine's glad she doesn't do either because she couldn't even stand the thought of no lunch.
"Finally done," Stephanie gasped, slamming the five pages into her bag with haste. The end of lunch was nearing and she really needed to go to the bathroom "I'm going to the bathroom. You coming?" Both Sarah and Clementine denied the offer and Stephanie walked out of the cafeteria, towards the bathroom. There was only two minutes left, so Clementine and Sarah were beginning to pack up when the serenity of the school shattered instantly.
A gunshot.
The entire cafeteria were frozen, begging to themselves that they imagined the sound, but another gunshot destroyed that thought. There was sudden panic, running and yelling, as faculty desperately fought to regain control, but it was total anarchy. Clementine grabbed Sarah's hand, and dragged her outside the cafeteria for safety, but hearing another gunshot, a much closer one, sent the two teens fleeing down the hall to somewhere where they could hide.
They eventually found a closet full of cleaning supplies. Clementine felt flushed, but Sarah was in a worse condition. She was panting, but not because she was tired. She slid down the wall of the already cramped closet, and started to curl into a ball. She started to cry, and her heart was pounding. Her dad was in the Spanish room, was he ok? Is he dead? These thoughts swirled inside her head, and she tried to muffle her crying as best she could, but she wasn't very successful.
Nick, Luke, and other members of then football team sat in the locker room, trying to stay concealed as best they could. Nick was hiding in the showers, with the curtain drawn. It was a terrible hiding place, but he had to be somewhere. Nick felt small tears escape his eyes, as thoughts of his little sister danced in his memory. He wiped them away, and swallowed the lump in his throat.
Luke was stood in the gap between the red metallic lockers, peeking at the door warily. The entire room was dead silent, and every little sound made the room jump. Luke let out a shuddering breath as the sound of distant footsteps reached the room. Was it the gun wielding maniac? Was it a lone student? No matter what, they couldn't open that door. No matter what.
Stephanie stood on top of the toilet, hands pressed against the sides of the stall. Tears ran down from her eyes to her nose and the to the ground. She didn't make any sound though. She couldn't even risk the sound of the breath. Two girls, Sarita and Katjaa were doing the same on either of her, and were both doing their best to contain their tears. Stephanie could hear their quivering breathing.
Just then, there was the sound of the doorknob jiggling. Stephanie peeked over the top of the stall to see the doorknob being abused like crazy. Katjaa, beside her, slowly stepped down from the toilet seat and slowly, and cat like started to make her way towards the door, and Sarita put her own hand out to catch Katjaa's attention. The two girls' eyes met and the fear was almost palpable in the room.
Katjaa made her way back to her hiding place, as the doorknob stopped moving. There was a 'ka-chink' sound and Stephanie realised what it was. It was the sound of a gun readying to shoot. Just then, the action was interrupted by the sound of fleeting footsteps at the other end of the hall. The gun wielding person ran towards them and Stephanie let out a sob.
Lee sat, curled up to stay small, under his desk, his stomach knotted beyond belief. He was texting his wife Lilly, who was quick to reply the instant she received a new text. They were cherishing their possibly imminent final moments together, and Lee smiled sadly when he got a photo of his small daughter. She was only a month old and already their time could get cut short.
Suddenly, the door eased open and Lee felt his insides turn cold. The door wasn't locked was it? The door closed by itself, and someone took a few, so,eeh at taunting footsteps and readied the gun to fire. They kicked a desk aside and when Lee heard the shooter's voice, he couldn't believe it.
"Mr. Everett, I know you're here," Ben said.
Ben, the quiet boy who was always bullied, always the target of cruel pranks and jokes, had finally snapped. Lee and other faculty had always turned a blind eye to the bullying, passing it off as jokes, and now it had come back to haunt them. Lee cursed his actions, wishing he could go back and change, but it was too late, as Lee found himself staring at the barrel of the gun.
Bang.
Molly, Jane, Kenny, Omid, Christa, Bonnie and Mike were all sat in the vacant ,spare choir room, all hiding in different places. Their eyes were focused on the small window on the door, which allowed them to see who passed by. Bonnie was held against Mike's chest as she constantly went over her actions of her short life, regretting and enjoying the memories shed accumulated.
Mike had decided if the gunman did storm in her, his last act would be protect Bonnie. He'd done some shitty things in his life, and he hoped that his last action would cancel out all the bad things he'd done. Like punching his dad...stealing money to eat...not protecting his brother when the bullies swept in...he regretted all those, and he wanted to do one good thing.
"Jane," Molly whispered, holding up her phone and starting to record the shorter haired girl "i-is there anything you'd like to say in case..." Jane let a sop escape her lips and nodded and Molly threw a cautious glance at the door. Molly's eyes met Kenny's and Jane started to speak quietly.
"Jaimie, if I don't...if I don't make it out of this a-alive, then I wanted to say this," Jane sobbed "live your life to the fullest. Don't focus on regrets, focus on the future. If you're going to remember anything, remember the laughs and goodt times, not the regrets. I love you Jaimie, I will always love you. You're my little sister, and I love you." Jane finished with a sad smile and Molly stopped recording.
Just then, the door opened.
There were hundreds who turned out for the funerals of those who passed away. Reporters capitalised on the funerals and the sadness of those related to the deceased, and one such reporter was Carley Jefferson. She felt great guilt in doing so and tried to be as sensitive as possible when dealing with the families. Many tears were shed and many outpourings of love were received.
The names of those killed were all engraved on a plaque that hung on the wall of the school's cafeteria, accompanied by pictures. Many people left flowers, notes of sorrow and love at a small platform, yet there was still too many notes and objects to be held by the platform, so they were placed on the floor.
The deceased were as follows:
Clementine Marsh: March 21st 1999 - April 24th 2015
Nick Travers: November 13th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Sarah Gomez: September 19th 1999 - April 24th 2015
Luke Porter: June 4th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Jane Holloway: January 2nd 1998 - April 24th 2015
Molly Carson: August 14th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Christa Wallace: October 31st 1997 - April 24th 2015
Omid Tehrani: December 9th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Mike Thomas: February 5th 1997 - April 24th 2015
Bonnie Tilton: May 3rd 1998 - April 24th 2015
Kenny Harris: July 28th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Stephanie Cole: March 5th 1997 - April 24th 2015
Sarita Malakar: September 18th 1998 - April 24th 2015
Katjaa Jensen: February 2nd 1997 - April 24th 2015
Lee Everett: August 31st 1984 - April 24th 2015
Carlos Gomez: January 17th 1975 - April 29th 2015
May they all Rest In Peace.