Sorry it took me so long to get this up. Enjoy! :)
I don't know what I was expecting, but it definitely wasn't this. His house is gorgeous. I can tell that nobody else is home right now. I don't know if that is relieving or not. Jake leads me right upstairs. I'm guessing we're going to his room. That makes me nervous. I fidget and play with the strap of my backpack as we enter his room. It's pretty simple and plain. The walls are a creamy white, and his bedspread is black. The room is also surprisingly clean. He sits down on his bed and pats the spot next to him. I shuffle my feet over and sit down at the very edge of the bed.
"You're not nervous are you Maggie?" Jake asks with a cheeky grin. I shake my head fast and then blush. I groan and Jake laughs as I cover my face with my hands. He takes out the book and we get to work.
An hour later I am exhausted, and my mind is spinning. I push the book away from me and it falls to the floor with a thud. Then I take out my phone and send another text to Nick telling him we're done. Surprisingly Jake didn't joke around once we started working. We actually finished the project.
I pack away my things, and Jake stares at me. He is now laying on the bed the short way so his feet are hanging off the one side.
"Are we finally done?" He groans out and I nod. I sling my back pack over my shoulder. "I'll drive you home," He says when I start towards the door to his room.
"You don't have to, I can just ask my brother."
"Nah, it will just be easier for me to drive you home. I dragged you here anyways." He gets up off the bed, and grabs a jacket.
As we get to the truck parked outside I notice a fancy black car pull in the driveway. Jake swears under his breath and Quickly opens the passenger door for me. I notice that Jake is watching the car as it is now parked. His jaw is tense, and I wish that I could see inside those tinted windows. It's obvious Jake doesn't want to stay for when those people get out of the car, and as soon as I'm in he slams the door and hops in the driver seat. He turns on the truck and pulls out of the driveway just before I can get a good look at the man and woman that got out of the mysterious car. I look at Jake, but decide not to press him as I take in his white knuckles from gripping the steering wheel so hard. He runs a hand through his messy dark hair, and I turn to stare out the window. A few seconds later I hear the radio turn on to fill up the silence. It's obvious he is trying to avoid questions. I'm fine with that. If he doesn't want to tell me something then I don't care. It's not like I would ever tell him about my old school.
After about fifteen minutes we thankfully arrive at my house. I mutter a thanks and head straight upstairs to my room. I collapse on my bed and let my nightmares take over.
I'm in the bathroom again. I can hear the gunshots, and screams through the walls and through the doors. I huddle down in the stall all alone and squeeze my eyes shut praying for my friends to be okay. That's when the worst part happens, the silence. It surrounds me and I choke back a sob. This can't be happening I say to myself. I look up when the door to the bathroom opens. I hear the familiar squeak of the stalls as they are opened one by one, and I can't breathe. Then it's my turn, and instead of the man from the swat team that had found me. It is the gunman who opens the stall door.
I wake up with tears in my eyes, and I wipe them away angrily. Flashes of that day and of me hiding in that bathroom stall flash in front of my eyes. My breath is coming out fast and strangled. There have been times I fainted from my flashbacks.
I wait a few minutes, and I start to calm down. I realize I probably won't get back to sleep again anytime soon, and I look at the clock groaning when I see the time. 1:30 guess I'm not getting a lot of sleep tonight.
I kneel on the floor and pull out a box that is hidden under my bed. I peer inside and see all my little trinkets and gifts I got. Half of a friends necklace from Lacey , a promise ring from Ethan, and some bracelets from my other friends. I clutch them closely and pull out a small necklace that is sitting on the bottom. My throat closes as I recognize it. Ethan gave it to me for my birthday and it is simply just my name with jewels on it. I used to love this necklace, I would ware it almost everyday. I thought that I got rid of it after what happened, but I guess I didn't. I place the other things back in the box and slide it back underneath my bed, still holding onto the necklace. I run my fingers over the letters and a few tears run down my cheeks but I don't dare wipe them away. I clutch the necklace close to my chest, and place it over my broken heart.
A few hours later my alarm does off and I drag myself through my morning routine. I almost fall asleep while eating my cereal and Nick sends me a strange look. The bags under my eyes look horrendous, but I don't really care right now.
As I get outside my door I am met with Jake's truck, I don't even give a fight as I climb in the passenger side.
"You didn't sleep," He states with a frown. I nod. "Why not?" He asks me clearly worried, but I just shrug and lean against the window as we drive to school. I don't even care when I walk down the hallway to my first block and people are openly staring at me. As soon as I get to class I collapse in my seat and lay my head down on the table.
Lilly comes in, but doesn't say anything and I close my eyes in this moment of peacefulness. It is soon shattered though when Jake comes in and He and Lilly start fighting right away.
"Can you guys just be quiet!" I say exasperated and look up at them. They both stare at me.
"you look like you got run over by a bus," Lilly says.
"Gee, thanks," Is all I reply before laying my head back down.
"You are so rude Lilly," Jake says lowly and i can feel his gaze on me.
"Hey I'm just stating a fact," She says and then they both sit back down. Thankfully I get another two minutes of peacefulness before everyone else comes in, and it's time to start class.
* * * * * * *
"Who was that at your house last night?" I ask Jake quietly while we are writing down notes in science. He stops writing and stares at me.
"Nobody." he grumbles. "What was the reason why you didn't sleep last night?"
"Nothing," I scowl at him and he gives me a 'there you go' face.
"If you won't tell me that simple thing then I won't tell you who was in that car," He replies and I think it over for a while.
"Nightmare," I say with a whisper so low that I think he doesn't hear me, but he does.
"Nightmares?" He questions and I nod. "About what?"
"Stupid stuff," I reply quickly and look down. "Who was in the car?"
"You can't be awake from nightmare with stupid stuff," He gives me a look but doesn't press. "And the people in my car were my parents," He says shrugging. I open my mouth to ask him to explain why he acted the way he did, but the teacher scolds us for talking so we fall into silence. We don't talk for the rest of the class, and Neither do we ask each other anymore questions from the last class to when he drives me home.
"Who is that guy?" Nick asks me as soon as I walk through the door at home. "He picked you up and dropped you off," He has a slight worried frown on his face and I immediately panic. Does he think I'm moving on from Ethan? Is that what it seems like? That means that I am getting closer to Jake then I would have liked.
"He was just my partner for math and he decided to be nice and drive me home," I mumble lowly and Go upstairs before he can ask anything else.
I go back downstairs for diner and don't say much. I don't really like that I'm getting comfortable around Jake.
I don't trust
I go upstairs and read through some old news articles about the shooting.
The man did not have a motive for coming in and shooting these people. This man was just evil and wanted to see people die. Innocent people including my friends. Many people Were killed that day. Everyone on the east wing died except me. That was where the man started when he first came in. I was the only one who survived from that wing. The swat man who found me looked sick, and was terribly sad. When he saw me I think he broke down more. I got to know the man who found me, because I had thanked him numerous times that day and he was there with me the whole time as they sent me to the hospital. I think he felt responsible for me in some way, because he found me.
The news had tried to interview me after I had gotten home a few days later. The only reason I was at the hospital was because they needed to make sure I was stable, and that was mostly mentally. The news got bored with me not really answering any of their questions and ended up making this whole story on me. For a while I was known as the girl who survived the east wing. I couldn't go outside my house for weeks, because of it. The other survivors were also questioned and interviewed, most broke down on TV when trying to explain it all. Sometimes we would watch the TV and see random strangers, who never even went to the school, break down on TV.
It was strange.
How could these people get so emotional over something they weren't even involved with.
As soon as I climb into bed my eyes are wide open. I'm afraid of the nightmares. I try to stay awake for as long as I can, but it's useless.
"I love you," He whispers in my ear and I let out a small laugh as he kisses my cheek.
"I love you too Ethan, but I'm just going to the bathroom I will be back." He sends me his heart warming grin, and the teacher shakes her head at us.
"Please refrain from The PDA," She says but it's in no way threatening. Lacey sends me a smile as I sign out and leave the classroom not knowing I won't be going back. I walk down the empty halls way, and enter the bathroom.
It takes only a few minutes for disaster to strike, to be surrounded by the horrid sounds of screams and gun shots.