The Shadow of Class 203 (Freedom Writers Fanfic)

Chapter 2

The colors of red and blue flashed around as Kianna looked down at a 13-year-old black boy. The sound of sirens and shouting filled the air. His body faced away from her, but he smiled over his shoulder with a tear going down his cheek. Then, he looked forward and pretended to reach for something behind his back. Suddenly, loud bangs filled the air. The boy had fall to the round. A blood-red liquid started to stain his shirt and pool out from around his body. The ghost of his smile and once shining eyes looked up at Kianna as she heard pounding footsteps making their way to her room. She was yanked away and pulled into darkness.

Kianna shot up with tears streaming down her face. She wiped them away as she felt the hole in her chest grow. She glanced at her nightstand and stared at a framed picture of her and the boy smiling at a lake. Kianna sighed before getting up and dressing for school. As she dressed, she stopped to stare at a round scar on her right shoulder. She grazed it lightly with her hand before continuing to put on her black hoodie and navy jeans. Once she brushed her hair and teeth, she quickly made her way out of the house, grabbing her bag on the way.

Once she made it to school, Kianna relaxed and decided to sit next to a tree. There were plenty of students around her. All of them were mingling with their own kind. You had the whites, the blacks, the Latinos, and the Cambodians. Of course, Kianna can't really mingle with the whites or Latinos. Whites hate Latinos, and the Latinos hate whites, so being mixed made her unwelcomed by both.

As she was relaxing, she noticed a black kid in an orange hoodie saunter over towards the Latinos. He clearly knew what he was doing when he stepped into their territory. Eva, who was sitting in the center of the group on a table, glared at the guy, and so did everyone else. The guy was clearly a wannabe demanding respect he hadn't earned by walking into their territory as if it was his. They all glared at him as he walked right through. It was a declaration of war. Eva knew something big was coming, and so did Kianna. Kianna smirked knowing today was going to be another easy day for her.

Once class started, the students of class 203 continued to chat and talk to their packs. Kianna just lounged in her desk and waited for class to get started. When class started, the class was full of talking, laughing, and people messing around. Slowly it was all fanning a flame inside Kianna. It is quite annoying to be surrounded by constant noise when she just wants to relax.

"Alright, settle down," Mrs. Gruwell said. Kianna sighed feeling somewhat relieved as most of the class quiet down.

"Let's go over the first name on our list, Homer. Homer's The Odessey," Mrs. Gruwell said as she wrote it on the blackboard.

"I know Homer the Simpson," a big black guy with a jacket and cap said. Then, all the other black kids around him laughed.

"No, this Homer was an ancient Greek, but maybe he was bald just like Homer Simpson," Mrs. Gruwell joked. All the students scoffed at her bad attempt at being funny.

While everyone was in class, Eva went out to the bathroom. When she walked out, she looked around for any guards before making her way to a side gate. Right behind the gate was her gang, her pack, ready to fight and demand the respect they crave after the stunt the black kid pulled earlier. Once Eva opened the gate, they rushed in ready to let their anger out. The last guy, Paco, stopped and kissed Eva as she closed the gate before they rushed over, together, to fight with the group.

Back in the classroom, everyone was hanging with their packs, becoming rowdy again, while Kianna felt more and more agitated by the second. All their obnoxious noise was getting to her.

"Quiet, please," Mrs. Gruwell said to try and reel in the wild class, but to no avail. Kianna dropped her head against her desk and groaned. This class was driving her insane, pushing her to the limit. Jamal suddenly grabbed Gloria's bag and snickered. Gloria then quickly got up from her desk and looked at Mrs. Gruwell.

"Mrs. Gruwell, he just took my damn bag," Gloria nagged like a toddler as she pointed at Jamal. The anger started to overflow as Kianna gripped her arms.

"Shut up! Ain't nobody touched your damn bag," Jamal said getting up quickly and facing towards Gloria. Gloria then shoved him back.

"Yeah, I saw you", Gloria said clearly mad. Both Jamal and Gloria continued to nag and argue like obnoxious kids. Kianna was so angered that she was scratching her arm to try to contain herself.

"I didn't do nothing anyway!" Jamal whined out. Right then something just snapped in Kianna

"Why don't you both shut the fuck up!", Kianna suddenly shouted as she slammed her fist against her desk. Everyone was quiet in shock. The quiet kid who was barely noticed suddenly became the one who was the most noticed.

Suddenly, there was screaming and commotion outside. Everyone stayed quiet since they were confused about what's going on. Kianna just composed herself and grabbed her bag, ready to dash out. She knew exactly what was happening. Mrs. Gruwell quickly opened the door to check out what was happening. Then, the school alarm went off. Everyone quickly got their shit together and jumped out of their seats, rushing out of the classroom. Kianna jumped up and pushed past Mrs. Gruwell, running down the hall. Her hood fell off her head as she made her way to the end of the hallway

Once she popped outside, all the packs were fighting: the blacks, Hispanics, and the Cambodians. It was mostly the blacks and Hispanics fighting, but on the side, a few Hispanics and Cambodians were fighting as well. Among them was Eva and Sindy fighting each other. Kianna watched them for a bit before she rushed her way over to one of the school's back exits. One of the black kids standing on the side of the fights noticed her and her light bronze skin. He followed her like a predator when she ran off.

When Kianna reached the side exit at the school and cursed when she realized it was locked. She turned around to go to another gate only to be slammed into the locked gate. She looked up to see a black kid smirking at her before he punched her in the stomach. Kianna doubled over and the kid shoved her to the ground.

"It's fun to beat up a mix because I get to beat up the people I hate: Hispanics and whites", the kid said before kicking Kianna hard in the chest. He smirked as he continued to kick her hard. Marcus, the big quiet black kid from her class, was rushing to a different exit gate but looked over to see Kianna getting beat up. He stopped, debating whether he should do anything before rushing over.

Kianna growled as she felt frustrated. She turned around on the floor and kick swept his legs, causing him to fall onto his back. She straddled him before squeezing his neck and raising her fist. Marcus stopped a couple of feet away from Kianna as he saw this. Kianna smirked as she saw the fear in the kid's eyes. She had, for once in her life, power over someone. Feeling the kid shake under her made her feel great. She smiled widely before she slugged the kid across the face hard, knocking him out. Kianna continued to slug the boy across the face with her smile getting wider with every punch, eventually breaking his nose. Marcus was frozen in his spot, this small quiet girl from his class was like a demon that got off on violence. As Kianna pulled her hand back for one final punch, Marcus quickly grabbed her arm to stop her. Kianna quickly got up and turned around to punch Marcus, her stone-cold eyes locked onto his. Marcus closed his eyes and scrunched up ready to feel the hit. Kianna realized what she was doing and stopped right before hitting his face. Marcus opened his eyes and looked at her. This time, instead of a violent beast, he saw the quiet small girl in his class.  She was shaking as she looked at her bloody fist. She then looked over to the black kid and stared in horror as she realized what she has done. She shook a bit more as she thought about the fear she saw in the boy's eyes. Marcus felt sympathy as he watched her. Kianna turned back over to him and looked at her hands as they shook.

"I-I didn't mean to do this," Kianna mumbled in a quiet, shaky voice. Marcus sighed and put his hand on her shoulder to comfort her but was shocked when she flinched at his touch. He pulled his hand away.

"I know you didn't," Marcus said as Kianna continued to shake. "Let's get out of here before anyone sees this."

Kianna nodded curtly. She pulled up her hood and shoved her hands into her pocket. Marcus looked at her a bit before walking away with her following him out of the school.