This chapter takes place on the day of the school shooting, set a couple months later than the previous chapter. Nathan and Haley are together again, by the way.

Haley, Skills, Rachel, Marcus, Abby, and Rose sat in fear in tthe Tutoring Center. In fear of the psychotic gunman in their school , not knowing he was in their midst.

What if I get shot? Rose thought. What if I die? What if we all die? Are there enough bullets to kill us all? Would he or she even get to all of us fast enough to kill us all? Why am I even thinking about us all dying? What the hell is wrong with me?

She shared a scared glance with Haley, both worried about Nathan and Lucas.

Where are they? she wondered worriedly. Do they know where we are? Are they looking for us? I hope not. I can't stand the thought of them being out there where the shooter might be. I hope they're safe.

She worried about where Jake was. She and Jake had gotten considerably closer over the previous weeks and had planned for a first date that very night. She doubted it would happen now, though, considering their current circumstances.

A driver's license slid under the door, and Haley went to examine it.

"It's Nathan," she said, relief washing over her features.

"Let him in," Rose said anxiously.

"We don't know that it's him, the shooter could have killed him and taken his license," Marcus said.

"We have to take our chances on that one," Rose said. "Haley, open the door."

As Haley went to open it, Marcus stopped her. "No way," he said.

Rose clenched her jaw, ready to tell Marcus off, but Haley leaned in close to the door and whispered something. She heard the reply and announced that it was Nathan.

"Let him in," Rose said.

"No way," Marcus repeated. Haley didn't listen and opened the door, letting Nathan and Mouth in. Nathan embraced Haley and everyone stood and neared the door. "Let's get you all out of here," Nathan said.

As everyone started to file out of the Tutoring Center, they all heard a voice say, "Don't."

Rose turned and saw a guy pointing a gun at them. Oh, my hell. He was in here the whole time.

"Everyone, get away from the door," the boy said.

The group of hostage teenagers went back to the wall they were sitting against. Rose knew that it was going to be a long day.

...

Jake couldn't find Rose in the gym. He saw Brooke and decided to approach her.

"Have you seen Rose?"

"She's not in here?"

"No, I looked everywhere in here. I can't find her," he said, on the verge of panic.

"She must still be in the school, along with everyone else we care about" Brooke said, as worried as Jake.

Jake exhaled shakily. He spotted his parents at the same time they saw him, and they rushed to him.

"We have to go, Jake," Mr. Jagielski said sharply.

"I can't," he said. "My friends are inside. I can't leave without knowing they're okay."

"They'll be fine," Mrs. Jagielski reassured her son.

"Mom, it's Rose, too," Jake said.

Mrs. Jagielski nodded knowingly. Her son had told her all about Rose Gallagher, the girl from New York City who was winning his heart. "Okay," she decided. "You can stay. Just, whatever you do, do not go back into that school, you hear me?"

"Yes, I hear you," Jake said.

"Promise me, Jake."

"I can't do that, Mom."

Mrs. Jagielski sighed.

"I'll make sure he doesn't go back in," Brooke intervened.

"Thank you," Mrs. Jagielski said, and she and her husband left.

"What was that?" Jake asked Brooke.

"Do you really think Rose would ever forgive herself if you got yourself shot and killed for her sake?" Brooke asked. "She really cares about you, Jake."

"I get that," Jake nodded, "but..." he sighed. He couldn't think of any better reasoning than Brooke's. "I just...I need to know that she's okay, Brooke."

"Lucas is in there, too, so trust me, I know how you feel," Brooke said, her raspy voice wavering.

Please be okay, Rose, he mentally begged. God, please let her be okay.

...

Rose sat at a table in the Tutoring Center with Mouth, Rachel, and Skills. With no phone and none of her tactical weapons, she considered putting to use the streetfighting skills she'd learned from her cousins in Queens. She looked across the room at her brother, whose shoulder Haley had her face in crying, and she saw fear in his eyes. She looked over at Jimmy.

"Why are you doing this?" she asked. "What do you gain from it? Do you gain respect? All I know is what you lost. You lost some money buying a gun, buying the ammo. Is it all really worth it?"

"Of course," Jimmy's voice quivered with a hint of a psychological break-down as he pointed the gun at . "Of course you'd only care about the money. All you privileged brats care about is the money. You don't have to worry about anything."

"I grew up in New York City, buddy. You think that gun scares me? I've spent nights at people's houses that had gang wars going on right outside," Rose said.

"And what if I shoot you with it?" Jimmy asked threateningly.

"Then, I guess that's blood you have on your hands, my friend."

"Rose, what are you doing?" Nathan asked, worried about the welfare of his sister.

"Shut up! Just shut up! Put your hands up" Jimmy yelled.

"Why? Is the truth too hard to take? So hard that you're gonna point a gun at me to make you feel in charge? I know what guys with guns are like, and you were never meant to carry a gun," Rose said. She didn't put her hands up.

Jimmy continued to point the gun at Rose. "You don't know me," he said. "Don't act like you know me."

"I won't," Rose still didn't raise her hands. "I won't pretend to know you. I don't. But you...you said something about me only caring about money. You said that like you know me, but you don't know me."

"What the hell ever! Just shut up!" Jimmy cocked his gun.

He's going to shoot me, Rose thought. However, that thought didn't keep her from continuing. "I'd like to exercise my freedom of speech...why hold us hostage, huh? None of us have done anything to you. Hell, we've never even talked to you, some of us."

Jimmy didn't want to listen to her anymore and so he did the only thing he thought would shut her up.

He shot her.

She felt the pain, and she felt herself fading away into the darkness. The vast, painful darkness.

...

"They're saying a student's been shot."

"Two, they're saying now. Two girls."

Jake heard what was being spoken around him, and it didn't really help him. Apparently, the shooter had shot someone accidentally, and then another on purpose.

Lucas brought a bleeding, unconscious Peyton outside. The EMS took Peyton from Lucas and searched him.

Not long after him, Nathan carried Rose out, who seemed to have a more serious bleed.

Jake started to go to her, but was instructed by Tree Hill's finest to stay where he was.

...

Lucas was on the verge of falling apart as he looked at his half-sister asleep in her hospital bed. First, Peyton got shot, then Rose, then Keith to death. Was this some cruel joke that God was playing on him? If it was, he wished he knew the punchline. Maybe the punchline was him.

Nathan walked into the hospital room and sat in a chair on the other side of the bed. "How is she doing?"

"Hasn't woken up yet, but the doctors say she's close. Her adoptive parents are flying down tonight," Lucas informed Nathan.

"It's nice that she's got parents who actually care enough about her to fly down," Nathan said. "I feel like you two are, in some way, lucky."

"What do you mean, lucky, Nathan? Keith is dead," Lucas said.

Nathan exhaled softly. "I mean, you guys got parents who actually cared about you and were content with your shortcomings as a child."

"You mean like Dan wasn't?"

A nurse popped her head in. "So sorry, but visiting hours are over."

Nathan and Lucas left, still worried as hell about their sister.