p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;" /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Without thinking too much about it, he took his change and got to the other side, with the van still on a safe distance. He wanted to keep going on, straight to Kelso's. But in his eye corner he saw something happening he didn't expect. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Jerome did cross the street, too caught up in following the order he got. Yet the van was now a lot closer than first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It was strange, in reality it only took a few seconds maybe, but in his memory T.J saw it happen much slower. But he was also slower. Too slow and the van was too fast. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The sound of screeching tires as the chauffeur hit the brakes mixed with a long and awfully loud honking noise, but none of it mattered. Jerome didn't even have time to look around and see it coming. Was he even aware? What was his last thought?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"All of it was only in a few seconds. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The smack followed soon after and on that moment T.J felt a fear he never felt before. Jerome, or maybe only his body, flew through the air, almost as a ragdoll a child threw away, before hitting the ground, motionless. The door of the van flew open and a man in his forties jumped out, looking so pale it almost seemed he was sick, his head was gleaming from the sweat. T.J just watched him running towards the body on the ground, not being able to move himself. He heard sounds from the playground at the other side of the road, louder than they should be. How many of them saw it happen, how many were looking that way? /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"People came out their houses and for some reason, now everything was suddenly moving faster than first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"A woman was kneeling besides Jerome's body, holding two fingers somewhere on his neck. For a moment she felt, before nodding to the others that had gathered. "It's faint'' T.J heard her say. Now he could move again, there was a heartbeat. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe everything would still be okay. With his legs still heavy, he walked over, he wanted to see it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When the bodies weren't blocking his vision anymore, his legs started shaking. His skin felt cold, but sweat was dripping from his body. It was too late, T.J knew it was too late. Soon that faint heartbeat would be gone. There was too much blood. And the body, it already didn't look like the older boy that was just chasing him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Someone grabbed him, two big hands. "Come with me, boy'' a deep voice told him. Prickly. T.J listened and the principal led him away it all. Back to the school. T.J just walked, not seeing the children that were watching him. Including his friends. He didn't even hear the bell, which rang too early. The only thing he heard was the smack. Over and over again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It played in his head, as if he was watching a video and it just kept rewinding. Other children also went inside, much slower than normally. Talking with each other. Their teachers walked with them and also Miss Grotke with her class. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She watched T.J being led away to Prickly's office, wondering for a moment if she should follow, but she knew the rest of her class needed her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It was silent inside the classroom, they were looking outside. From the window you could see the commotion on the street, even if it was not that good. They wanted to see what was happening. Grotke understood that, but they needed distraction now. They needed to talk. Not about class today. Her students deserved to know what they wanted to know, although she wasn't sure how much of their questions she could answer. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Everyone please go to your tables'' she softly said and watched as her students obeyed. "Miss Grotke'' Mikey asked, gaining everyone's attention. His teacher just nodded. "What's going to happen now?''. A simple question, but perhaps the most difficult right now. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""They're going to bring Evans to the hospital'' she simply told him, perhaps just telling what she knew for sure was enough. Apart from a few, her students looked confused at her. Oh, yes. Most of them probably didn't know Jerome by his surname. "They're bringing Jerome to the hospital'' she explained, deciding that just using his first name was better anyways. As she said that, the faint sound of an ambulance became louder. No one looked out the window. Maybe they were too scared. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Where's T.J?'' Gus asked as he looked at the door, like he expected his friend to open it and walk inside. "By Prickly, they will talk with him'' Grotke stopped for a moment, looking at Detweiler's close friends. "I'll see if you can talk to him later, if you want''. At this moment she was sure that her student needed the support of his friends. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The rest of the lesson, she was going to use for history, they spend talking about what happened and what everyone saw. Grotke tried to explain as much as possible and was open in her answers. Until a question of Spinelli came, a question more wanted to ask but didn't dare. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""What if he dies?'' /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"They all fell silent, thinking about that 'what if'. Miss Grotke as well, but she would admit she rather didn't think about it. In her time of working here never had a student died and she was always thankful for that. She hoped it would never happen, but now she wasn't sure about it anymore. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"And what would happen if he passed away? So much things she couldn't tell because she didn't know it herself either. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""I'm not sure'' she admitted. "But let's stay strong together now'' she encouraged her students. They just nodded silently, still wondering about everything that had happened and could still happen. Only Vince spoke; "Can we see T.J?''. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Grotke gave him her permission and looked outside as the five friends left the classroom, the ambulance had his siren activated again and sped away, fast to lose no time. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Without thinking too much about it, he took his change and got to the other side, with the van still on a safe distance. He wanted to keep going on, straight to Kelso's. But in his eye corner he saw something happening he didn't expect. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Jerome did cross the street, too caught up in following the order he got. Yet the van was now a lot closer than first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It was strange, in reality it only took a few seconds maybe, but in his memory T.J saw it happen much slower. But he was also slower. Too slow and the van was too fast. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The sound of screeching tires as the chauffeur hit the brakes mixed with a long and awfully loud honking noise, but none of it mattered. Jerome didn't even have time to look around and see it coming. Was he even aware? What was his last thought?/span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"All of it was only in a few seconds. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The smack followed soon after and on that moment T.J felt a fear he never felt before. Jerome, or maybe only his body, flew through the air, almost as a ragdoll a child threw away, before hitting the ground, motionless. The door of the van flew open and a man in his forties jumped out, looking so pale it almost seemed he was sick, his head was gleaming from the sweat. T.J just watched him running towards the body on the ground, not being able to move himself. He heard sounds from the playground at the other side of the road, louder than they should be. How many of them saw it happen, how many were looking that way? /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"People came out their houses and for some reason, now everything was suddenly moving faster than first. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"A woman was kneeling besides Jerome's body, holding two fingers somewhere on his neck. For a moment she felt, before nodding to the others that had gathered. "It's faint'' T.J heard her say. Now he could move again, there was a heartbeat. Maybe it wasn't too late. Maybe everything would still be okay. With his legs still heavy, he walked over, he wanted to see it. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"When the bodies weren't blocking his vision anymore, his legs started shaking. His skin felt cold, but sweat was dripping from his body. It was too late, T.J knew it was too late. Soon that faint heartbeat would be gone. There was too much blood. And the body, it already didn't look like the older boy that was just chasing him. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Someone grabbed him, two big hands. "Come with me, boy'' a deep voice told him. Prickly. T.J listened and the principal led him away it all. Back to the school. T.J just walked, not seeing the children that were watching him. Including his friends. He didn't even hear the bell, which rang too early. The only thing he heard was the smack. Over and over again. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It played in his head, as if he was watching a video and it just kept rewinding. Other children also went inside, much slower than normally. Talking with each other. Their teachers walked with them and also Miss Grotke with her class. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"She watched T.J being led away to Prickly's office, wondering for a moment if she should follow, but she knew the rest of her class needed her. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"It was silent inside the classroom, they were looking outside. From the window you could see the commotion on the street, even if it was not that good. They wanted to see what was happening. Grotke understood that, but they needed distraction now. They needed to talk. Not about class today. Her students deserved to know what they wanted to know, although she wasn't sure how much of their questions she could answer. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Everyone please go to your tables'' she softly said and watched as her students obeyed. "Miss Grotke'' Mikey asked, gaining everyone's attention. His teacher just nodded. "What's going to happen now?''. A simple question, but perhaps the most difficult right now. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""They're going to bring Evans to the hospital'' she simply told him, perhaps just telling what she knew for sure was enough. Apart from a few, her students looked confused at her. Oh, yes. Most of them probably didn't know Jerome by his surname. "They're bringing Jerome to the hospital'' she explained, deciding that just using his first name was better anyways. As she said that, the faint sound of an ambulance became louder. No one looked out the window. Maybe they were too scared. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""Where's T.J?'' Gus asked as he looked at the door, like he expected his friend to open it and walk inside. "By Prickly, they will talk with him'' Grotke stopped for a moment, looking at Detweiler's close friends. "I'll see if you can talk to him later, if you want''. At this moment she was sure that her student needed the support of his friends. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"The rest of the lesson, she was going to use for history, they spend talking about what happened and what everyone saw. Grotke tried to explain as much as possible and was open in her answers. Until a question of Spinelli came, a question more wanted to ask but didn't dare. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""What if he dies?'' /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"They all fell silent, thinking about that 'what if'. Miss Grotke as well, but she would admit she rather didn't think about it. In her time of working here never had a student died and she was always thankful for that. She hoped it would never happen, but now she wasn't sure about it anymore. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"And what would happen if he passed away? So much things she couldn't tell because she didn't know it herself either. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;""I'm not sure'' she admitted. "But let's stay strong together now'' she encouraged her students. They just nodded silently, still wondering about everything that had happened and could still happen. Only Vince spoke; "Can we see T.J?''. /span/p
p class="MsoNormal"span lang="EN-GB" style="mso-ansi-language: EN-GB;"Grotke gave him her permission and looked outside as the five friends left the classroom, the ambulance had his siren activated again and sped away, fast to lose no time. /span/p