Shoot

Chapter One

"And that is the transitive property of parallel lines," Mrs. Jaymen finished. I finished writing what she'd written on the board and turned to a blank page in the last part of my three subject notebook.

I groaned in my head as she wrote down our homework. I didn't mind Honors Geometry, I just didn't like how many problems she gave us each night. I guessed that was what happened when you signed up for honors courses.

My name was Quinn Parker, sophomore at Merrylane High. I was pretty ordinary; my parents weren't together, I hadn't seen my dad since I was born, and I got straight A's in school. The whole parent thing was probably the only interesting thing about me, along with the fact that I was a varsity starting soccer player for my school, despite only being in tenth grade.

The door opened, breaking my thoughts, and the boys' soccer senior goalkeeper, Lucas Jones, walked in. I waved a little, he did it back, and then he talked to Mrs. Jaymen about some Calculus homework. He was a senior, and I was a defender on the girls' soccer team, which was how I knew him. I ignored them, trying to do some of the math problems before the bell rang.

Just five minutes before the bell went off, though, the PA system activated.

"Attention all students, staff, and faculty. We are now going into a lockdown procedure. Repeat, we are now going into a lockdown procedure. This is not a drill, I repeat, we are going into a lockdown procedure."

I looked at Mrs. Jaymen. She was still looking at the PA system, just staring. I figured she was shocked to hear it wasn't a drill. I knew I was. My heart was pounding, and fear made my chest constrict. Mrs. Jaymen finally looked at the class, blinking a few times, and calmly put her things down.

"What is everyone waiting for? You all know what to do, now come on, move to the wall," she said, as if this were just a drill. I didn't move as everyone got up. Once I finally registered people moving, I did as well. We all moved to the wall the door was in, and Mrs. Jaymen pulled the blinds down on the windows across from us before joining the class. Lucas took a seat on the floor next to me, Mrs. Jaymen stood out of sight next to the door, and we all stayed very quiet.

It wasn't long before we heard the breaking of glass in the lobby. It was sudden, and scared everyone. There were many gasps, which were quickly quieted by those who hadn't and Mrs. Jaymen. We heard loud voices, but we couldn't hear what they were saying. They sounded like the office secretaries. We didn't have a very large school, it only had two floors, so everything was very close together.

Suddenly, there was a scream, and a gunshot rang out. In that moment, nobody breathed. A lot of us had jumped at the sound, and I'd involuntarily grabbed Lucas's arm in a death grip. Another kid had Lucas's other arm. It was like a chain.

"Quinn, I know you're scared, but you're about to break my wrist," Lucas whispered to me. I realized what I was doing, and I let go of him immediately. Lucas put a hand on my shoulder.

"We'll be okay, kid," he said. I didn't respond. He was like a big brother to me, which meant he was supposed to say things like that. It didn't mean I had to believe them, though. I couldn't believe this was actually happening. This was stuff you heard about in the news or on TV. Our school was actually being shot up. I was in shock.

Which is probably why I didn't react when we heard the shooter's voice call out in the hallway, "Give me Quinn Parker, and nobody gets hurt."

Everyone looked at me, but I still didn't register the fact that the shooter was looking for me. I felt Lucas's hand tighten on my shoulder as I finally blinked, looking up at Mrs. Jaymen, her eyes wide and her mouth a perfect 'o', as the shooter spoke again.

"If she's not out here in the next two minutes, I'll search every classroom until I find her. And trust me, you do not want that. I know she's here, and I know she's on this floor," he said, threatening us. That jolted me out of my reverie. I got up and walked to the door calmly. Lucas ran and jumped in front of me, though, and Mrs. Jaymen grabbed my upper arm.

"Quinn, what are you doing?" she asked, gripping my arm tightly.

"Are you trying to get yourself killed?" Lucas whispered angrily. I jerked my arm out of Mrs. Jaymen's hand and looked both of them in the eye.

"I'd rather get myself killed than have whoever that is shoot up each and every classroom until he finds me!" I whispered back just as angrily. "There are five other classrooms he'll get to before he finds us, along with the special ed students, ESL students, and the nurse's office!"

"I'm not letting you go out there!" Lucas retorted, stubbornly blocking the doorway.

"I'm going with you," Mrs. Jaymen said suddenly. I looked at her, about to protest, but saw her determined eyes and knew it was no use.

"What? Are you both crazy?" Lucas said, looking at the teacher now. "Why are you going? If you are, I am!"

"No, Lucas. You're staying here," Mrs. Jaymen said. "It's my job to protect my students in a situation like this, and that means going out there with her and you staying here. Now move, or I'll have someone physically remove you. Quinn is right; we can't let other students get hurt. But she won't either, I promise you that."

Lucas reluctantly moved to the side, and Mrs. Jaymen and I walked out into the hallway. The shooter was a man who looked to be in his late thirties, early forties, with his gun pointed directly at Mrs. Jaymen. He was a little bit down the hall, but i had no doubt, if he shot that weapon, Mrs. Jaymen wouldn't stand a chance. I slowly raised my hands.

"I'm Quinn Parker. Who are you, and what do you want?" I asked, loud and clear, so everyone could breathe a sigh of relief that they wouldn't be shot. I was determined not to show my fear, although the man didn't seem like he wanted to hurt me.

"Who's she?" the man answered gruffly. He nodded to Mrs. Jaymen, but the gun didn't move an inch.

"My teacher. Don't shoot her, or I'll jump in front of her and you'll lose me. Now why are you here?" I could see Mrs. Jaymen turned her head to me with wide eyes, but I didn't dare break eye contact with the shooter. I was surprising myself; I always thought I'd be useless in a situation like this, and yet here I was, making deals with a gunman.

"I'm here to take you home with me. I'm your dad, Quinn," the man said, smiling so the fluorescent lights glinted off his white teeth.

I gasped.