tuesday

Part 1

It started normal. Just like every other day, which made me unsuspecting, innocent.

Happy.

Oblivious to the event that would ruin the rest of my life.

My alarm went off at half past six. I got up a little after that, kissing Babe (the cat) good morning. I showered, brushed my teeth. Got dressed in my school uniform and braided my hair. Drawing my little brother Theo's curtains—though, he's not so little—letting the sunlight flow into his room so he'd wake up eventually. I knew for a fact my parents went for a run that morning so I skipped saying good morning to them and headed straight for the kitchen, pouring myself a bowl of cereal.

My eyes caught a family picture. Me, Theo, and my father with dark, sort of curly hair, and my mother, with her blond hair always clipped into a messy bun that somehow always looked awesome on her. All our brown, hazel eyes glinting in the sunlight. Our creamy, tanned skin glowing next to the beach we were standing on. Our upside down smiles, looking at each other in happiness.

I smiled unknowingly, and left the cereal on the counter, letting it sit in the milk so it'd get a little soggy, just the way I liked it. I browsed through my MacBook, my eyes scanning the school website for any homework I might have missed.

But all this didn't matter. It was just a random Tuesday school day. The next day would be Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, then the weekend.

Everything was normal.

I got on the school bus, a little out of breath and searching for a seat before the bus would take off. "Lia!" A shrill voice called. My mouth curled into a small smile as I followed the voice, plopping down in the seat next to her.

"Arlea Harrington." She crossed her arms with a mock anger.

I crossed my arms, too. "Rylee West."

She laughed, shaking her head, her beautiful blonde hair falling onto her shoulders. "How was the dinner?"

"Yes, thank you for the lasagna." I kicked my bag under the seat in front of me. "It was delicious."

Rylee slapped my shoulder. "It was a casserole, you idiot!"

I rubbed my shoulder, pressing my lips against each other. "And a delicious casserole it was."

She hit me again but I expertly dodged the next slap. "You said your parents were going on a date night, you were too lazy to cook, so I—" She put her hands on her chest. "Took the liberty of making my dear friend a casserole Gordan Ramsey would be proud of, and this is how she pays me back."

"Sorry, Rylee." I laughed as I saw her trying to hide her smile. "Look, whatever it was, lasagna or casserole, it was delicious." She raised her eyebrows. "And I will buy you a cookie from the school cafeteria to make up for it?"

"Thank you." She pulled out her notebook. "And now you're gonna sit through ten minutes of me showing you my new designs."

"I'd love to."

We got off the bus a bit later, walking to school, holding each other so we wouldn't fall over with laughter. "What do you have first?" I giggled, holding in a laugh.

"Remember? Every time you have Maths I have...?"

"Bio." I nodded. "Come drop me off first." I held on to the back of her backpack as she navigated through the crowded hallway.

Someone bumped into me, making me lose her. "Hey!" I called, standing and dusting myself off.

"Sorry, dude." Ethan Geller stood in front of me, his arms crossed. Dark hair, tanned skin, eyes that were warm. A dark brown, leather necklace.

"No problem, dude." I muttered, walking past him. He stopped me with his shoulder, stepping in front of me.

"Be careful next time." His eyes bored into mine.

I shook him off.

"What a creep," Rylee muttered once I caught up to her. I rolled my eyes in agreement. She dropped me off by Math, hugging me bye, holding on to my shoulders dramatically. "I'll see you in an hour, if I haven't died from boredom." She sighed. I snorted, watching her leave.

Time slowed down as she walked away. Her pin-straight hair was swinging gently. Her backpack was hanging off one shoulder. She was holding her notebook tightly, tucked under her arm. She glanced at me one last time, her green eyes smiling.

My eyes caught on an object, held up into the air. Black. Small. One hand wrapped around it, and two fingers squeezing the trigger.

The shot and my scream was in sync. First Rylee looked at me, confused. Her face slowly fell as she looked at her chest, red leaking into her school uniform. She looked back up at me and her knees hit the ground. The rest of her body went limp on the floor.

Time resumed as more shots rang out. Hundreds of girls and boys were screaming, yelling, pushing themselves away from the gun and whoever was holding it.

I shoved through people, trying to get to Rylee. "RYLEE!" I screamed. I reached her. The crowd had parted around her, avoiding her.

She was pale, laying on the ground in a complicated position. Her eyes were open but she wasn't blinking. "Rylee." My voice was lost in the screams. "Come on, we need to go." I shook her, harder and harder each time. Hundreds of people were running, pushing past me. "Wake up, you idiot!" I yelled. Drops fell onto her body. My tears. "RYLEE, WE NEED TO GO!" I screamed, my voice suddenly louder than everyone else's. I couldn't feel my heartbeat. Was I dead, too? I didn't think I was breathing. "Rylee, please? Please, please, please." Someone's arms grabbed me. "No!" I wrapped my arms around her. "What are you doing?" What were they doing? They needed to save Rylee, too. They started pulling at me, tugging me away from her. "Rylee," I cried. My arms, my whole body went limp and they were dragging me across the floor.

I was outside. The police were here, they were holding a boy my age and taking him to a car. I didn't look to see who. Someone was holding on tightly to my shoulders but I couldn't see them, I was facing the school, sitting in the grass.

"Arlea, that's your name, right?" It was the person behind me. "Arlea?" I felt them let go of me and step in front of me. "I'm Ethan. Ethan Geller." He knelt in front of me. "The dude guy?" He searched my eyes. "What was her name?" He added when I didn't react.

"Rylee." My eyes met his. "You know her, Rylee West, she's in your—"

"I know. I just wanted you to talk, say something." He interrupted. He sat in front of me. "Are you okay?"

He was crazy, he must have been crazy to ask me that. But I couldn't respond because the police were dragging someone out, they were covered in a black sheet. I stood, running to it with a ringing in my ears. I tore the sheet off and froze.

It was her, my beautiful Rylee. Her hair looked brown. Her eyes were closed now. I dropped to my knees. I couldn't look at her anymore. Ethan was holding me, or someone else, but I guessed it was Ethan. "It's okay, it's okay." He muttered. I sobbed, my whole body shaking uncontrollably. They rolled her away, away from me, forever.

Then someone ripped Ethan away from me and held me even tighter. I couldn't breathe. I pushed myself away from them, meeting a pair of brown eyes just like mine, dark hair messed around like he'd just woken up. "Theo." I didn't recognise my own voice. It sounded foreign. He was holding my arms tight. His eyes were red and he was still in his pyjamas. "You were sick, you were supposed to stay home—"

"Who the hell are you?" Ethan demanded. "I've never seen you here." Theo took a step closer.

"I'm her brother. Back off." He sat next to me, his anger fading when he looked at me. "I came the second I heard." His voice shook. "Arlea?"

Warm tears streamed down my face as he held it. "She's gone." I cried. "Theo, Rylee's gone." He held me as I buried my face in his chest, sobbing. "It's not real, this isn't real." He stayed silent. "I just want this day to be over."