West Hemingway

Part 1: 日本語の単語

Ally Chan sat under the cherry blossom tree in the center of the school grounds. Around her were the four high walls of West Hemingway High school. She jotted down some words into her diary with a tiny smirk on her face. "Daniel is such a dream boy" she wrote, "He's so kawaii and I get so nervous when I'm around him." She glanced over to the side of the yard where Daniel was. He was a tall boy with brown straight hair and a smooth pale face. Among him were his boisterous friends. Ally smiled once again and went back to her writing.

"Have you ever noticed something?" A voice said from behind her.

Startled, Ally slammed her diary shut in a panic. "Noticed what, Travis?" She replied.

"These cherry blossom trees are always in bloom. It makes no sense. I mean it's the middle of June."

Travis was a short, hunched back, black haired boy with a face that seemed to be stuck in a state of constant exhaustion. He often noticed details like this, whether they were helpful or relevant to the situation or not.

"Well I don't know why. It's just a mystery of nature." Ally replied, somewhat annoyed at the intrusion of her isolated writing time.

"What are you writing?" Travis asked, quickly changing the subject.

"Nothing!"

"Oh it's about that Daniel guy isn't it?"

"Why do you care?"

"I'm telling you, that Daniel guy is bad news. Over confident, impulsive. You know what I see when I look at Daniel?" Travis put his hands in the air and waved them "Future college campus rapist."

"You're just jealous."

Just then the school bell rang and echoed throughout the square.

"What class do you have next? Geometry?" Travis asked as he slid his backpack onto his shoulders.

"Mm-hmm" Ally hummed in reply.

The students moved out of the center square and into the hallways of the school. By the doorway was the principal of the school, looking over the children and greeting them with a timid "Good morning." Principal Francis Gordon was a slightly chubby man with caramel colored hair combed over his balding head. He wore rectangular glasses, a brown suit, and baggy pants. Many of the children had never considered him to be anyone of significant influence. They had no overly harsh or positive opinion of him because most of the time he was a bystander. In fact to many of them they wondered why he was in charge in the first place, because as far as they could tell, he possessed no more leadership skills than the teachers.

Ally and Travis moved forward, though slowly, down the halls until they got to their class. The teacher was already there, preparing for class. They sat down, opened their notebooks, and got ready for the next two hours of boredom with occasional learning. Ally glanced at Daniel who was sitting diagonally from her. The teacher was a thin lady with bright orange hair and bony skin.

"Okay class. Now today we're going to move forward with unit 10.3." She said, "We'll be having an assessment at the end of class as usual."

Before the class really began there was a gentle knock on the door.

"Yes what is it?" She said before looking through the door's window. "Oh Mr. Gordon."

She walked over and opened the door to find the principal with his hands behind his back and a bored expression on his face.

"Mrs. Holloway. I need to speak with you for a moment outside."

"Oh yes of course. What do you need?"

The two walked outside. The children began to spark up a quiet conversation about the usual shenanigans and gossip. Travis sat in the back and eyed everyone silently. Ally continued to glance ever so often at Daniel who was doodling in his notebook. But then there was a sudden interruption of the children's routine. An interruption that startled them to silence.

A single gunshot could be heard outside the hallway. The children violently jumped back with a scream. Immediately one of them, a curious boy, went to the door to see what had happened. But before the boy could open the door he was greeted by the end of some sort of rifle. The principal holding this gun pointed it straight ahead of himself. He had a barely noticeable smile at the end of his mouth. The child backed away slowly in shock. Many of the children could not process what was occurring before them.

The principal let out a single sentence in a casual and calm voice.

"Whoops. I shot your teacher."