Blue

Chapter Five

Warm water spilled across his hands before he turned the faucet off. James grabbed a paper towel and wiped away some of the dampness. He hadn't actually needed to go to the bathroom but he had a daily second period ritual. He loved his art class but the silence in the room called in for a heaviness around his eyes. Since he doodled all day in his notebooks anyways, it pretty much made up for whatever class time he missed. It was only like ten minutes. Maybe twenty. Alex swears that in total from all his hallway adventures every day that it added up to one full period.

James would laugh when she'd say that, shaking his head while she'd roll her eyes at him. She was so cute when she gave him that face that it twisted his heart in all the right ways.

Sighing, he pulled out his phone, sending out a text to her on how the test went. He didn't really need to ask. When James helped her study, she had known the material like the back of her hand.

He began scrolling through his phone, waiting and contemplating if he would have a better chance at an answer if he sent something through Twitter. She had an addiction that even school couldn't suppress.

Before it happened, he laughed alone with his back against the wall.

Before he heard it, he amused himself by taking funny photos and sending them off to Alex and his friends.

And then it happened.

His smile fell from his lips, a tension locking his arm in place. His phone slipped from his grasp, clattering to the floor.

It was one of those unmistakable sounds that he heard on crime shows and outside off in the distance from a forest. There was nothing quite like hearing it in real life. The way his ears rung at its absence. Silence had never felt so loud. A gunshot had never felt so close.

Alex.

He sputtered for air when he pictured the way her eyes dazzled after he kissed her forehead. She was in her English class by this time a day, a short walk straight down the hall. Not nearly far enough from the thundering sound. James would much rather it, whatever it was, be nearer to him. Whoever it was.

It was as if his heart lurched in his throat when he remembered who he had passed in the hallway on his way to the bathroom. A girl surrounded by the aroma of chicken nuggets and fresh flowers, a shabby poster by her side. Safiya.

Alex loved Safiya, loved going out to movies every now and then when Safi wasn't hanging around Maya. James and Safiya had always had a mutual respect for both knowing how to push his girlfriend's buttons and whenever they were around each other they ate up the opportunities. Maya. If there was Safi out there then Maya had to be joined at her hip if not already but sometime soon.

He bent down slowly, picking up his phone to find the screen shattered. James cursed under his breath before typing up a quick warning text for Maya to stay in class. The advice was useless, but he couldn't keep himself from hitting send. When he was finished, he only stood there, tension lining the muscles in his back. There was nowhere to go. Classrooms would already be locked from the outside and even if they risked glancing to see his face, he doubted anyone would let him in. For all they knew he was the shooter.

He hated himself as he crept into a bathroom stall, sliding the lock in place, and standing on the toilet.

He was nothing but a coward.

Safiya and Maya were out there. Even Alex, but he tried to take peace knowing she wouldn't have roamed the halls even for a break. Waiting for another sound, he was met with nothing but silence.

James stood there, unmoving for what felt long enough for him to paint a detailed mosaic all around a building. He swore he heard a voice and then a careful set of footsteps trace a path against the old tile floors.