Hey everyone.
Here is Chapter 6
I'm back! Yay. I just started school and it is good so far except that my schedule is a little messed up and I have to change some things. I still can't believe that I am a junior in high school already. One more year until I am off to college. WOW! Time sure does fly.
I hope you guys had a great summer and are having a good time with school.
Enjoy.
Chapter 6: Cause and Effect
Brooke's P.O.V
My hands were shaking uncontrollably and my heart was going a mile a minute. I couldn't believe that this was actually baby girl and my best friend were stuck inside a building with crazy kids trying to kill everyone. The day that Jimmy Edwards enterred the day that Jimmy Edwards enterred the school with the loaded gun popped back into my head. It had all happened so fast...
(flashback)
I enterred the school grounds and immediately began to look for Peyton. I was happy that everything was starting to die down a little after the time capsule tapes were released. It seemed like there was only one tape that everyone was interested in now. Jimmy's.
The Quad was packed with other students catching up with their friends and begging teachers for extensions on their papers and homework. Across the Quad I noticed a vertain sandly blonde leaning against a pillar with her usual leather jacket. I smiled. Only Peyton Sawyer could make a day as beautiful as this seem so dull and dreary.
"Peyton!" I called cupping my hands over my mouth in hopes that she would actually hear me, and she did.
Peyton looked up and eventually saw where I was waiving her down. She gave a small smirk and began to walk towards me.
"Well Well someone's cheery today." stated Peyton in her usual tone.
"Yes I am." I said with a smile," I'm just glad that most of this has blown over and no one is talking about my...you know."
"Way to be discreet Brooke Davis." said Peyton with a pat on the shoulder.
Peyton was such a sarcastic ass sometimes but I loved her. Despite everything that had gone on she was still my best friend. I loved her like a sister and we practically were just that. From the time of kindergarten we were inseperable. I couldn't imagine not knowing P. Sawyer. I was one of the few people who could see past Peyton's loner, I hate the world image that Peyton worked hard to keep. She was a great person at heart but she had been hurt a lot, way too many times. The only way she knew of protecting herself from any more of that hurt was just shutting herself out.
Me and Peyton walked into the school side by side. As we turned the corner to go to our lockers I notice something from the corner of my eye, Jamie Edwards was pointing a gun in our direction. We stopped directly in front of the door and as soon as I realized what was truly going on I grabbed Peyton's hand. She could see him too. It was as if time just stopped. We were terrified and I don't know how but we managed to duck in the last second.
POP!
The glass from the door in front of us shattered and fell all around us. Then there were screams and people running everywhere. I scrambled to sit up and cover my head in hopes that I didn't get trampled on. Then out of nowhere someone picked me up and I began to run too.
When I got outside people were everywhere. Students were running and screaming and the teachers were trying to get us all away from the building. That's when I noticed that Peyton was gone. I looked around frantically.
"Peyton!" I yelled still looking around.
I couldn't see her but I wasn't about to stop looking. Suddenly I saw a school bus pull up to a school and Whitey steps out and looks around at all the craziness. Then Lucas gets off with Nathan right behind him. Lucas saw me and ran over. At that point I was trying not to panic and ran to him. When I got to him I grabbed his arms.
"Somebody has a gun inside and they're shooting!" I said desperately pointing back on the verge of tears.
Nathan must have heard me and panicked. He ran towards the school yelling Haley's name.
"My god! Everybody back on the bus!" Whitey yelled.
"I lost Peyton. I don't know where she is. I mean, she was right there and a shot went off and now she's gone and I" I said desperately looking back at the school.
Lucas forced me to look back at me.
"Look, wh-a-hey-hey, Peyton was shot?" Lucas asked.
"No, I don't know! She was right behind me; we were by the library!" I tried to explain.
"Haley's in the tutor center." said Nathan shocked.
"All Students on the bus! CODE RED, NOW!" yelled Whitey.
Nathan shaked his head.
"LET'S MOVE! Come on." Whitey continued to yell.
Nathan turned away and looks back at the high school. So much was going through my head at that moment.
"Nathan, get your ass on that bus!" yelled Whitey.
Nathan didn't answer. He turned back and ran towards the school. Lucas quickly let go of me and ran towards Nathan.
"I got him Coach!" he yelled to Whitey.
Lucas yelled at Nate and tackled him to the ground but Nathan pushed him away and starred at him angrily.
"Haley's in there!" he yelled before turning and running into the building.
Lucas ran after him. I tried to run after him but Whitey grabbed me and forced me to get on the bus and the driver to drive away.
End Flashback...
That day changed mine as well as many other lives in Tree Hill. I wasn't in school for the whole shooting but waiting in that place not knowing if Peyton as well as the rest of my friends were alive or dead tore me apart. I had felt so guilty for leaving Peyton that day. I knew that she had died I would have never ever forgiven myself. Deep down I knew that I had no control over what happened but after talking to that reporter I kind of felt like I could have.
Jimmy wasn't a killer, he didn't even kill anyone that day. He only took his own life but nearly took Peyton's. He was just scared and angry. He only wanted people to like him. He was one of the many people that got picked on day in and day out. He felt like he had no place in the world so the only way to make everything better was to kill the people that made him feel like he was a no one and the sad thing was that that day could have been prevented.
Teenagers were ruthless. There was no reason why we did what we did really. Basically we just went along with everyone else and certain people just didn't fit in. On the other hand though they never really tried to. They didn't fight back even though sometimes that was harder said then done. Basically when it came down to it we were all wrong. We never should have picked on Jimmy because he was different but he never should have brought a gun to school and shot up the place.
Peyton and I were driving to the high school and my heart was literally in my throat. All I could think about was the fact that my little girl and my best friend were stuck in a school with a bunch of kids with guns. I knew that Sam was smart but I was scared. She was my little girl. Sam wouldn't leave the school without Haley and I knew that Haley wouldn't leave without Sam.
I didn't understand how in only two and a half hours my whole life could be turned practically upside down. It wasn't supposed to be like this. The world wasn't supposed to be this way. Parents weren't supposed to watch their children die, Children weren't supposed to be killing each other, and we all weren't supposed to wake up each morning fearing that this day could be the last. I didn't understand when everything had gone so horribly wrong. Today our kids were driven by violent video games, hatred, anorexic models telling girls that they need to be just like them when they aren't even happy with themselves, depression, drugs, corruption, abuse, bad role models or even no role models at all. It just wasn't right.
"It's going to be okay Brooke. Sam and Haley will be fine. You know that Haley won't let anything happen to Sam. She's probably with her right now outside waiting for you to go and get her." Peyton said trying to calm Brooke.
"I hope so." I said not looking back at her.
I truly didn't feel like anything was going to be okay. I know that I was supposed to keep up hope but it was kind of hard when hope didn't stop bullets. I just had this feeling in the pit of my stomach that today was going to end horribly. I didn't know why but I just knew that after today no one was ever going to be the same.
(Haley's P.O.V)
Terry was losing a lot of blood and was drifting in and out of consciousness. I knew that we had a short window of opportunity. Even if the nurse wasn't there the window in the nurse's office was right in front of the main entrance so we could get her and Stephanie to the paramedics. Once I did that I could go and find Sam. I wasn't sure if she had made it out or not but there was no way that I was taking that chance. Brooke would never forgive me if Sam got hurt and I definitely wouldn't forgive myself.
I wasn't going to hide it I was scared to death. The thought of not being there to see Jamie grow up tore me apart. I loved him so much. He had been through a lot in his young life and I didn't want to have to go through that. I knew that Nathan would be okay raising Jamie but it wouldn't be the same. Me and Nathan were supposed to grow old together and maybe have more kids and see our kids have kids. I couldn't imagine not having that.
"Mrs. Scott." said Terry.
She was super pale and sweating. She looked so close to death that it scared me. Her body shook with every breath she took which I could see was getting harder and harder. She was fighting so hard but she was tired. I could see how worried the kids in the class were. I didn't blame them. Losing someone that you knew was life changing and heart braking. Even if you didn't really know the person just the fact that you used to see them everyday made going on that much harder because it was as if a part of your life was missing.
I knew that from experience.
"You need to keep your strength honey." I said stroking her hair.
"I know that I'm not...going to ...make it...Can you tell...my mom...that I...love her. And I'm...sorry." said Terry on the verge of tears.
She was giving up and on some level I felt responsible. Everyone always said a teacher's job was to teach but I always looked at is as more of that. Sure we teachers were there to get students through knowledge that they could use to make something of themselves but we also guided them. We prepared them for the tough rode ahead though at that age they didn't believe that it was hard. It was our job to get them to see the truth and then ready them.
We gave the courage to finish school and go out into the world with as little fear as possible because the truth was that the future held uncertainties that would scare the hell out of anyone. The real world was going to be ruthless and cruel. There would be hate, loss, people trying to tear them down, and probably many occasions where they thought they just couldn't achieve a certain goal but our job was to give them the strength to do so. We made them strong and showed them that though it was hard they could get through any obstacle that stepped in their way if they just fought hard enough.
Terry didn't want to fight anymore.
"No Terry. I won't tell your mom anything because you will do that. You are not going to die today or any time soon for that matter." I treied to convince her, "I will not let you die. I am going to get you out of here and then you will be okay. I promise you that you will be okay."
Terry swallowed back more tears and I felt mine begin to fall lightly down my cheeks. I was not going to let Terry die on my watch. She was going to get out of the school and to a hospital. There was no way that I was going to fail her. I just couldn't. She had a whole life ahead of her and this was just a large steppingstone on the path that led to it. She would be okay. I had to tell myself that and I had to drill it in her. I would not let her give up.
I knew that we had to move now. Any time that I stalled was precious seconds stripped from the hope Terry would be okay. I took off my sweater and tried my best to tie it around her waist tight enough so that it would stay in place long enough for us to make it to the nurses office. Terry winced in pain as I began to tighten it but I knew that I had to do it. When I was done I looked at all the faces of my students. They were scared, that was obious to anyone, and I knew that I had say something to them or I would regret it later.
"Who remember's what I said on the first day of school?" I asked patiently.
Ava raised her hand slightly but quickly put it back down. She was one of the shyest kids that I had to teach. She always seemed to second guess herself though I told her many times not to do so. She was smart and had a great deal of potential. All she needed was believe that she could actually do it. She never told me why she felt so badly of herself but truthfully I never asked. I knew that if she wanted me to know then she would come to me and tell me.
"Go ahead Ava. It's okay." I reassured her.
"You told us about the quote by W. C. Doane: "Life has no smooth road for any of us; and in the bracing atmosphere of a high aim the very roughness stimulates the climber to steadier steps, till the legend, over steep ways to the stars, fulfills itself."" said Ava.
"Exactly so this is just one more step up the cliff and you are all going to be okay. No matter what happens today you have to remember that you are going to be okay. Through all the grief that is bound to follow this day you have to believe that you were supposed to survive. Don't ask yourself why you survived while so many others didn't because there is no point in that. Doing that will only make you degrate yourself. You are all such amazing people and I want you to know that I am proud to be your teacher." I told them.
The next part was going to be hard. We were going to have to go out into that hallway and I knew that these kids were going to have to make a run for it. They needed to get out of the building now or they were never going to. This wasn't a time for questions or tears. They had to get out of this school now. It was the only way that I could feel they were okay. It wasn't long before the shooters started breaking into classrooms. I wouldn't be able to live with myself if one of those classes was this one.
"Okay now I need you all to listen for one second. You have to run. You need to get out of the school and the only way to do that is out the windows so I want you all to go as soon as I close this door." I told them," Do you understand me?"
They all shook there heads. I took one last second to look at all their faces before standing up. Brian helped Stephanie up and I did the same with Terry putting her arm over my shoulder so I could try and support her whole body. I knew that she wouldn't be able to walk and I wouldn't risk her getting hurt any further if she could. We slowly moved closer to the door and reality slowly began to set in. We were going out into the hallway unaware of what could possibly happen to us. Well we knew that there was a possibility that we could be caught but we had to do it.
I took a deep breath and began to turn the door knob.
"Wait!" I heard a voice behind me say before I could start to open the door.
I turned around and saw that it was Ava.
"I am coming too." she said.
For that brief second I could see something in her eyes that I had never seen before, strength. She always cowered away from other people. She didn't really have friend either but right in that instant she became a completely different person and I was amazed and proud. She wanted to help and even though I really didn't want her to I knew that she wouldn't let me discourage her. So I simply agreed.
"Okay." I agreed quickly, "But we have to go now."
Ava got up and went to the the other side of Terry and put her other arm over her shoulder. She looked at me and shook her head slightly and I knew that she was ready to go. In that moment I said a little prayer asking, well actually begging, for god to keep me safe.
It's kind of funny how in the moments that could be your last almost everyone turned to god. There was something about the possibility of death that shook people to the core. Those who never went to a church a day in their life fell on their hands and knees in prayer. They begged god to let them live longer. They pleaded over and over again and that was what I was doing now. I didn't want to die and I didn't think I deserved to die but that wasn't really up to me.
If it came down to the wire and by some chance I had to choose between saving my students life or my life the choice would be easy, them. Though I didn't want to die Ava, Stephanie, Terry, and Brian were still young. They had not experienced anything in life yet. I, on the other hand, had a family and had somewhat experienced what the real world was like.
I turned the doorknob and took a deep breath as I slowly began to open the door. I stopped after the door was cracked a little, and listened. I had to make sure that none of the shooters were anywhere near the class. I didn't want to draw any attention that could possibly result in the shooters coming our way. I listened for a little while but there was nothing, absolutely nothing. In a school, especially a high school, that was unheard of. For some teachers this would be a dream come true, the quiet, but not under these circumstances. It wasn't supposed to be this way.
I finally opened the door all the way and took my first step into the hallway. The stench of blood filled and I suddenly felt sick to my stomach. I had never been one for blood. When I was little and me, Taylor, and Quinn would play outside I used to always fall down because I was such a klutz. Whenever I saw blood I would get sick or cry, sometimes both, and Taylor would always make fun of me because I was so sensitive.
"It's dead." said Brian which made us all turn our heads.
"Don't say dead," said Stephanie angrily.
I knew that Brian didn't mean to be so blunt but he never thought about things before they came out of his mouth. He was a smart kid but he was just so caught up with being cool and keeping up his tough guy image fro his friends. He kind of reminded me of Nathan in that sense. When we had first started dating it was like he was ashamed of showing everyone that he actually had a heart.
Suddenly a noise snapped me out of my thought. I stopped for a second as did the others. After a few seconds the noise returned. It was gunshots and they were very close. I looked around quickly trying to find anywhere to hide and that's when I noticed how close we were to the nurse's office.I was going to have to make a hasty decision. We couldn't go back because there was no time and even if there was time Terry and Stephanie needed to get straight to the paramedics. The only way I knew they would be okay was if we made it to the nurse's office. The shots were fired again and I heard a small sob from Stephanie.
"Oh my god their going to get us." Stephanie cried.
"We have to go back!" Brian exclaimed.
"No, there is no time to go back now okay. The Nurse's office is right there." I said pointing to the Nurse's office, "You guys are going to have to run to it okay. I want you to run as fast as you can."
By the look on their faces I knew that they must have thought I was insane. They were starting to realize that I wasn't going to be going with them. I couldn't. For one I had to distract the shooter that was heading our way. If I didn't then we were going to get caught and odds are we were going to die. Plus I still had to search for Sam. I knew that she had study hall first period in the auditorium and the first shots, according to Stephanie, occurred right next door. Sam was a smart kid and I knew that she was probably somewhere where she thought was the safest place possible, with Addison of course. The only place that I could think of was the library.
"Mrs. Scott you have to come with us." pleaded Ava.
"I can't Ava. I have things that I need to do. Don't worry about me though. You just need to get out of here and get to your families." I said.
"I'll go with you." suggested Brian
"No. Brian if you want to actually do something important then you have to get the girls to safety. Can you please just do that?" I asked him
"Okay." he said.
Suddenly the shots were fired again and this time we all ducked. The shooter was right around the corner. I waived for the kids to go and they starred at me for a second but then complied. I watched as they took off for the nurse's office and I was relieved that they were going to be okay. Now was the hard part.
(Sam's P.O.V)
The bell rang for fourth period. I couldn't believe that in two hours my life was completely changed. The thought that someone I knew would be lying dead just outside the door shook me to the core. I had lost a lot of people in my life and I didn't want to lose anyone else but I knew that that was totally out of my control. In life there were just things that were out of my control like this. A part of me didn't want to leave the library. I didn't want to know who died. I didn't want to see the shooters. All I wanted was for this day to just start over. I knew that if I had another chance I could stop this all from happening. Well that's what I thought.
"What are you thinking about?" asked Addy.
I didn't say anything. It was like I was back to a year ago. I pretended that I was somewhere else. I wanted to be anywhere except in the school. My therapist had said that I suffered from anxiety attacks. It had gotten better and lately I had begun to think that I was getting back to normal but at that moment I didn't think my life would ever go back to normal. I wasn't that lucky. The shooting was bringing back the same feelings that I had had felt back then. Helpless, alone, weak. That was exactly how I was feeling now.
"What's wrong with her?" asked Ethan.
Ethan didn't know about what had happened to me last year. All basically anyone really knew was that I had gone through something bad and scary. When I had gotten back to school everyone starred at me. They treated me like I was like a little fragile baby. They would make sure that they never talked about anything that might upset me. Addy was the only exception. I told her everything and not once did she judge me. I just wanted anyone to tell me that I wasn't crazy. I felt like everyone was against me. No one ever really believed me about the bullying, except for a small few. I felt like no one cared about what happened to me.
"She's having a panic attack." explained Addy, "I need to try and calm her down."
I had my hands over my ears and my eyes were closed shut. I pictured mom in my head. She was the only person that I wanted to see. I couldn't believe that I was putting her through this again. By now this was all over the news and every parent lined the outside of the school, waiting. Mom was probably amongst them with Aunt Peyton, Uncle Nate, and Uncle Lucas which I thought was a good idea because she needed them. I knew that she was probably really scared and I blamed myself. Tomorrow was supposed to be my birthday and now I didn't even know if I was going to make it to then.
I had gotten medicine last year for my anxiety and was taken off at the beginning of the school year. My therapist had taught me little tricks to help me if I ever had another attack. One of the tricks was to breath evenly and tell myself that I was okay and I needed to get back to reality. I felt someone's arms around me and I flinched. I knew it was Addison but for some reason I was scared.
"Breath Sam." pleaded Addy," Your okay remember. Your in school with me and Ethan. You have to come back to us. Sam, we need you right now. I need you."
"I'm okay, I'm okay." I repeated over and over as I felt my body sway back and forth.
Addy tightened her grip on me. The horrible feeling in my stomach was getting worse and I gritted my teeth hard. I tried to think of Mom. I loved her so much and all I wanted at that moment was to be in the safety of her arms. I knew that I was the luckiest person in the world. Other teenage moms would have abandoned their children or would have sent their kid to a mental institution if they endured what I had a year ago. Mom didn't. She had stuck with me through it all.
Mom protected me and I was grateful although sometimes I wished she would take more care of herself. I wanted her to get back out in the world. Dad had broken her heart but that didn't mean that there wasn't someone out there who could help her heal it. She always talked about wanting another kid and I was all for the idea. She deserved to be happy and for some reason I just felt that she wasn't.
The though of mom calmed me down a little. I opened my eyes and slowly took my hands away from my ears.
"You okay?" asked Addy worried.
"Not really." I said honestly.
I was tired. When I had first returned to school the previous year this had happened a lot. Whenever I felt an attack coming on I would go to the bathroom and just sit there hiding from everyone. I still had had the feelings of wanting to end my life though I tried my best to hide it from everyone. I hated going to the psychologist once a week and I knew that if mom found out she would make me go more or worse. Back then I still hadn't trusted her. It was like the only reason that she even believed me now was that I tried to kill myself. I didn't even ponder the possibility that she just did it because she loved me and saw that I was hurting myself.
"It was true wasn't it?" asked Ethan, "You tried to kill yourself."
"Yes." I said not even wanting to know where he had heard that from.
"Why did you do it?" he asked.
"The bullying. It had gotten to the point where I was completely alone. No one believed what was going on, not even my mom. Well that's not exactly true because Addy did believe me. I was just stupid and shut myself off completely. At the time I truly believed that suicide was my only option. I was wrong." I explained not trying to get into that much detail because I wanted to put that behind me already.
It got quiet after that and Addy let me go once she realized that I was truly okay now. Suddenly I thought of something. I went into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone. I needed to call mom.
"What are you doing?" asked Addy.
"I have to call my mom. I just realized that odds are the cops are out there blind. I need to tell her what's going on so she can tell the police." I told them.
I dialed moms number and waited. After barely two rings mom picked up her phone.
"SAM!" Mom said right away.
I could tell by her voice that she had been crying and I understood why. She was just as scared as I was. People had told me that a parents worst nightmare was losing their kids and this was the second time that mom was going through it. If I ever got out of the school I knew that I had to apologize for everything and make up for it somehow.
"Mom." I said near tears myself but I held them back because I needed to tell her what was going on.
"Sam where are you? Who are you with? Are you hurt?" Mom asked barely breathing between the questions.
I wanted to talk to mom forever but I had to move on to bigger, more important, things. She needed to know what was going on.
"Mom I'm fine. I am in the library with Ethan and Addy. Mom I have to tell you something and you have to tell the cops." I told her.
"What is it?"
"There are at least six shooters. They chained the door and have multiple guns. A lot of kids were shot. I think the best way in would be through the roof because they are spread out. A lot of kids are in the classrooms and I don't know if any have gotten out. I couldn't lock the library door. I didn't have a chance." I explained to her fast.
"Haley's class got out but she wasn't with them. I think she came to look for you. How could this happen?"
"The same way it did before but I am going to be okay. We all will. I'm scared though."
"Sam you just hang tight. The SWAT team is here and they are going to be coming for you. Just stay where you are and don't move."
Suddenly my heart was caught in my throat.
"Mom I love you." I said before I dropped the phone.
