Author's Note - So this idea came to me out of nowhere and my muse has been running overtime on it. It takes place during the school shooting and then the aftermath, only difference is it takes place during early season one. The time capsule was made in Junior yerar. All basic early season one plotlines and friendships are the same but I am going to be shaking things up. This opening chapter is fairly short and focuses mostly on Jimmy Edwards. All principal characters will be introduced in subsequent chapters. I'm not going to give too much away at this stage but any questions you might have just ask.

I'd like to dedicate this chapter to Sheena (smc-27) because she's a truly wonderful writer and always happy to hash out ideas with other writers. Thanks so much for your feedback on this one.

Summary - That day had thrown their lives into chaos, nothing would ever be the same again. Everything had changed in the blink of an eye. She had barely known him and now he was the one that was responsible for saving her life. AU LP, the school shooting set in season one.

Eye of the Beholder

Prologue

It was supposed to be just like any other normal day. A day that was just like any other; in the seemingly never ending blend of sunrises to sunsets. The day was supposed to be normal, usual and uneventful. It wasn't supposed to be a day that would leave its mark on everyone in this small town.

Jimmy Edwards had woken up groggily to the annoying buzzing sound of his alarm and his mother's call and her persistent knocking fist at his bedroom door. Finally he shrugged off the comforter and tried to ignore the heavy stinging sensation prickling at his eye lids. His eyes fell to the metal object he'd retrieved from his father's abandoned den and that was now resting on his nightstand. Panic and uncertainty sparked in his core and he tried to brush it off as he pulled his tired frame up from the bed.

It was just a normal school day he told himself as he stood under the searing hot spray cascading from the shower head. He tried to block out the shadowing images of the day before that danced their way back into his head. The images seemed to mock him. They were the ones that were once again causing the nagging and sickening worry at the pit of his stomach. The same worry that had occupied his thoughts all of last night and prevented him from the temporary escape of sleep.

He couldn't take it back; no matter how much he may want to. The words that he had spoken only weeks before were out there and wouldn't be forgotten in a long time. Those confidential words spoken only to a video camera had given him a momentary release as he had unleashed at least some of the pain he'd carried around with him since he had started Tree Hill High. It had felt good, liberating. But the rest of the school had never been meant to see it. Yesterday everyone had as the time capsule was released and his world span into chaos.

"Hurry up," his mother's voice penetrated his walls. "You're going to be late."

In a daze Jimmy had dragged his weary body from the shower, dressed hurriedly as he was now late and jumped into the car by his mother's side. She turned to him with her expression full of concern but she didn't ask him what was wrong. He had been sent home just like any other student the day before. But unlike every other student her son was the one that everyone was talking about. High School was hell for him and she knew that, she felt somewhat responsible for her son's inability to fit in but she also felt powerless to help her son as he shut himself away from him a little more each and every day.

"So, you wanna know what it's like in my high school? Well, the truth is, there's not a single person in this place worth remembering. You see, the people here are fake so they stick to their cliques to hide it."

As soon as his mom left him at the curb he pulled out his lighter and cigarettes. He needed to calm his already frayed nerves. As he light up he saw all these people noticing him. Everyone finally noticed him. The entire school had heard his inner most thoughts and they had finally listened. They were finally getting the full picture.

He stood out in the quad taking a drag of his cigarette and critically surveyed the crowds of his peers. He watched as the pretty brunette cheerleader captain talked and giggled with her captivated squad at the benches. He watched as his one of his closest former friends now stood with the rest of the basketball team as he himself battled to be accepted by the school's varsity team and subsequently forgot all those he'd grown up with and became just like all those jocks they had grown up hating and joking about.

"I mean, the stoners are medicated, the honour students are afraid. The jocks ...well, they're jocks man. They'll peak at seventeen and their cheerleader girlfriends will be fat and lonely by twenty-one."

With one final drag he dropped the cigarette onto the concrete and stubbed it out with the toe of his sneaker. He had been so right about what he had said on that cursed video.

"Show time," he murmured to himself before he entered into that school. He braced himself for what he was about to endure just like he did every single day.

"Everyone here is a loser. And the truth is; every day I have to come to this school, is one less day I have to come back......."

He walked uncertainly down the corridor as students who had been preoccupied with their lockers and private conversations now all turned their eyes onto him. And only him. They watched and whispered to one another; some even sniggered. He focused his eyes firmly at the floor, shaking inwardly but trying not to let it show.

Once he reached his own locker he found it open as several boys went through its contents and threw all of his books and papers on to the floor carelessly.

"Nice locker loser," Russ, a dark haired boy who'd made his life a miserable said as he possibly could. Russ kicked his possessions aside before he and his friends moved away laughing and jeering.

Jimmy gritted his teeth in an effort to control his anger. Something had to be done. He decided in that in a split second and reached in to the depths of his pockets. He didn't think he'd actually contemplated using the weapon until that precise moment. He just wanted it all to stop. He wanted it all to just go away.

Everything seemed to fall away as he raised the gun. He tightened his grip as he heard the telltale click. Time stood still as faces turned and all attentions fell captivated on him once again. A mixture of fear blended with disbelief was etched on each and every one of them. They couldn't quite believe this was happening.

Bang.

The instant he pulled the trigger and he heard the shattering of glass and the penetrated screams of terror he struggled to maintain control. His hand shook. He thought he would feel empowered as he took matters into his own hands. He had wanted some sort of a release like he'd had on that day they had filmed the time capsule. However that sense of liberation didn't come this time.

He looked around with a baited breath as students began scrambling away as quickly as they could. Books and bags were forgotten and dropped to the floor in the bid for escape and survival. There were screams of panic and desperation as they began to run toward the closest available exits. His heart pounded painfully in his chest as the fears ignited around him.

He couldn't take this back. Not now and not ever.

He quickly placed the gun back into his pocket and turned from the direction in which he had fired. Jimmy mingled in with the crowd, disappearing in with the harried chaos.