The 1st Game

1

1

I sit in Maths, staring out the window as the teacher rambles on about equations. The girls behind me chatter furiously about what dress they'll be wearing to the cinema tonight. The boys in front throw paper balls at each other. I look back at the door, hoping that my best friend Sam has arrived, but she's not there. Sigh.

“But the blue one makes me look fat!” Lizzie says. I yawn.

“You never look fat! Every dress that I wear makes my stomach look way too big,” Monique replies, distressed. I'm exhausted. I really should have gotten more sleep last night.

“Mate, that was such a pussy throw!” says Harry. I watch as a drop of snot falls from his nose. He wipes it with his jumper sleeve. I look back out the window and my eyes slowly shut. I lay my head on the desk.

“Mason!” I jerk awake to the sight of the entire class looking at me. Mrs Dicen glares at me from across the room. “Pay attention. This will be on your exam.” My classmates snicker.

“Aww poor baby. Did your mummy forget to tuck you in last night?” This is from Dale. He is my favourite person in the world. I look down at my desk until the teacher begins talking again.

It is exactly twenty-three minutes before a tap on the shoulder makes me spin in my chair. Sam gives an apologetic smile as she takes her seat beside me. “Where the hell have you been?” I ask, raising my eyebrows.

“Held up in traffic,” she says. “Did anything exciting happen in my absence?”

“Besides Dale being a complete dick, no, not really.”

“I meant something new.” She looks at me. “Well you look terrible today.”

I roll my eyes. “What a compliment.”

“What time did you go to bed?”

“Four or something. I don't know.” I yawn again. She shakes her head at me.

“You know, I read on Twitter the other day that you're more likely to die young if you don't get enough sleep.” I laugh.

“Well, I guess I'm dying young then.” Sam laughs as well.

After Maths I have English. I really do hate Mondays. Luckily both classes have Sam in it, otherwise I'm not sure how I'd survive.

As we walk across the oval, I watch as three police cars come speeding down the road, sirens blaring. “Wonder what that's about,” I say as a cold gust of wind whips my face.

In English, Sam and I separate after five minutes, even though we are barely talking. Mrs Hinde (AKA Fish eyes) pretty much moves us every lesson. We're certainly not her favourite students in the world.

In the middle of the spelling test, two more students are moved, and one of them sits next to me. Kylie. A small, petite girl with glasses and buck teeth, and annoying as hell. I sigh as she starts to talk about how great she is at mountain climbing, even though she's not. I climb mountains every weekend with Sam, and we always see her stumbling and falling down. She is by no means good.

It's ten minutes to lunch when I hear the first gun shot. The teacher freezes in the middle of her lecture, and everyone goes dead silent. Sam and I look at each other in confusion. There's no way that sound didn't come from inside the school. If it's dangerous, then the alarm will go off. Otherwise there's nothing to worry about. Could have just been something that-

The sound of rapid shots from a machine gun are heard, and everyone screams. The teacher shouts for us to get under our desks, and I hurry over to Sam. She sits under her desk with wide eyes, clutching the leg of a chair.

Me and Sam say nothing as more shots ring out. Screams are heard across the school as people panic. I try to figure out where the direction of the shots is coming from, but Sam has beat me to it. “The office,” she says, her eyes closed. “They must be targeting the administration.” I nod. Who could be doing this? An angry student? A psycho killer? But from the sound of it, there's more than one person firing.

Finally the shooting ceases. I sigh in relief, praying for it to be over. The sound of feedback from the school's speakers reverberate. Someone taps the microphone. Then a voice is heard.