Keep Hope Alive

Author's Notes: Thanks for all reviews! This chapter is mostly a filler, to set up a few plot lines. Chapter title credit- Lonely Day by Phantom Planet

Disclaimer: I obviously don't own anything that is One Tree Hill or its characters.

Chapter Three: Lonely Day

"Jim?" Lucas choked out. It wasn't him, it couldn't be. The kid had once been one of Lucas' good friends, he couldn't be the shooter.

"Go…go over there!" He yelled to the students who were standing against the wall. He was pointing in the direction of a group of desks, far away from the door.

Jimmy looked around, thinking about what to do for a moment, then went to the front of the room.

"Now Luke!" He yelled with a rush of anger in his voice. Lucas grabbed Haley by the arm, pulling her along with him to the desks. Jimmy was now pacing back and forth at the front of the classroom.

"What is wrong with you? What are you doing!" Rachel blurted out.

"Nobody leave's this room! Give me your phones!" Jimmy ordered, and the frightened students did as they were told.

"God, Jimmy. What have you done?" Mouth asked, speaking aloud but mostly just to himself.

"What do you think, Mouth! Something needed to be done." Jimmy continued carelessly pacing at the front of the classroom.

Lucas lightly stroked through Haley's hair, sensing her worry. "It's gonna be okay, Hales." He reassured her softly. He looked at the door hopefully.

"Dude…" Tim started, trying to think back to what they had called the boy. "Jimmy?"

Jimmy gave a sigh as he heard Tim address him. "What a surprise. You know my name? You didn't know it last year when you and your jock friends were kicking my ass in the quad." He stated, giving a sigh as he turned to Tim expectantly. He hated those kinds of guys, the guys who thought they were better than everyone else. And he hated Lucas, and partly Mouth, for becoming like them.

"Yo, man. We didn't mean to do that. So you could just let the Tim get outta this joint."

Lucas looked over at Tim, rolling his eyes frequently. Tim really could be an idiot sometimes, well, usually all of the time. And the way that Tim talked, Lucas could definitely rip his ears off.

"No. No one leaves. You can't. I can't let you." Jimmy trailed off.

"Why? Jim? If you just let us go, then everyone can be okay. You didn't shoot anyone." Mouth said, and looking at his old friend for confirmation. "Did you?" He asked worriedly. He could blindly see from the expression on Jim's face, he had shot someone.

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Nathan was still sitting on the floor of the office. The room was dark and completely silent, but his mind was blank. He couldn't think of anything. Not a single thing, except holding Haley in his arms.

He heard a small cry escape from Brooke's lips. "Brooke…are you okay?" He asked, only a second before realizing what an amazingly stupid question that was.

"Yeah. It's just…Lucas."

Nathan gave a nod, understanding. He felt the exact same way about Haley. "I'm sure he's okay. When we got off the bus, Whitey kept him back to talk to him. He probably never came inside." Nathan tried to reassure her.

Brooke, although she believed him, wasn't sure if he was inside or not. And she didn't have the slightest clue about her best friend or her roommate. She didn't know anything. Not how many people were in the school, hiding like herself, or how many people could be laying dead in the halls.

"They'll come for us, right? I mean, if they know that people are still inside, they will come and get us?" She asked for assurance.

"They will, Brooke." He said calmly, desperately hoping that what he was saying was true. "They will come in and find us, and Luke, Hales, Peyton, Mouth, and anyone else who could be inside."

He turned to her slightly, noticing that she seemed to be trembling, most likely from fear. But what kind of person wouldn't be about now?

"Brooke, we will be fine." He said as he rested her head on his shoulders and gently stroked her hair. She was becoming more palpitant by the minute.

They sat in the dark room, Brooke resting on Nathan, just waiting. But Nathan knew, if help didn't come soon, then he would have to brace whatever would come and go find Haley.

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Peyton sat on the bench, wandering what she should do. Brooke, Lucas, Haley, and Nathan were all gone. Not a single one of them was here. Did that mean they were all trapped in the school…or worse?

Her father was still no where to be seen, but that was to be expected. How would he know of the shooting, its not like he watched Tree Hill News, and he wasn't answering his phone.

She wanted to call Karen, but that would be to horrible. Karen was probably freaked out too much about Lucas right now.

She called her dad, leaving yet another message. She knew he would never ignore that kind of message. So it meant he was too busy to check his voicemail, or didn't have his phone.

She looked around, people we're starting to clear out. Parents we're holding onto their kids and leaving.

She really didn't want to bother Karen, but she couldn't stay there. Sitting there, looking around at everyone, she felt completely alone.

Yes, there were some times in Peyton Sawyer's life when she felt alone, but this was extremely worse. She felt like she had no one, like they were all taken from her.

Tears welled up in her eyes as she took out her cell and dialed Karen's number. She needed to be with someone, and she wanted to be at the school.

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Okay, well I know that was a filler chapter, and nothing to exciting happened, but I hope you still enjoyed it. Now please review, it really helps!