Krys
School finally reopened. There were a lot of debates and problems. Some students said they weren’t going to show up. Some people wanted school to be held somewhere else so no one would have to remember what happened. It does seem wrong to just go back to normal while you’re walking where your friend’s body once laid. On the first day back at school, I don’t expect there to be any kind of problem for me. None of my friends died and May is fine now. She’s going to school too. She’s a bit more nervous than I am but she doesn't want to deal with the fear forever. So she goes. She also didn’t tell anyone but Super Six that she got shot and she doesn’t want her parents to ask her about why she wouldn’t go. So I get off the school bus and stand in the doorway of the school. I walk inside to see hallways crowded with students. Today, there’s not yelling and shoving and horsing around. Everyone walks quietly with their heads down. I don’t want to join them and spend the rest of my school days mourning. I feel overwhelmed by the depressed atmosphere and I find myself heading out the doors.
I run outside and start sprinting nowhere. I just want to get away. I need to get away. “Krys!” a voice yells. I ignore it and keep running. “KRYS!” the voice shouts. I recognize it. I feel a hand grab mine. I stop running. “Leave me alone Matt.” I mumble. I feel his soft green eyes watching me. I turn around and look at him. “I can’t do this. Not today anyway.” I explain softly. “I’m not going to ask you to. I can’t do this either. I just murdered these people’s friends and now I need to walk among them and mourn the people I killed.” He whispers in a hushed voice. “But you didn’t kill anyone. You just shot May and she’s fine.” I insist. He shrugs. “I’m still one of the shooters. Everyone knows there were three.” He points out. “I’m not going back. And we don’t need to. But I don’t want to spend today alone.” he says softly. I don’t even know what he means and yet I find my face turning scarlet. Is he asking me on a date or something? Does skipping school together count as a date? “So you want to ditch school together?” I ask nervously. He nods. “Unless you want to go back and join the cult of the depressed.” he adds. I sigh and smile a little. I wouldn’t mind a day off. “Why not?”
For a while we walk in awkward silence. I glance at him occasionally. He stares forward his face pink. It’s not a secret he likes me. But do I like him? “You wanna go get coffee or something?” he asks. “I don’t have any money.” I mumble. “I do.” He says pulling out a twenty dollar bill. I look at him quizzically. Why would he have money with him? Was he planning to ask me on a date and skip school with me? Almost as if he can read my mind he tells me it’s lunch money. Of course. I’m overthinking everything. “So do you want coffee?” he asks again. “There’s a coffee shop over there.” He gestures to a small coffee shop that sells coffee, tea, hot chocolate and pastries. I nod a little. We walk into the shop that’s surprisingly empty. We don’t need to wait on any lines. No one asks us why we’re not in school. Everyone knows school’s been closed for a while. Some kids even got permission not to go. I guess I could’ve but I didn’t plan on running out. I order a coffee and a pastry. I’m not one to be all shy and hesitant when it comes to eating in front of people. If I’m hungry, I eat. No point starving yourself because of sheer embarrassment. What’s embarrassing about fueling your body anyway?
We walk around a little more sipping coffee and I devour my pastry. I drink my coffee slowly almost feeling energy course through my veins with each sip. Matt’s hand brushes against mine and I find it hard to swallow. “How was your pastry?” he asks quietly. “It was good. I can pay you back for what you spent on me if you want.” I insist. “Nah. You don’t need to and I don’t want you to.” He says firmly. I shrug and don’t fight him. This is seeming more and more like a date. And in all honesty when he's not shooting my friends he’s a gentleman. You don’t see too many of those. Not when they’re only like fourteen.
