Status: I have based this story off of a subject that is very important to me. I find that we need to learn how to control our usage of automatic guns and I hope that my short story is able to bring this message across others that we all need to find a way to address this issue together.

A Fresh Start

Chapter 2: Jeffie

Speechless. What happened today left me speechless. And all that I can feel is loss.

We were running late to school and I was already fed up with Linneah. I couldn’t be late to the second day of my new school! I had already made friends with a group of popular kids who I was trying to impress. I made a vow to myself that I would no longer be the nerd who loves science and will become the popular boy who ever guy wishes he were. Gone are the black-rimmed glasses, textbooks, and the science equipment, which are now replaced by the strong muscles, good looks, and popularity.

My parents believe that I am going through a phase, as did Linneah … before the accident. No matter how many times I told them that I was doing this to get friends and to fit in to the new surroundings, they still did not take it seriously. I felt as if nobody took me seriously when I was a geek, but now as a well-known 9th grader I have noticed that people have started to notice me and have come to accept me as someone who I am truly not. But now, I don’t even know who I am supposed to be anymore ever since that shooting on Tuesday. And now, with Linneah in the ICU, I don’t think that our lives will ever go back to normal. I can still remember every single second of the shooting.

It was a little bit cold that morning on the walk to school and Linneah and I have not even spoken to each other ever since our argument last night along with our little fight that morning. I was holding a grudge against her and I really wanted for HER to be the one to apologize, not me. When we got to school, I left her side and went off towards the lunch harbor, which was a building away, to meet up with my new friends. When I rounded the corner of the lunch harbor, I did not see anyone. Then, came the whisper.

“Pst! Jeffie! Get down!” whispered my friend Samuel.

“Why?” I whispered back.

“Just trust me.”

As I quickly dropped to the ground and joined my group of friends, the lockdown drill went off.

“What’s go—?” I started to whisper.

“Shh!” Snipped Becky, also in a whisper. “Don’t get us caught!”

That is when I heard it. The sound of ammunition clicking into place in the butt of an automatic handgun. Silently inhaling, I could smell the gunpowder lingering in the air.

“Let’s break up. You two go to the east, you two to the west, you to the south, and I will go to the center.” Spoke a deep, masculine voice. “Meet back here once everyone else is taken care of.”

Closing my eyes, I tried my best to not tremble in fear and to stay as silent as I possibly could. A few minutes went by followed by screams of bloody murder coming form Linneah’s English class. Too afraid to move let alone breath, I held onto Samuel’s hand as tears rolled down my cheeks. There, we all hoped and prayed that al of us would make it out alive.