Time's Up, a twilight fanfic

'BANG.'

I awoke all at once, sitting bolt upright in bed, propelled from sleep by the almighty noise that seemed to reverberate through my body. I looked around frantically, heart pounding fast in spite of myself, my face felt clammy, with tears or sweat I wasn't sure. On the floor lay my mirror, splintered into tiny pieces on the carpet. "Shit," I whispered, still unable to breathe properly. It had just been a dream, more like a nightmare, though it seemed so real and vivid at the time. Sitting there now, sunlight seeping through the curtains, the distant sounds of my parents making breakfast downstairs, I couldn't remember what it had been about, only the feeling remained, a nervous bundle in my stomach.

Just then the alarm on my phone went off, beeping shrilly on the bedside table, and making me leap nearly out of my skin. Half past seven. I groaned inwardly at the thought of another day at school, dressing slowly to prolong the inevitable moment of leaving. Downstairs mum offered me a plate of toast, but I declined. My stomach still felt weird, and the thought of eating caused a wave of nausea.

The knot in my stomach grew tighter the closer I got to school, though I tried to ignore it. Leanne was waiting outside the gates for me in the usual place, wearing a pair of sunglasses even though it was only half past eight, and the sun was still low. A group of year seven boys walked past staring openly at her, and she smiled at them unashamedly at which they laughed nervously, elbowing and shoving each other in a display of mock fighting as they walked past. She had that effect on boys, and she took full advantage of it. With her model looks and perfect figure she could have any boy in school, but she had to choose Edward. My Edward.

I'd fancied Edward since elementary school, and we'd been best friends since we were six years old, but somehow it had never gone past that. Then Tanya came along, all blonde hair and flirty smiles, and he was smitten. Why wouldn't he be? Why would he choose me over Tanya? She was beautiful and I wasn't. The worst part was that she didn't even like him that much, she'd told me so herself. "He'll do for now," she'd said. All she wanted was someone to follow her around, to worship and adore her. Enter Edward. It was disgusting to watch, him falling over himself to do things for her, to get her to notice him, while she lapped up the attention, giving nothing in return.

At that moment Edward appeared, as if in response to hearing his name. He grabbed Tanya in a bear hug, but she just pushed him off angrily, and marched off towards the main school building without looking back. Edward stared after her, looking so hurt that I wanted to comfort him. But when I reached out and touched his arm he walked away too, hands shoves in his trouser pockets, head bent down. I sighed as I watched him go. It was going to be a long day. When they got like this, which they did just about every other day, I had to act as a go-between, relaying messages all day long. Sometimes I wondered why I was friends with Tanya, but I knew the answer. If you weren't her friend then you were her enemy, and no-one in their right mind wanted to be Tanya's enemy. She could make life very difficult for you if she chose to.

First lesson was Biology, my least favourite subject. I'm the first to admit I'm not exactly an academic, but I get by in most of my other classes. Science is just beyond me for some reason, though I try hard. The only reason I wasn't bottom of the class was because that position had always been occupied by Tanya. We sat together at the back of the classroom, and she was forever copying my work and asking me questions, and today was no exception. We were supposed to be annotating a diagram of a heart – I was doing okay, but Tanya had only managed to incorrectly label the aorta. "Guess what?" she whispered, leaning towards me conspirationally. "What?" I replied, my eyes on Miss Wilde, our biology teacher, who had the hearing of a bat and the short temper of a forty year old lonely spinster. I expected her to tell me some new titbit of gossip; she somehow knew who was dating who, or who had broken up with whom, or which teacher was getting the sack before anyone else. "I'm pregnant." My heart all but stopped beating, my throat was suddenly so dry and tight I could hardly speak. "Who's the father?" I asked hoarsely, though I already knew the answer. Edward. My Edward. "Does he know yet?" She snorted, as though I'd said something funny. "No, not yet."

Edward looked around, as though sensing he was being talked about. He tried to catch Tanya's eye, no doubt to apologise for earlier on, even though she was the one in the wrong. She ignored him completely though and he eventually gave up, staring miserably at his textbook.

"Are you keeping it?" I asked once he'd turned around. She shrugged casually. "Dunno, I might." As if she was simply deciding whether to keep a dress or return it to the shop. I wondered how long she'd known. Not long, I'm sure she wouldn't have been able to resist telling me, rubbing my face in the idea of her, Edward and the baby. One little happy family.

"Miss Swan, Miss Denali. Perhaps you'd like to finish your little conversation, and your work, out in the hall." Old bat ears had spotted us. Tanya was used to getting into trouble, and picked up her things with an expression of mild annoyance on her face. I on the other hand wasn't, and could feel my face getting hot as I picked up my things and walked out of the classroom.

Outside in the corridor Tanya was ignoring me, perhaps because I hadn't responded to her news in the way she'd wanted me to. It was easier that way, at least I could finish my work without her distracting me. Sitting where the sunlight coming through the corridor door would warm me I settled down with me work. Behind closed classroom doors I could hear the distant bubbling noise of lessons being taught, the voice of the teachers distinct from the mass of pupils. A white-haired lab technician walked past pushing a trolley full of glass bottles with foreign sounding names, her heels clicking dully on the plastic floor. Tanya was leaning against the wall, arms crossed in front of her, watching me work. Every now and then she'd sigh loudly in an attempt to get my attention. Finally she picked up her bag and, walking outside into the courtyard, turned and asked "well, are you coming?" It was easier not to argue, especially when she was in a mood, so I trailed behind as she walked the short distance to the smoker's shed.

It wasn't really a shed, rather an old classroom that stood on its own on the far side of the courtyard directly opposite the science block, where teachers stored gym equipment and where smokers came between classes. Standing behind the brown-painted building I could see the grey hall where we'd been sitting, but I was completely concealed from view. This was of course an advantage to those wishing to evade being seen by teachers. Next to me Tanya lit a cigarette, inhaling the smoke deeply, not bothering to offer me one. For a split second I considered reminding her of the risks of smoking while pregnant, but knew it would be wasted on her and so I kept my mouth shut, instead watching a boy from our year walking across the courtyard. Leanne was obviously watching him too, as she stepped out from behind the building and called out. "Hey Jake, why don't you come behind here and I'll show you a good time." She laughed loudly and coarsely, the sound filling the silent courtyard, but Jake ignored her, his pace never slackening, not even glancing in her direction, disappearing instead into the science block.

"Wanker," Tanya called after him, annoyed at being ignored, though it didn't surprise me. Jake was a certified weirdo by all accounts. He had no friends, but that didn't seem to bother him. He walked around school with an air of superiority, as though he knew something the rest of us didn't. That attitude had got him a fair few beatings in his time, though no-one felt sorry enough for him to care. The worst part though was when he stared at you; it was as though he was reading your mind, as though he could see right through your skin and into your inner workings. Just thinking about it made me shiver despite the warm weather, and the knot in my stomach, temporarily forgotten, grew tighter still.

"For God's sake Tanya, you're pregnant remember," I said, amazed at her brazen behaviour. "For fucks sake, you're such a prude," she replied, throwing the rest of her cigarette on the ground, which was already littered with years' worth of cigarette ends and other miscellaneous rubbish. She was lying in the sun, eyes closed, her tanned limbs draped across the grass, looking every bit a model. It was unfair that one person could be so beautiful, so perfect. Trying to ignore her I turned instead to the old classroom, and for the first time I realised the door was slightly open, the keys still in the lock. The last teacher to use it must have forgotten to lock it. Inside was dark; even though there were large windows on each wall they were so dirty that barely any light came in. As I walked my footsteps caused clouds of dust to rise from the floor, the particles glinting like flakes of gold in the narrow shafts of sunlight. Stacked against one wall were piles of old plastic chairs, broken and with legs missing. The musty smell brought back memories of helping empty my Nan's house after she died.

Somewhere inside the school I heard a bang. It could have been anything, but somehow I knew it was a gunshot and the thought made me freeze, with anticipation rather than fear. For one beautiful moment there was silence, as though the whole world was holding its breath, and I wondered if perhaps I'd imagined it all. Tanya was still lying on the grass, unmoved by the noise. But then there were more shots, each one growing louder, and now there was another noise. It was screaming.

Using the sleeve of my top I wiped a gap in the dirt on the window big enough to see through. At first I could see nothing, just the empty courtyard, but suddenly the doors of the science block flew open and through them flooded teachers and pupils, all running and all screaming. A girl fell in the stampede and her body was trampled by those behind. Once they reached the courtyard the crowd scattered, some running left towards the main school building, others running right towards the gym and sports hall. And then through the doors came Jake, though he wasn't running like everyone else, walking just as we'd seen him a few moments earlier, calm and purposeful, only this time he had a gun in his hand. It was as if I were simply watching a film playing out in front of me. Even though the people were my friends and teachers I felt completely detached from what was happening, as if it were a bad dream from which I would wake at any moment.

As I watched Jake shot at a red-haired girl I recognised from my French class. The bullet hit her in the leg and she stumbled forward but somehow kept running. He didn't shoot at her again, instead turning on Mr Turner, a history teacher, hitting him in the chest, his body arcing forward before hitting the ground where it lay motionless. Jake was walking across the courtyard as he fired, his next bullet hitting a young boy in the head, his brain ejected through the exit wound, splattering on the ground next to where he fell. It took me a moment to realise he was coming towards the classroom, towards us. And then I realised he knew we were there, he'd seen us, and the only way out was through the courtyard, past him.

All at once I knew what to do; throwing myself across the room I grabbed the keys from the door, slammed it closed, locking it from the inside. The sudden movement had startled Tanya out of her trance; she'd been watching the events unfold with eyes and mouth open in shock, but now she was banging on the other side of the door, screaming at me to open it. She'd realised Jake's intentions too. But he didn't know I was here, he'd only seen Tanya. It was her he wanted not me.

I watched Jake getting closer with every step, the courtyard silent now except for Tanya's hysterical crying outside. To block out the noise, and the noise I knew would come, I thought about how I would tell Edward the news. Her best friend and her boyfriend, we would comfort each other through our grief. And he'd never have to know about the baby, it would only hurt him more. We would be able to start again, just me and him, the way it should have been, the way it was before she showed up. It was as if everything was falling into place, like the pieces of a well-laid plan. Except this wasn't a plan, this was fate. Proof that Edward and I were meant to be together.

Jake was so close that I could have touched him had there not been a wall between us. He looked so at ease, and there was a trace of a smile on his face, something I'd never seen before. For the first time since I'd known him Jake actually looked happy. Tanya was still crying, pleading with Jake, her usually confident voice almost unrecognisable. He ignored her pleas and raised the gun, aiming for her chest. At the same time I saw someone running towards him from the courtyard, arms outstretched to tackle him to the ground. But Jake had seen them too and turned as if in slow motion to point the gun in their direction instead. Sunlight glinted off the silver metal as he squeezed the trigger and fired a single bullet through Edward's heart.

'BANG.'