T.J. stood in front of the high school. The parking lot was empty, except for the trucks of the builders who were working to repair the damage inside the school.
Against the gate that separated the school from the main road were fourteen picket crosses. T.J. walked along the line of them, reading each name.
Gregory Lawson…He had just been accepted to college on a swimming scholarship…
Ashley Albuster…She died on the operating table after being shot in the chest…She had been the queen bee of the school…
Gordy Smith…the one kid who didn't like T.J. back in fourth grade…he still wasn't fond of T.J., but T.J. still couldn't help the pang of sadness that swelled up inside him.
Megan Polk…her and T.J. had gone to homecoming last year…
Nancy Ortega…she used to be known only as Swinger Girl. She actually did manage to swing over the bar at the end of sixth grade, and had then focused all her energy on becoming a pilot…
Theresa Golding…the former Cornchip Girl. She was only a freshman and still carried the innocence she did back at Third Street Elementary…
Colleen Murphy…she was another freshman, and T.J. knew that Vince was dating her sister, Amanda…
Chris Phillips…he was the captain of the football team. He had been dating Ashley A…T.J. barely talked to him, but he knew that Chris used to bully kids left and right. T.J. tried to ignore it, but watching Chris torment kids everyday made him hate the boy, but that didn't stop T.J.'s eyes from watering as he passed his cross…
Jenny Hyat…she used to be the quiet little girl who was too scared to venture out of the library. As she got older, she finally managed to step outside the library without being afraid or going wild as she had done seven years ago. Having read all those books at such an early age, she was exceptionally bright, and in fact, the only student in the class smarter than she was Gretchen. T.J. knew Gretchen was friends with Jenny; he wondered if she knew yet…
Frederick Gable…he was king of the playground right after King Bob left. T.J. didn't really know him, but he knew that he used to be president of the Audio/Visual club…
Ramshawl Gutav…back in elementary school he was the self-proclaimed Guru kid, spouting words of wisdom to all. In high school he still enjoyed doing just that, and was a writer for the school newspaper where he wrote an advice column…
Butch Jacobson…the school gossip. T.J. remembered all the wild stories he used to tell. He smiled as he remembered back to fourth grade when he warned him and his friends that one day they would actually like kissing girls. Him and Spinelli had went through that "experiment" to try to prove him wrong…
He walked over to the two crosses that adorned the photos of teachers.
He had had both of them.
The first one was Darlene Flax. She was his English teacher freshman year. She then taught the upper level classes and had been going to school to get her doctorate.
The second one was Sylvester Dudicus, aka, The Dude. Yes, the famous sub T.J. once had in fourth grade finally became a full-fledged teacher. He had been T.J.'s current Physics teacher, and under his watchful eye, T.J. managed B's in a class he was sure he would fail.
T.J. wiped his eyes and took out a bushel of roses he picked up at the market on his way over and laid one at every cross. He then walked over to his bike. He used to own a 1960's convertible he had purchased with his own money, but it was destroyed from the car bomb Francis had detonated in the parking lot right before he began shooting. He strapped on his helmet and pedaled away from the school.
…
Vince found himself dragging his feet around the town, not heading anywhere. It had been three days since the shooting. Tomorrow he would be attending his first of many funerals. This one would be for Ashley A. As a jock, and one of the most popular kids in the school, his friends knew the Ashley's very well. Even though him and the girls had been sworn enemies back in elementary school, he knew that he was expected to be friends with people like them, so he simply put all that behind him and plastered on a fake smile when he was with them, pretending to laugh at their cruel jokes about students who were "socially beneath them".
The next day he would attend Colleen's funeral. He had only spoken to Amanda once since the shooting, when she sobbed to him that her little sister was dead. Vince had done his best to comfort him, but Amanda had insisted he let her be and had resorted to closing herself off in her room.
Chris and Megan's funerals were the day after. Chris's would be in the morning, and Megan's the afternoon.
Those four funerals were the only ones he was expected to attend. They were the only ones who had been in his social circle, after all, and they were the only ones the rest of his friends were going to. Vince had a feeling he would somehow find his way to everyone's, though. He didn't understand why these social parameters were still being upheld, even after all that had happened. Everyone who died had been a member of the same school he went to. They were all people, and would all be missed. Why did it mater whether they were popular or not?
But of course, he couldn't say this, because if he did, he'd be out, and he didn't know if he could take that or not.
