A/N: I'm writing this based on a story called After. Here's a brief summary of the book: A school-shooting incident in nearby Pleasant Valley causes Tom's high school administrators to be worried about a ripple effect. A crisis counselor is hired and a watchdog atmosphere grows as the teens' privileges rapidly disappear. Tom and his sophomore classmates are annoyed but not overly concerned about the new security restrictions until they notice eerie disappearances of friends who fail to conform, including Tom's two best friends. The random drug tests, backpack searches, parental e-mail, and dress codes soon expand into mind-controlling daily assemblies, book censorship, and camps for "behavior" problems. After a tip from a Pleasant Valley basketball player, Tom is convinced that students everywhere are being sent away and hopes his father hasn't also been brainwashed via the e-mails from the school authorities. The pace picks up as Tom and friend Becca are caught trying to alert their fellow students to the menacing counselor and know that their lives are at risk. There is suspense in the threat, though readers never learn what has happened to those who disappeared, except for one student who "died." Courtesy: of my all time favorite books. HIGHLY RECOMMEND IT!
If you are confused about anything, just leave in a review about what you are confused about.
By the way, no one has hooked up. AT ALL! No Seth/Summer, but they are friends and have been since Ryan came. Not Marissa/Ryan, but they are friends. Seth traveled to Tahiti on his boat for vacation and it's not a little boat either. Zach is in the picture. He's in the Comic Book Club with Ryan, Seth, and those weird kids.
Seth was looking through the paper when Ryan came in.
"Hey man. Do you know today is the two year anniversary of the shootings at Pleasant Valley?"
"I never heard of Pleasant Valley," Ryan admitted.
"Nasty shootout it was. Kids no one paid attention to got the ultimate revenge by shooting kids and teachers. A lot of people were killed. But I don't see a reason to worry. It was in Massachusetts."
"Which isn't that far away. Also, it could happen anywhere," Ryan bought up.
"Good point my friend," Seth admitted. It gave him the jitters. It could happen anywhere. But why would ANYONE want to shoot up Harbor? They would owe so much money in lawsuits that their great great great grandchildren won't be up to half of the money he owes! "But it is tragic though. I heard from this kid that Pleasant Valley is completely abandoned! I mean, there's still books and everything. It's sort of like they took the kids out of class. Or they were abducted! OH MY GOD! What if they were given anal probes?"
"Wow Seth! You really need to stop reading comics."
They got to school and they knew something was different. Everyone seemed more quiet then usual. People also seemed more jumpy than usual.
Ryan noticed Marissa and approached her. "What's going on?" he asked.
"Don't you know? The shootings at Pleasant Valley occurred a year ago today."
"Why is it such a big deal here?"
Marissa gasped, but let it go. "I'm so sorry. I forgot you weren't here when it happened. Most of our football team was at Pleasant Valley when the shootings occurred. Nineteen of them were killed. Three survived but they are suffering a lot right now. One kid, Tommy Michaels, is undergoing severe therapy. He's not even in school anymore."
"Why is he taking it more seriously than anyone else?"
"His father and two brothers were killed. One brother died in his arms, and the other one died to save Tommy. It was a horrible thing to hear." Marissa looked down. A lone tear dropped from her eyes.
Ryan pulled her into a hug. But he kept thinking about why they never talked about Pleasant Valley in Chino.
Suddenly, Ryan let go of Marissa. She met his eyes and saw the alarmed look on his face.
"What is it?" she asked. Ryan could sense the nervousness in her voice.
"AJ….. he had a son in Pleasant Valley. Maybe….. maybe that was why he had such problems. He wasn't always abusive. Just started a little less than a year ago. He told Dawn he had to go to Colorado….for some family business… oh my god…"
"Wow. Poor guy. He barely sees his kid and he dies."
Ryan thought that too.
But Ryan felt something inside…sympathy. He felt really bad and guilty about what happened. But he also wondered something else… Did Dawn know about this?
First period started, and immediately the whole school was called into the auditorium. Normally, it would be hard to fit an entire school into the auditorium. But there is only 450 students at Harbor and the auditorium can hold 700.
Everyone sat down in a certain section. Popular kids in the back, nerds in the front and everyone else in the middle.
Ryan and Summer caught up with Marissa, Seth and Zach and they sat in the back. Good thing Summer and Zach were popular. It would be embarrassing to sit in the front with… them.
Something seemed a little off though. The principal was on the stage, but so was someone else. No one has ever seen him before, and he looked really…perky?
"Everyone settle down," the principal said. "OK then. As most of you know, today is the anniversary of the horrible shootings at Pleasant Valley. I know a lot of students aren't here today because they prefer to stay home. That is perfectly fine. But today, I would like to introduce you to someone. Meet Dr. Willner. He's our new grief and loss counselor. He is here to talk to anyone who wants to and is open on any subject."
Dr. Willner took the stage. "Hello Harbor High students. I look forward to getting to know each and everyone of you personally. I hope that with my help, we can prevent a Pleasant Valley or a Columbine incident here." He seemed to be looking at Zach and Seth for some reason. What is going through this guy's head?
He smiled at everyone and the principal got back on stage. "We will have meetings like this every day or other day. Also, new rules will be placed starting tomorrow. You may go back to class."
Sorry it's a little short. I just wanted to write something because I just finished the book and LOVED IT!