Unexpected

Unprepared

Kirstin:

     "Nothing. Nothing. Nothing." I groaned. I banged my head against my desk repeatedly. I rubbed my tired eyes, wishing that I had slept the night before. "Why doesn't anything interesting happen at school?" I asked myself.

     For years, I had been a part of the school newspaper. Well. . . sort of, if you count being the designated "snack woman" as a major role in the team. No one had ever trusted me with an assignment because I'm "not qualified," despite the fact that I had never been given a chance. But, the one time they give me something important to do, there's nothing going on in the school to write about.

     I had bounced around from student to student, teacher to teacher, and even the lunch ladies and janitors in my search for something interesting, but it had been fruitless. The assignment was due in two days and I had not written so much as a single word.

     The forty-eight straight hours of staying awake were finally hitting me and I was using all my willpower not to curl up and fall asleep. I called in sick from school that day so I could have more time to think, but so far it wasn't doing me any good.

     My phone rang loudly, making me jump up from my seat. I checked the caller ID: my friend Esther.

     I accepted the call. "Yeah, Est?" I said, irritation and lack of rest audible in my voice. But Esther payed no mind to this and responded in her cheery, excited manner. "Did you hear about what went down at school this morning?"

     "No. . ." The drowsiness had left my tone completely, leaving nothing but pure curiosity. "What happened?"

     "I think you'd better see for yourself," she replied. The phone buzzed in my hand, indicating a text message. I ended the call and quickly went to check out the video my friend had sent me.

     Could this be the story I was looking for?

     I waited impatiently for the short footage to load, my heart rate increasing with anxiety and excitement. Finally, the picture came to life. The bottom half of the screen was covered by the top of someone's head, as if Esther was standing in a crowd as she recorded. Then, I soon realized that she was in the middle of a crowd. A sea of students had filled up the hallway, only parting to reveal the three boys that the camera was focused on.

     Two of them I recognized, but the other one did not look familiar, so I assumed he was a new student. He was taller than the average seventeen-year-old and his hair was a nice shade of blond, but I couldn't tell you what his face looked like since his back faced the camera.

     The shortest one of the three was Mitch Grassi, my ex boyfriend from freshman year. We broke up when he came out as gay, and we never spoke since then, even though I suggested that we remain close friends.

     The other one was obviously Carson Satterwhite. I was lucky enough to say that I had never encountered him during my time at Martin, but I'd seen him pretty often.

     Actually, looking back on it, I realized that I had encountered him many times before. . . when Mitch and him were friends. . .

     Anyways, New Kid was pressing Carson against the lockers, very forcefully, may I add. My eyes widened in surprise. Either he was really brave, or incredibly stupid. Most likely both.

     I anticipated for Carson to knock him into next week, but New Kid whispered something to him that was inaudible from the place where Esther stood, then released him before Carson got the chance. The video stopped.

     My thumbs flew over the screen as I texted Esther back. "Who is this??? What does he think he's doing???"

     Ether was quick to answer. "Name's Scott Hoying, and idk why he thinks he can get away with this without being brutally murdered. Either way, I think you found yourself your big break!"

     I watched the video over numerous times, growing more and more content.

     Scott Hoying. . .

     Excellent.