Fatality

 

I remember that I was so lonely and I wished that I belonged. I had wished I was popular too. I watched myself glance over to where the popular group was. They were making fun of Jonah Price. I already knew what was going to happen next. I followed myself over to them and toned into their conversation.

 

“Hi Jonah,” A straight red hair girl cooed at Jonahs side.

 

“Hello, Gillian.” He whispered.

 

“Can we sit with you Jonah?” A curly blond hair girl flashed him a dazzling smile.

 

“I’m actually just leaving,” Jonah started to rise. Gillian grabbed his shoulder and shoved him down.

 

“Sit.” She snapped. “Listen up loser; you will do as we say when we say it. Got it?” He harshly nodded. I knew that he would get up to quickly and accidently trip over my foot. The girls would laugh and adopt me into their group. I watched the same event happen again. I had always wondered what happened to Jonah after that. He stayed where he fell and didn’t move. I could hear the faint sounds of him crying. He didn’t even move when the bell for next period rang. No one came looking for him.

 

He lay there for who knows how long…forgotten.

 

Then all of a sudden it was like someone hit fast forward and the sun rose and set as people walked back and forth. Winter came and then summer. For a while no one came back and when they did it was like the play button was pressed. I was now in front of the school and the big billboard sign read “Welcome back students!” That meant it was seventh grade. The first period bell rang and a bus pulled up. I smiled, our bus was always late. Gillian, the others, and I all sauntered out of the bus and stood in front of the school. Jonah walked past us clutching folders full of papers. He tripped and they went flying everywhere.  Gillian laughed and the others followed her lead, but all I could do was stare.

 

“Jonah,” Gillian composed herself and stood over him. “Why don’t you just stop trying? You’re a mistake and you, always. Will. Be. I mean we would all be better off if one day, your existence no longer bothered us.” She smiled and left. We followed her but I watched myself glance back over my shoulder torn about what I should do. In the end, I still followed her. Jonah scrambled to pick up the scattered papers. I looked down and realized I was standing on one of his papers. I read the last paragraph.

 

One Day I will give them what they want. I will show them all what I can really do and they will be eating their words and regret everything that they ever did to me. One Day I will get them back…

Jonah picked up the paper and ran inside. All of a sudden I was I in a musky, dirty, small bedroom. All that occupied the space was a small desktop, a few worn books, and a tiny lumpy bed. The door flew open and yelling voices drifted into the room. I peered out and saw a drunken man sitting on a pullback chair with a can of beer yelling at a crying bruised woman. A boy yelled back. The father rose up and hit the boy across the face so hard that he almost fell over. When the boy readied himself and turned I caught a glimpse of his face. It was Jonah. A little boy moved over to my side and watched what happened through the door. I looked down at his face which was streaked with tears and a few cuts. He must have looked about nine. Jonah shouted a few harsh words and walked towards the room the boy and I were in. The little boy darted into the closet as Jonah slammed the door behind him.

 

“Just kill me!” He screamed at the door. He turned quickly and grabbed a pill bottle underneath his pillow and poured out half the jar. He paused when the pills where half way to his mouth and dropped his hand. “Liam, come out here.” He sighed. The little boy slowly opened the closet door and stood awkwardly at its entrance. Jonah poured the pills back into the bottle and sat down on the edge of the bed. The little boy slowly walked over to him. Jonah gathered him up in his arms and comforted him. “It’ll be okay, everything will be okay…” he whispered into the little boy’s ear.

 

Before I knew it I was back in the school and I saw Jonah standing over my body.

 

“No, no, no,” He whispered as he watched me bleed out. “He started to wail. Teachers flooded out the doors and stopped in their tracks. The math teacher slowly inched forward with his hands extended.

 

“Jonah,” he softly spoke, “give me the gun.”

 

“No!” Jonah screamed. “Leave me alone, don’t touch her!” He started shooting again at the same time as he cried. The shooting stopped and his arms dropped to his sides. His face grew blank and everyone froze. The distant sound of sirens was the only thing that could be heard. “It’s okay now, everything is okay Liam.” Jonah whispered. He fell back and faced me as everyone heaved towards us. “I’m sorry,” he said almost inaudibly. His eyes rolled back into his head and his body started to surge once more.

 

“Get back!” A teacher yelled, “He is having a seizure, he must have over dosed on something!” I stood back and watched the emergency response team come onto the scene. People were shouting and crying while the teachers called out their class roasters and the Meds examined the bodies. They called out both Jonah’s and mine as still alive and I followed them out to the ambulance that they were taking Jonah’s body into.

 

All of a sudden everything was dark. A sharp pain was coming from my right wrist and once again I heard the dull beep of a heart monitor. Someone had left the TV on and a news program played. It talked about the shooting in the school and the victims. Surprisingly no one was killed but three were in stable condition in the hospital still. The broadcaster talked about me and gave information about my state and afterwards she spoke about Jonah.

 

“The shooter in the case has now been upgraded to critical conditions. Doctors believe that before the shooting he over dosed on several different pills causing cardiac arrest. The shooters motive has not yet been determined. More on this case as it progresses.” The broadcaster informed.

 

It’s surprising how just one day, can change a person’s life forever. How one person’s action can affect dozens more. How one cruel word or action decides your fate. In just one day three thousand six hundred and ten teens are assaulted, two thousand eight hundred teens drop out of school, six teens commit suicide, eighty are raped, one thousand three hundred and seventy seven become mothers, and four thousand two hundred get an STD. In just ONE day. In just twenty four hours their fate is decided for them. I am not going to pretend like I knew what Jonah was going through. I am sure that he felt unwanted, unloved, and like he didn’t belong. Even though I wasn’t the one who bullied him or made fun of him I still watched it happen and did nothing. I didn’t realize the kind of impact I was letting happen. It cost not only his life, but my own. In one simple instant a life can be lost. We think that our responsibility is focused only on us; that we don’t have to fret about problems that aren’t about us. We just sat back and watched it happen. We closed our eyes and thought that something like that would never happen to us, but we were wrong. It wasn’t Jonahs fault. He did what he thought was the only way. I wished that I could go back and try to save him. I wished that I could try to save his life.

 

It was then that I woke up. I needed to tell my story.