Crazy Little Thing Called Love. (Watty Awards 2012)

Chapter 18. Mckayla

Chapter 18. McKayla.

It was a normal day at school, I was staring off into space thinking about nothing that had to relate to the class I was in. English was the first period of the day. English was in the library, and usually I loved it, but today we were getting a lecture about bullying, and I've heard it about a million times before. I just wanted to curl up with a good book, and empty my brain of all thoughts other than what was happening in the book. I couldn't read, for a long period of time, and then I got reading glasses, thank god. Reading was definitely a hobby of mine.

"Mckayla?" Ms. Burns tried to get my attention, waving her hand in front of my face. I jumped, quickly getting focused on the lesson, again. "You need to pay attention."

"Sorry," I apologized, scratching my head.

She didn't respond, she just went back to talking about bullying, while I picked at my finger nail. The clock ticked, and time flew by, until the bell finally rang again, to go to my next class. I was about to walk out of the door until someone stopped me.

Ms. Burns.

With her dark black hair, and her evil personality, it was like she was keeping me hostage.

Wait... what the heck was I just thinking? "I feel like a poet," I whispered to myself, surprised by my detailed words.

"Excuse me?" Ms. Burns asked, obviously thinking I was talking to her.

"Nothing," I answered, turning around to face her. "Do you need something?"

She stared at me for a while, looking annoyed, and staring deep into my eyes. I felt like I was going to melt from awkwardness. "I need you to stop being so rude in class." Her left eyebrow went up.

"Well," I prepared myself to answer honestly. "If your lectures weren't so boring, maybe I wouldn't be so rude." I backed up, beginning to run for my life, before the crazy teacher made me stay longer. But then something crazy happened.

A huge bang.

A speaker came on over the school, and I recognized the Principal's deep voice. "We are now transitioning into a Code Z, please remain calm, and get into your safety positions." My heart began to beat like a drum, as I looked around and saw terror in people's eyes.

"Quickly, go behind the book shelf's!" Ms. Burns screamed, pointing to the back of the library. I ran for my life, and suddenly didn't hate Ms. Burns anymore. I just wanted her to protect me. A Code Z meant there was a person in the school that had a weapon. And coming from that loud bang, I'm thinking it's a gun shot.

I never expected something like this to ever happen to my school. It seemed safe here. What if we all died? What if it was over?

I slowly sat down, behind a book shelf, hoping the intruder couldn't see me. Tears rolled down my cheeks, and my body felt tingly from nerves. A bunch of other kids were still in the library, and I wondered if I looked as scared as them. They joined me, about fifteen people, including teachers, lining up behind the shelf's. Ms. Burns sat next to me on my left. "It's going to be okay," She whispered, squeezing my shoulder. "We'll keep you all safe. You just need to remain quiet and calm."

"Okay," I whispered back, trying to smile, but all that came out were more tears. Even Ms. Burns smile became shaky, and she couldn't help the tears from coming too. I thought about Cecilia, wondering if she was safe, when she could be in great danger. I began to get a pounding head ache, and I just wished we could go back to class. Even Ms. Burns lectures are better than this.

I heard another bang, and I jumped a little bit. Screams began to erupt from outside, and someone must have gotten shot. I recognized the scream. A little boy scream.

A scream that was Daniel's.

I knew that scream from anywhere. When he was laughing, crying, or being obnoxious the scream was always the same. I put my head in between my legs and began to bawl my eyes out. Ms. Burns put her hand on my shoulder again and whispered, "It's okay, your going to be fine."

"No it's not," I whispered back. "I know that little boy that screamed." I wiped away the tears on the corners of my eyes, my breath becoming more shallow with every second I continued to cry.

She looked at me with sympathy. "Everyone is doing the best they can," She reassured. "I'm sure the police are here by now, they're going to protect us." Even though Ms. Burns words were suppose to make me feel better, I still couldn't help myself from worrying.

Where was Cecilia?

Was Daniel okay?

What about the other people I know and love?

It was all too much for me to handle.

~~

It took three and a half hours to make sure the school was completely safe. We sat there for that long, being bored and worried. Luckily, there was books every where to get our minds off of the tragedy. When the principal reassured us that everything was okay, it felt so weird to go out in the hallways again. It was almost like I didn't feel safe.

We went straight home after the incident, and as far as I knew, we would be staying home for a while.

As soon as the bus dropped me off and home, I ran up to my bedroom and called Cecilia. She was in tears, and I could barely understand what she was saying through the phone. "He got shot!" She exclaimed, barely able to communicate. "He didn't know where to go, so he panicked." We stayed silent for a minute, me being only able to hear wimpers.

I began to cry too. I didn't even know that I had anymore tears left. "Where did he get shot?" I asked.

"Right on his left leg. He's in a wheel chair now, and the hospitals keeping him for a while. Thank god he's still alive. I just wish it was me instead, you know?"

"No you don't," I said. "I kept praying for him. Be lucky the gun shot hit there, not his head or something." I try to think of the positives in every situation, it always helps.

"Yeah, I'm so glad." I heard her sigh. "But, I have to go, my mom's taking me to the hospital to visit Daniel."

"Maybe I'll come there later to visit him," I added.

"That would be great," She replied. "I love you."

"Love you too," I said, and then I hung up the phone.

~~

The rest of the night was slow. My Mom got out of work as soon as she found about the Code Z. Apparently, it had been all over the news. She wanted to make sure I was okay. I never visited Daniel in the hospital, we just stayed home and watched old classic Disney movies together, with me and my two other sisters.

My youngest sister, Macy held onto my hand the whole time we were watching movies. It was like she didn't want me to go. Even my oldest sister, who's sixteen kept looking at me sadly. I guess they could be thinking that I could have died. What would the world be like without me?

Boring!

I wonder if Andrew's okay. I shouldn't care about him, anyway. He's probably not even worrying about me, so what's the point?

Exactly. There isn't one.