To Fall Apart

Day 2 : 9:34am (Ally)

  I was returned to the nurse's office upon my request last night. I had a feeling the situation wouldn't resolve itself by the time night fell, but I still prayed for a long time it would. I woke up several times from a fitful sleep, finally accepting I wouldn't be getting any rest. I sat next to Ryan as he slept on painkillers, almost like I was standing guard. It was strange how, in less than 24 hours, I went from a giigling girl with a crush to a protector. While Ryan slept, I walked around campus with my escourts. It was erie and unnatural, just wandering the empty halls. I had only ever been here when when it was full of life and the halls overflowed with students. My footsteps echoed. 

  The school was not just one building, but several buildings on one plot of land. 8 buildings in 2 lines of 4. The office was in front of thes 8 buidings, the bandroom off to its left and to the right was the Ag Department and the football field. 

  I walked around aimlessly, having a small plan. Slowly my escourts got bored, they followed with less vigor, fell behind me by quite a distance. One stooped to tie his shoe and the other one stopped as well. I almost bolted, but something stopped me. I have a very special freedom, if I broke that now, David wouldn't trust me and I could be screwed. A new planned formed.

  "Hey!" The escourts catch up to where I'm stopped. "I want to talk to David." I see the deeply engrained respect and fear for their leader in there eyes as I mention his name. "Look, he's busy-" "So, take me to whatever little office he has and I'll wait." The two boys look at each other. "It's going to be a long wait, he's going to call the-" The other boy smacks him. "Shut up, Ben!" Ben blushes a deep scarlet. "Come on, we'll take you to his office." They lead me back down the hallway and to the school's office building, then into the principal's office.

  They wouldn't walk past the door way. "We...aren't allowed inside. We'll tell him you're here though." I enter then turn to them. " And you're going to leave me all alone in a room with a giant window to escape from?" The boy that scolded Ben replies, swiftly, "Escape to where?" And shuts the door. 

  I wait for a full minute, just to make sure they don't suddenly re-enter the room to find me snooping. If this is really David's office, I'm bound to find something. David is meticulous and driven to be perfect, he will want to be neat. If I move something and leave it out of place, it will not go unnoticed.

  I memorize the layout of his desk then I start leafing through papers. Alot of it is the principal's, and I don't want to think of what's become of him. I find nothing. I look through the drawers, the cabinets, the trash. I had found nothing of relevance and was about to give up. God, help me. There has to be something here for me to find. I know you got me in here for a reason. Show me what you wanted me to find.

  That's when I spot it. The principal had one floor to cieling bookshelf. All the shelves were full, except where there was space for one more book. All the shelves except one. On bookshelf was completely full. I scan the titles of each book. All of them were How To or educational books, ecept one. One rather old looking volume was titled To Die with Honor. I picked it out and it was surprisingly light for such a large book. 

  I opened it and nearly cried with joy. Inside the book was hollowed out and replaced with papers folded neatly in half. I took them out and scanned through them. The joy I felt just seconds ago was replaced by dread. I put the papers back carefully to their original position and put the book back on the shelf. I sat down heavily in the chair on the student side of the desk.

  I sat there with a lead heart for another 20 minutes before David came. I put ona mask of a calm demeanor so he couldn't tell what my heart feels. 

  "Hello, Ms.Mitchell. What can I do for you?" I folded my hands in my lap, offering a gracious smile. "I came to offer a little advice." David raises an eyebrow. He was truly a handsome boy, with looks like a model. But a pretty facecould never conceal a montrous soul. "Yes, you see the police will be restless. You have exceeded far beyond their Golden Hour." David casually leans back in his chair, "I don't think I understand, please continue." I nod, leaning a little forward. "See, the police have the first hour of high hopes of resolving the situation peacefully. After that hour, their hopes diminish and they become a little more rash." "And how do you suggest I overcome that? How do I keep their hopes up?"

  This is where our little card game gets a bit more tricky. I can't over step or I'll loose his trust once he notices I'm using him. But if I underestimate, I have left people unnessicarily at risk. "Release a fraction of the school's population. MAinly freshman, seeing as how they're the youngest. And the kids that were in the Agriculture class, since you had to cram them into classrooms for the night." I hope my statement sounded logical and indifferent. If I sound too much like I'm begging, he may say 'no' just to mess with me.

  David pondersfor a moment and I see the gears turn. He's calculating the advantage over the loss, weghing his options. Finally, after a painstakingly long pause, David replies, "You're a very promising young woman, Ally." He calls in Ben and the other boy who have been waiting outside.

  "Gather the freshman and all the kids from the Ag class from when we first began here." David prints off the list of all the freshman and the roster from the Ag class, handing it to Ben.  "Don't let them know what is happening. If they refuse to come, leave them. Gather all the Ag kids first then only the first 400 freshman."  The boys leave the room. 

  "Now, as for you," He retrieves the box that hold the earwig and palces it in my ear. "You know the routine. You know what's at stake."