Status: Story that I wrote for an English project. Probably going to re-write a little. Dunno.
The Chester Illiad Interviews
Interview 1
Subject: Diana Beckett, Age 17, Senior
Relation to shooter: Best friend
Date: September 30th, 2013
You wanna know about Chester? Chester was my best friend, yeah. He still is, I don’t care what anybody says, what he did was pretty terrible, but I know Chester, he isn’t a bad guy. The police asked me if I knew he was planning to do this, but what do you think? If I’d known, you think I would’ve let him do that? If we were together one day and he just said to me, “Di, I’m gonna shoot up my girlfriend and some freshmen kid,” you think I would be okay with that? That I’d tell him to enjoy himself, and that I’d come see him in jail? No, I had no idea he was planning all of this. Chess always had a hard life, his parents split up after his little brother Jack was born, and he moved away in the seventh grade, just came back at the beginning of freshman year. He was happy, he always had a smile on his face. But he had changed in the years he was gone, and I don’t think they were all good changes. He never told me about it, but I could just tell. I knew him too well to not see that he had changed for the worse. And then he met Izzy, and I thought he was going to be okay. She was so good for him, you could just look at them and tell that they were in love. Really really in love. Didn't fight, ever, at least, never where anyone saw. They were a really sweet couple, always together whenever they could be, every spare moment together. And they just, they never ever got sick of each other, yunno? They were dating up until senior year, when it…well, up until it happened. Chess was closer to Izzy than his own family. But I don't even think that she saw this coming.
So, on the the incident. Right. A day like any other, and all that. September 27th, at exactly 11:36 in the morning. I'm sitting in study hall with Izzy and Jade and Will. There were a few other kids there. I'm not gonna lie and pretend I'm a bigshot and knew them all. I didn't. And all of the sudden Chess comes bursting into the place. Izzy gets this big smile on her face, and gets up to go to him, but he shakes his head, and she stops, her expression falling, a worried look replacing it. She asks him what's wrong, her voice afraid. Genuinely fearful. He stares her down, like she did something wrong to him, threatened him some way. He looks frazzled, his breathing shallow and heavy, and he keeps running his hands through his hair. He's not himself. Slowly, very slowly, I get up, and walk towards him, the library suddenly dead quiet, not a single breath is taken, no one bats an eyelash.
"Chess?" I whisper. "Are you okay, Chess?" His eyes go wide and there's a flash of movement, and when he's still again, he has something in his hand, held along side his head. It's a gun. His face has turned from frazzled to fearful, and when he speaks, his voice is a whine, as if he's close to tears.
"Di," he whimpers, holding out his empty hand in a pleading gesture, the gun still held up to his temple. I'm surprised that it's my name that's spoken, but I step forward carefully, arms extended. Gently, I cup his face in my hands and carefully, very very carefully, I push the gun away from his head. I look into his green eyes. They've lost their softness, and now they won't meet mine, they dart all around the room, from Izzy to Will to the other people in the library, and his lips move, muttering to a person or persons unknown.
"Chess, what's wrong?" I murmur. My words seem to shake him, jolt him, scare him worse than he already is, because he jerks away from me as if I'd scalded him. He stumbles away, tripping over a chair, his eyes wide. "D-don't touch me," he breaths, groaning in apparent agony, but before I can answer some one else speaks and he wheels on them, his eyes suddenly clouded with suspicion.
It's Izzy.
"You think I don't know?" he spits, waving the gun wildly as he speaks. "You th-think I dunno all about you a-and him?" He gestures between Will and Izzy, who both look confused. "What're you talking about?" Izzy asked. "There isn't anything, Chess. There isn't!"
He opens his mouth, but he's cut off by the sound of a voice, the owner of which is unseen, but it's clear that someone has managed to call the police. "Chester Illiade, we have a perimeter around the building. Any attempts made to run or harm any of your fellow students and we will shoot. I repeat, we will shoot." Chester laughs, a crazy laugh, a laugh that is nothing like his own, so full of life, but this one is dripping with malice, and it is anything but joyful.
"You here that, Di?" he says with a tired smile, and for a moment, a hint of himself, the real Chester surfaces. "They're going to shoot me." With one wave of his gun, the bit of him that was there for a moment was gone completely.
"Please don't do this," a soft voice said from beside me, and I nearly jumped, not having noticed the freshman sneak up on me. From the look on his face, Chester is pretty surprised too. She's a little thing with freckles and auburn hair. Despite the situation, her voice his calm, her tone soothing as she slowly inches towards him, holding out her hands as if to show him she means no harm. He's obviously not buying it, and his lips continue to move, although he's plain as day not speaking to any of us. "Whatever's the matter with you," she whispered almost inaudibly. "We can fix, this, just, put the gun down and walk away from it all."
It's silent for almost an eternity while Chester argues this over with himself before raising the gun slowly, and suddenly there's a flurry of movement.
Three shots, someone screams, then the gun falls to the ground, and Chester is suddenly on his knees, staring without a hint of remorse at the two girls sprawled on the ground, two pairs of eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Izzy and the little girl. Gone. Dead. Suddenly it seems that a wave of realization crashes over Chester and he crumples visibly. He remains silent as the library doors as suddenly kicked open, and the gun taken away, He doesn't fight as he was pushed to the floor and handcuffed. As he's pulled to his feet though, his eyes find me, and he speaks. I can't hear him, but I know his words.
I'm sorry.
And he is.
I know what Chester did was pretty terrible. But I know Chester. He isn't a bad guy. I don't care what anybody says, I know he's sorry.
Relation to shooter: Best friend
Date: September 30th, 2013
You wanna know about Chester? Chester was my best friend, yeah. He still is, I don’t care what anybody says, what he did was pretty terrible, but I know Chester, he isn’t a bad guy. The police asked me if I knew he was planning to do this, but what do you think? If I’d known, you think I would’ve let him do that? If we were together one day and he just said to me, “Di, I’m gonna shoot up my girlfriend and some freshmen kid,” you think I would be okay with that? That I’d tell him to enjoy himself, and that I’d come see him in jail? No, I had no idea he was planning all of this. Chess always had a hard life, his parents split up after his little brother Jack was born, and he moved away in the seventh grade, just came back at the beginning of freshman year. He was happy, he always had a smile on his face. But he had changed in the years he was gone, and I don’t think they were all good changes. He never told me about it, but I could just tell. I knew him too well to not see that he had changed for the worse. And then he met Izzy, and I thought he was going to be okay. She was so good for him, you could just look at them and tell that they were in love. Really really in love. Didn't fight, ever, at least, never where anyone saw. They were a really sweet couple, always together whenever they could be, every spare moment together. And they just, they never ever got sick of each other, yunno? They were dating up until senior year, when it…well, up until it happened. Chess was closer to Izzy than his own family. But I don't even think that she saw this coming.
So, on the the incident. Right. A day like any other, and all that. September 27th, at exactly 11:36 in the morning. I'm sitting in study hall with Izzy and Jade and Will. There were a few other kids there. I'm not gonna lie and pretend I'm a bigshot and knew them all. I didn't. And all of the sudden Chess comes bursting into the place. Izzy gets this big smile on her face, and gets up to go to him, but he shakes his head, and she stops, her expression falling, a worried look replacing it. She asks him what's wrong, her voice afraid. Genuinely fearful. He stares her down, like she did something wrong to him, threatened him some way. He looks frazzled, his breathing shallow and heavy, and he keeps running his hands through his hair. He's not himself. Slowly, very slowly, I get up, and walk towards him, the library suddenly dead quiet, not a single breath is taken, no one bats an eyelash.
"Chess?" I whisper. "Are you okay, Chess?" His eyes go wide and there's a flash of movement, and when he's still again, he has something in his hand, held along side his head. It's a gun. His face has turned from frazzled to fearful, and when he speaks, his voice is a whine, as if he's close to tears.
"Di," he whimpers, holding out his empty hand in a pleading gesture, the gun still held up to his temple. I'm surprised that it's my name that's spoken, but I step forward carefully, arms extended. Gently, I cup his face in my hands and carefully, very very carefully, I push the gun away from his head. I look into his green eyes. They've lost their softness, and now they won't meet mine, they dart all around the room, from Izzy to Will to the other people in the library, and his lips move, muttering to a person or persons unknown.
"Chess, what's wrong?" I murmur. My words seem to shake him, jolt him, scare him worse than he already is, because he jerks away from me as if I'd scalded him. He stumbles away, tripping over a chair, his eyes wide. "D-don't touch me," he breaths, groaning in apparent agony, but before I can answer some one else speaks and he wheels on them, his eyes suddenly clouded with suspicion.
It's Izzy.
"You think I don't know?" he spits, waving the gun wildly as he speaks. "You th-think I dunno all about you a-and him?" He gestures between Will and Izzy, who both look confused. "What're you talking about?" Izzy asked. "There isn't anything, Chess. There isn't!"
He opens his mouth, but he's cut off by the sound of a voice, the owner of which is unseen, but it's clear that someone has managed to call the police. "Chester Illiade, we have a perimeter around the building. Any attempts made to run or harm any of your fellow students and we will shoot. I repeat, we will shoot." Chester laughs, a crazy laugh, a laugh that is nothing like his own, so full of life, but this one is dripping with malice, and it is anything but joyful.
"You here that, Di?" he says with a tired smile, and for a moment, a hint of himself, the real Chester surfaces. "They're going to shoot me." With one wave of his gun, the bit of him that was there for a moment was gone completely.
"Please don't do this," a soft voice said from beside me, and I nearly jumped, not having noticed the freshman sneak up on me. From the look on his face, Chester is pretty surprised too. She's a little thing with freckles and auburn hair. Despite the situation, her voice his calm, her tone soothing as she slowly inches towards him, holding out her hands as if to show him she means no harm. He's obviously not buying it, and his lips continue to move, although he's plain as day not speaking to any of us. "Whatever's the matter with you," she whispered almost inaudibly. "We can fix, this, just, put the gun down and walk away from it all."
It's silent for almost an eternity while Chester argues this over with himself before raising the gun slowly, and suddenly there's a flurry of movement.
Three shots, someone screams, then the gun falls to the ground, and Chester is suddenly on his knees, staring without a hint of remorse at the two girls sprawled on the ground, two pairs of eyes staring lifelessly at the ceiling. Izzy and the little girl. Gone. Dead. Suddenly it seems that a wave of realization crashes over Chester and he crumples visibly. He remains silent as the library doors as suddenly kicked open, and the gun taken away, He doesn't fight as he was pushed to the floor and handcuffed. As he's pulled to his feet though, his eyes find me, and he speaks. I can't hear him, but I know his words.
I'm sorry.
And he is.
I know what Chester did was pretty terrible. But I know Chester. He isn't a bad guy. I don't care what anybody says, I know he's sorry.