Hailey Y
BEEP!
BEEP! I shot up out of bed up like a child on a trampoline. I blink twice to realize where I am. My room the same purple comforter, the same worn out old rug. I slide off my bed and peer out the window at the rosy golden rays. Ugh 6:45 I groan. I browse through the pile of colorful shirts. I choose my faded old bulls t-shirt. I throw on a pair of jeans and brush through my matted hair. Then I run down the stairs and grab some cereal from the pantry. “Sarah please don’t forget to walk your sister home from school”. “Do I have to?” I groan. Mom gave me one of those looks that you just knew meant business. My dad is on his way out and give me and my sister Maddie a hug and he’s off. I grab my homework and pack it up. I race to the bus stop and wave to my best friend Ella. We get on the bus and move to our usual seat and gossip and whisper as usual. The bus stops at the school and we both get off the bus and head to the dark stone building. Every day at 7:55 the steel doors would bolt shut leaving us frozen in times for seven hours. We meetup with our other friends head to the lockers. It a routine now twirl open my lock toss in my backpack bring my binder to music. Usually I stop to talk to Ella but today I forgot about my math homework. So l use my time before the bell to do that instead. I frantically finish as the bell rings. “Take your seats class” bellowed Mrs. Carter. I tap my toes as I over hear the whispers of girls blabbering on like hens. Mrs. Carter begins her lesson on progressive era music. Then I heard an earth shatter noise. My heart sank to my stomach. I wasn’t processing the screams, the yells, the cries. “It was probably just a broken pipe” Mrs. Carter reassured the class. I knew something wasn’t right when I heard the crackle of the loudspeaker. “Clearwater middle school is now on lockdown, I repeat this is not a drill.”. After that my ear were fill with water I heard muffled tears and a booming whisper telling me to move. I swallow and head to the corner of the room where we had been taught a million times to go to. The room is silent but my mind is loud. That was no pipe break that was a gun I hear Alex Liden how he had used firecrackers before and that probably what it was. Allison rolled her eyes and her Alex begin their usually brawl. It’s funny I figured in the midst of panic Everyone would come together but everything's the same. Maya’s crying Alex and Allison are yelling piper and jack are whispering in the corner and though I have many friends but they aren’t here I’m all alone.Then we hear...BANG and a body hits the ground. Right before my very eyes in the next classroom over. Max Gerban hit the ground. He doesn’t get up. Then it hit me... I was in the middle of a school shooting. The school whole goes dead silent. I’ve never seen anyone besides Maya cry before. The whole class was petrified. Suddenly it wasn’t such a joke. I begin to scan the room then something occurs to me. None of these people are who I perceive them as. Cry baby Maya is biting her lip and hugging her legs in the corner silent as a mouse. Piper the most strong and athletic girl in the school was in tears. As we waited I had begun to notice everyone's behavior shift. It was as though we had entered a parallel universe. The weak were strong the athletic were tortured the smart were insecure and then there was me. How did I fit into all of this madness? This whole time I had sat silent staring at the back wall and my class had noticed. Shocked that I hadn’t shed a tear. Then I realized every emotional feeling I had every had I, I had bottled up and stored neatly and labeled at the pit of my stomach. Just as I figured it out, the neat glass bottles shattered into a billion pieces and every emotion possible flew out. I was mad at my dad for working all the time, I was mad a Lexi Grayson from when she shoved me on the playground in second grade. The fear, hate anger, happiness, and tears came pouring out at once. I was broken. Then I heard the snap of handcuff the killer had been found. “All clear” echoed the loud speaker. We all stood up slowly tip toeing toward the gym. I find my friends in the corner and see them waving me over and all the anger floats away. I sit down and I get pulled into about ten hugs. No one said a word but someone how we all knew we had each other backs. We sat quietly while the principal spoke. I look around the room at my peers. No one is hiding behind a shiny plastic wall anymore. Those walls were now rubble at our feet and you can see directly into everyone’s hearts.
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