When I woke up that morning, there was a little bit of a bounce in my step. I was happy and confident. I had a biology unit test today and I was sure I was going to ace it. I studied hard for it.
Getting dressed, I put on a cute floral tank with a light blue denim shrug jacket. I threw on some skinny jeans with a faded wash on them and white cork sandals. I put on a couple bracelets, one saying Austin Moon on it. The others just being homemade yarn and thread bracelets Trish and I made. The four of us – Trish, Dez, Austin and I – all had matching bracelets. I grabbed my backpack and headed downstairs after pulling my hair into a stylishly messy ponytail.
I took my wallet from the coffee table and checked it to my sure all of my ID was in there, as well as the $130.00 my mom sent me for my birthday. I missed her because she was in Africa, but we Skyped 3 times a week.
On my way out the door, I waved to my dad who had just woken up was trudging sleepily around in his house coat, trying to make coffee. Once I got in my car, I texted Austin.
Hey, I wrote. About to pick up Trish. Want anything from Starbucks?
He replied almost immediately.
Sure! Get me whatever it was that Trish drinks. It's pretty good.
I smiled. Trish was great at picking coffee.
Sure :)
On my way to pick up Trish I listened to the radio.
"...suspect wearing a dark leather jacket and blacked ripped jeans," the radio host announced. "Caucasian, about 5 foot 9. Armed." Oh man.
I shivered and changed the station. I didn't want to listen to that. The first thing I hear is Double Take by Austin. It was pretty cool having a superstar best friend. Not to mention the fact that the song was written by me. All of them are. I sing along.
Once I pull up to Trish's, she comes barrelling out of her house, running towards my car. "Trish?" I ask, worried. "Are you okay?"
"Need. Coffee," she replies. "Drive."
I laugh at her and start driving towards Starbucks.
We pull in and Trish orders 3 caramel macchiatos, while I order a strawberries and crème frap.
"There's not even coffee in there," Trish says disapprovingly.
"No," I agree. "But there's strawberries and that's good enough for me." She scoffs and laughs.
Once we're at school and we meet up with Austin and Dez, I hand them their coffee, each of them sighing in relief.
"Thanks, Ally," Austin kisses my cheek in a casual, friendly way. "You're a life saver."
I laugh. "No problem."
"Let's go to biology," Trish groans. Dez and Austin sigh, too, because of the test.
"Okay," I exclaim happily. We all make our ways to class. Luckily for us, our teacher doesn't mind if we have drinks in class. In fact, sometimes she asks her students to pick her up a coffee at lunch. She's a pretty cool teacher.
We all sit in our seats, each separated for the test. After the bell rings, the anthem is heard, the Pledge of Allegiance is said and the announcements are spoken, she hands out the tests. It's a small booklet, each paged numbered. 4 pages back and front. Oh wow. I sharpen my pencil and get to work, periodically sipping my drink...
I look around the room about 25 minutes later and you can practically hear the sounds of everyone's brain being strained and see the little beads of sweat forming on their nervous faces.
Luckily, I only have 1 page to go since the test so far has been a breeze.
Mullosks, I answer in my head. Fungi, arthropods, protists, bacteria...
And suddenly, boom.
The class collectively screams and ducks under our desks immediately.
A gun shot. No one knows where it came from but we heard one.
We all start to panic. The teacher closes and locks the door quickly and quietly and covers the window in it. She then runs and ducks beneath the classroom windows, carefully pulling the curtains closed. "Back against the walls," she frantically instructs, whispering. "Go." No one objects. All 30 kids – give or take a few that might be absent – pile up against the walls and start texting. "Text your parents," the teacher whispers so lowly I can't even be sure she said it. "Tell them there's been a gun shot. Don't tell them what room you are in."
"Why not," I hear a student whisper back.
"Criminals can use the internet, too, Chloe," she replies.
Suddenly there's an announcement over the P.A. system. "Students of South Beach High, this is a level 1 lockdown drill. I repeat, level 1 lockdown. There is an armed man in the school, please take all precautions to ensure your safety and do not for any reason open the-"
Boom.
It takes absolutely everything in my power not to scream at the sound of my vice principal getting shot over the speaker. Luckily, Austin covered my mouth as well as his own. Dez covered Trish. Girls in my class had started to sob and the guys started freaking out. A girl with asthma a couple feet away started hyperventilating. I quietly crawled over to her and started rubbing her back. She looked at me for a moment and looked away, continuing. I looked in her bag to see if she had a puffer. Luckily, she did. I gave it to her and she quickly used it, immediately calming her breathing. I smiled a small smile and crawled back over in between Trish and Austin and took out my phone.
I made sure the ring tone was off and the sounds were down all the way before texting my dad.
Dad, I wrote, my hands trembling. There's been a shooting in my school.
What!? I'm on my way, he sends back.
No. No, Dad, whatever you do, DON'T come in, stay away until the police show up to stabilize the situation. Please. I love you.
It takes him a moment, but eventually he responds. Ok, let me know when you hear them outside. I love you, I'll contact Austin, Trish, and Dez's parents.
I breathe a sigh of relief and show the text to each of my friends, each of them nodding. A tear rolled down Trish's cheeks.
Suddenly it was really silent. Even the kids in my class who were already quiet seemed to get quieter. I held my breath. Austin took my hand. I took Trish's, she took Dez's. We just sat there waiting.
"AHH," we heard a woman shout from outside. Boom. My chest tightened and tears started pouring out of my eyes endlessly. I put my head in my knees, trying not to sob loudly. Others were doing the same.
Then the door knob jiggled and thrashed. "Jesus," Austin whispered, startled. I squeeze his hand and hold my mouth shut.
"Dammit, stupid kids," we hear the man yell. He shoots the door knob. Not once, not twice, but 5 times before it flings open, everyone in the room absolutely paralyzed in fear. "Really," he asks. "You thought I wouldn't know you were in here? Stupid kids, it's a school. There are kids everywhere. You can't pretend to be coincidentally gone on a day that I'm here. I'm not dealing with this."
"What do you want?" a guy names Henry demands.
The man looks over at Henry and smirks. "Nothing. Nothing at all. I shot up the place because my favourite grocery store ran out of cookies..." he scoffs. I can't say a thing. I can't even move. "Kids irritate me. Am I right?" he asks the teacher.
She doesn't answer. He points the gun at her. "Don't," I interject, somehow finding the courage.
"Ally," Austin exclaims.
The man looks over at me. "Ally, eh?" he contemplates. "Well, Ally, say goodbye."
I gulp. He points the gun at me and before I could move he shoots me, square in the shoulder. I scream in agony, Austin pushing me down to the ground gently. Trish screams, too. Just then, 4 police officers bust in the room, pushing the man to the ground.
One runs over to me and looks me over. He speaks in to a mic. "We need medical attention in room 201, I repeat, medical attention in 201."
"What's the situation?" a man replies through the mic.
"Teenage girl shot in shoulder..." he says more, but I black out before I can hear it...
...
You never really notice how dark everything is with your eyes closed until you try – and fail to open them. I constantly am hearing beeping and machines whirring and people talking. I feel medication injections and the scraping of clipboards against a metal bed and I feel tears hitting my hands.
"Ally," a voice like honey says to me. "I'm sorry I couldn't save you from being shot. I wish you wouldn't have done that... I hope you can hear me."
Then later...
"Ally, please wake up."
And...
"Will she be okay?"
Another voice answers. "She's breathing on her own but her body's in shock."
"How are the others who were shot?"
"...gone."
I feel a grip tighten around me hand.
Then finally...
I wake up. I open my eyes and am immediately blinded by the white lights of the hospital room. I look around once my vision settles to see my friends, each of them sleeping, and my dad, reading a newspaper.
I find the strength to whisper, "Daddy?"
He jumps and looks at me, his expression immediately turning in to one of sorrow. "Ally, baby."
"What happened?"
...
Eventually I'm released from the hospital. The man was caught and incarcerated. I finished my biology test! 102%! Hehe, bonus question. Trish just rolled her eyes at me. Austin scoffed. Dez high-fived me.
My dad was a little more protective of me.
The girl in my class with the asthma visited me a couple of times to see if I was okay. My teacher cried when I got back.
My class just stared at me.
I wasn't a hero. I wasn't even brave. I just didn't want my teacher to get hurt. I didn't want this attention. But I got it anyway.
I was visited by one of the officers that was there that day. He came in my house accompanied by my dad.
He sat down, looked me in the eye, and said, "thank you."