"Spence" I whispered as I put my hands on her shoulder from behind, she turned around in my arms and I saw the tears coming down from her eyes, "Babe, what's up?" I asked her as I wiped some of her tears away.
"I'm sorry Laur, I'm sorry..." She tried to stop the sobbing as she kept mumbling, I kissed her to make her stop saying it.
She kissed back and I felt the salty tears in my lips, but I didn't let go. I hugged her tightly as I let go slowly and looked her in the eyes.
"I didn't mean to do this to you" She said and wiped away a tear.
"What are you talking about?"
"This is exactly what you were so afraid of, and until now I didn't realize how awful it could be..."
"Stop, stop Spence, please" I begged her and kissed her again, "It's okay, none of this is your fault, I swear" I took her cheeks in my hands.
"And Mike?" She asked and I could feel her relax in my hands.
"He'll get over it, I love you and he's gonna have to live with it, alright?" She took a deep breath and I smiled softly at her.
"Guys" Christina called us and I turned around to look at her, "Everything okay?" She asked and I nodded, putting my arms around Spencer's neck, "Wanna come back or you're calling it a day?" I looked at my girlfriend waiting for her to decide, but she was hesitant, "No one's gonna blame you if you wanna go home Spence, feel free."
"I think we're gonna leave" I decided for her after seeing she was still struggling.
"Okay" Christina nodded and went back inside.
"You wanna stay the night with me?" I asked Spencer with a cocky smile and she chuckled.
"Really? What about Amy?"
"What about her? She won't care" I kissed her cheek and started to lead her back inside while I took my phone out to text my sister that Spencer is staying with us.
**
Spencer's POV
It was the first time I was stalking someone in my car, but after yesterday I felt like I needed to do that. I parked my car and started to walk towards the church. I saw Mike sitting in the middle bench and I went to sit on the bench behind him.
"It's always so cold in here" I realized and he turned back to look at me.
"What are you doing here?! You can't be here!" I whispered with anger.
"Lauren brought me here a couple of times, I forgot it was freezing inside though"
"You stalked me?"
"Kind of..." I answered sincerely and heard him huffing, "Lauren was terrified to tell her family, you know? She was afraid you would... do just what you did."
"I'm not full of surprises like she is" He said ironically.
"No, but you're also her big brother, I don't think calling her a dyke is a really good example" I don't where I was getting to, but I had to try to change his mind, for Lauren's sake.
"I'm not gonna let Lauren be with you!"
"Do you know what your dad told Lauren and I a couple of days ago?" I asked him even if he wasn't looking at me, I knew he was listening, "He said that us being together was hard for him because he knew he would now have to see his daughter struggle with people giving us hard time for being together, and he hated that fact" I stopped for a second to see if Mike got the hint, he still had his back to me though, "I just don't think he thought it would come straight from his own son" I patted his shoulder and got up to leave him like that.
I went inside my sister's school. They were on a break but I knew where to find her, I was actually hoping to see the bullies, but I don't know what I would tell them if I did.
"Spence? What are you doing here?" Hailee spotted me in the hall at the second floor.
"Mom said you went to the principal to complain about someone punching you, I don't see bruises..." I looked at her questioningly and she sighed, she lifted her shirt and I saw the bruise right before she put the shirt down again, "What did she say? The principal? Who did this to you?"
"She said she'll handle it" Hailee shrugged and I was about to answer but a sudden noise interrupted our conversation, "What was that?" She asked me right before we heard it again. Gun shots, they were clear now.
"Get inside, be quiet" I told her and pointed to the class she just came from.
"What?" She looked so confused as people were swarming around.
"Get inside, block the door and don't open to anyone, go! Go inside" I told to some of the kids that were running in the hall and they did as I said.
"What about you?" She asked me almost crying and I pulled out my phone.
"Just go" I pushed her inside.
"Inside, inside!" I heard a teacher instructing some more kids as the gunshots got closer.
"911 what's your emergency?" Someone answered my call.
"Hi, I'm in Hume Fogg High, there's a shooting in here"
"Okay, hang on" She said and I ducked when I heard more shooting, "SWAT team is on their way, I'm gonna put you on the phone with them."
"What? Is that a thing?" I asked confused but the girl from the other side was no longer on the phone.
"This is Sargent Harrilson, who am I talking to?" Someone very official talked to me.
"Harrilson? That can't be a last name... I mean, I'm Spencer" I palmed myself for getting into nonrelevant details.
"You can call me Mike if you want." Now the officer sounded more friendly.
"Oh no thanks, too many Mikes in my life, I'll stay with Harrilson."
"I hope you at least like them..."
"Well, they're from my girlfriend's family, I kinda have to" I knew he was just stalling until they get here, trying to calm me down, so I was going along with it, the distraction was good until I find who was shooting.
I was going towards the stairs when I heard footsteps on the other side of the hallway and going up to the third floor from the stairs on the other side. Everything was empty, all the students were clear somewhere, but I didn't get a chance to see who it was.
"Am I hearing you walking? I thought you were hiding" Sgt Harrilson said.
"If you're interested, the shooter just got to the third floor."
"Are there any injured?"
"Not that I've seen" I gulped, just thinking what all the shootings were about in first and second floor.
"Is it only one?"
"I think so, but I can't make any promises" I went up to the third floor quietly and got to pick in the hallway, "Oh damn it" I whispered, I know who it is.
"We're five minutes away, what's going on?" He asked me.
"It's another Mike... the kind of Mike I'm starting to not like..."
"You got eyes on the shooter? Spencer, stay put, do not engage, do you understand how dangerous this is?!"
"Okay, listen DAD, it's my sister's friend, his name is Mike, he is a student here" I told him whispering and leaned against the wall away from Mike's sight.
"Wait, you're not a student?" He asked surprised.
"Do I sound like a student to you? That's offensive"
"What's your sister's name?"
"Hailee, I left her in one of the classrooms with some other kids at the second floor" I said and heard another gunshot, I put my phone down and took a deep breath.
"Spencer?" I heard Harrilson calling me but I didn't answer him.
"Mike?" I called him and heard another gunshot, this time I also saw the bullet heating the wall in front of me, "Mike it's Spencer, Hailee's sister, remember me?" I took another chance and there was only silence.
"Is... is Hailee with you?" He asked, his voice was shaking.
"No, no, she was scared of the gunshots, she's hiding, kinda like everyone else" I was hoping he wouldn't use that information to go chase anyone.
"I'm not gonna hurt her, I'm just looking for them... I'm doing this for the both of us!"
"Looking for who?" I asked him, I wasn't sure if he was talking about the bullies or something else, Hailee never told us if there was someone else being bullied too. Either way, just the thought of him looking for someone to shoot them was scary.
"For Kevin and his pussy, I'm not gonna let them bully us anymore! I won't hear them telling us that we need to kill ourselves! I'm not gonna kill myself, and I'm gonna make it very clear to them!" He said with precision.
"That's very brave of you" I said, not realizing fully what I just said.
"What are you doing?!" I heard officer Harrilson shouting at me from the phone that was still on, on my lap.
"Giving them a lesson?" Mike seemed surprised.
"No, no! Jesus! I'm talking about you wanting to stand up for yourself and being strong enough to not believe a word they're saying to you, to not give a fuck what they want and knowing that they're wrong." I tried to explain myself, "It's brave, it's just... a wrong choice to express it..."
"But it HAS to happen! You don't understand, if I don't do anything it'll keep happening and, and, they'll keep telling us shit and-"
"But it'll keep being just that, shit" I told him, "You have to know that it's not worth it Mike, there's so many people that have faith in you to do the right thing, they really believe in you" I had to try and use that phrase, if it gave Lauren an inspiration and it helped my sister then it had to mean something.
"But..." He wanted to argue but I heard him crying as he stopped talking.
"It's okay" I tried to sooth him, "You are strong Mike, you can handle whatever they try to throw your way, but not like this... they want you to kill yourself, do you think the solution is to shoot them and kill them? It only makes you be like them" I wasn't sure if that was a good thing to say right now, I didn't want to piss him off.
"I'm NOTHING like them!" He yelled in his sobs.
"I know, but you're the one holding a gun... there's another way to prove them wrong, you don't need to do that."
"I don't see any other way" He said, but I could hear him crumbling.
"You'll find it, you'll talk to the right people, get the help that you need to do the right thing, but not like this" I told him and hoped this was the end of that.
"Then how?"
"I don't know" I said honestly, "But I'm sure you'll find the way, I believe you, your family and your friends believe in you to."
"You promise?" He asked and I smiled and nodded, although I knew he couldn't see me.
"I'm coming out okay?" I asked him but didn't get a response. I couldn't promise him anything, he started shooting at his school, I didn't know what the law would do with him now. I moved out to confront him in the hallway, "Can you put the gun down?" I asked calmly, to not upset him. He looked around, but eventually put the gun on the ground, "Are you good at soccer? Can you kick it towards me?" He didn't get the joke but kicked the gun to me and I lift it up, "Are you ready to get out of here?"
"What's gonna happen to me?" He asked with fear.
"I don't know, but you have to find out" I pulled my hand out for him and he started to walk over to me.
When he reached me I let out a breath I didn't realize I was holding. I started to guide him with my hand on his back down the stairs. The way to the school entrance seemed extremely long, and I had no idea what was going on outside, I had no idea how much time we've been there. When we got near the entrance I hung up the call I still had on with the Sargent. I knew they were waiting just outside for the moment we arrive. And when we did I saw so many people outside that I couldn't figure out what was going on. A police officer grabbed Mike and I heard some other police telling him to go easy on him, I recognized the voice and looked to my left.
"Spencer" He said with a smile.
"Sargent Harrilson" I answered and handed him Mike's gun, he took it and gave it to another officer that was behind him.
"That was really brave of you, extremely dangerous, but brave."
"Spencer!!" I heard much familiar voice yelling my name and turned to see my little sister running to me.
"Hey" I embraced her in my arms and closed my eyes, so proud of my sister that despite everything, she never took the path Mike chose to take, "Are you okay?" I asked her and she nodded.
"I was so scared when you went to the shooter" I saw her eyes were puffy and I kissed the top of her hair.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." I looked up and saw my mom looking at us, a lot of people were crowded, the students with their parents, police and even the press. "Let's go home" I told my sister who nodded.
"Oh honey" Mom grabbed me when we came to her and hugged me, "You were so brave in there, I'm so proud of you" She said almost crying.
"What?" I was confused, was she talking just about me going to talk to Mike?
"Someone inside livestreamed all the conversation" Hailee explained and I looked to the school again, some officers were taking more students outside safely, it didn't cross my mind that there were more students on the floor with us.
"They put it live on the news channel" Mom told me, "Oh someone's here for you" She pointed behind me and I looked over, I smiled surprised when I saw Lauren coming over.
"You're crazy" Lauren said and hugged me tightly.
"What are you doing here? How did you know?" I asked her when we separated.
"I saw it on the news, and you didn't pick up and then they put on that livestream, Mike drove me over" She pointed with her head towards the crowd and I saw her big brother looking at us, "So you played the hero with him and then came here to play the hero in your sister's school" She joked and put her hand on my arm, taking a deep breath.
"Are you coming home with us?" I asked her and she nodded, "Can you... I'll ride with my mom, can you drive my car over?"
"Of course, I saw your car when we came here" She accepted immediately and I gave her my car keys.
"Spencer" I heard my name and looked over Lauren's shoulder.
"Sargent, I thought we were done..."
"Are you like breaking up with me?" He asked with a suggestive smile.
"Are you hitting on my girlfriend?" Lauren stepped in and hugged me from the side, my eyes went wide since I wasn't expecting her to say that in front of a complete stranger.
"Just came to say that the press wants to interview you" Harrilson smiled at me, obviously not really wanting anything personal with me, he already knew I had a girlfriend. "You don't have to" He said when he saw me hesitating.
"Umm" I looked over to where the press was, "No thanks, I'll pass on that."
"Alright, see you around, and if you ever need anything..." He gave me a card with his details, "Strictly professional things" He put his hand up in defeat looking at Lauren innocently and I laughed and took it.
"See you around" I said and he walked away, "I didn't know you were the jealous type." I smiled at my girlfriend who just shrugged.
"Spencer, let's go" Mom called and I nodded.
"I'll take care of that" She brought my car keys up in reference and pecked my lips before turning away and leaving. I saw her brother still there looking at us, as Lauren got close to him he was still looking at me and I couldn't figure out what that look meant.
"You ready honey?" Mom grabbed my shoulder, I nodded and got in the car with her my sister, "Everybody's home waiting" She said as she turned on the engine.
"Mom, I... I don't feel like talking right now to anyone" I told her, exhaustion washing over me.
"It's okay Spence, you don't have to, they just wanted to be home for the both of you, you can go to your room with Lauren if you want" I was very relieved when she said that, I was not in the mood for anything right now. Being alone with Lauren and getting her hugs sounded like a perfect plan.