You Think You've Had It Hard

Chapter Four

On Saturday, Emily and I decided to go to the mall. We had nothing better to do, anyway. This was also a good opportunity to get a dress for my piano recital tommorrow. When we arrived, it was pretty crowded, but not bad. Our first instinct was to go straight to Hot Topic. All the best band merch was there.

"Hey, Morgan! Look at this cool new shirt!" Emily said as she held up a t-shirt with my favorite band on it.

"Oh, nice! I think I'll buy it!"

"Okay. I'm going to buy one of the shirts on sale."

"Ready to check out?" the cashier questioned.

"Yes ma'am," I responded.

Half on hour later, I was trying on dresses for tomorrow. So far, my favorite was a light pink strapless dress with gold sequins running down it and a pink bow. It went a little past my knees, which was perfect for my recital. Luckily, it was on sale. While Emily and I were purchasing our clothing, a loud bang that sounded like a thousand cans falling over sounded throughout the mall. Emily and I knew that sound too well, because of my horror movie obsession.

The cashier started talking on a walkie talkie and ran to the door. Other shocked employees joined him in an attempt at closing the store, shutting everyone in. I stared open-mouthed at Emily. I watched as frantic shoppers ran around. Some were crying, while others hyperventilated. I finally processed what was happening and took a deep breath. At least we were safe in this locked in store. The intercom buzzed to life and a man started speaking.

"Everyone, please stay calm. You are all going to be safe. Every store is in lock down. A man started to shoot, but luckily hit no one. Everyone is safely locked in a store, while he is locked out. The police are on their way to arrest him. Please stay calm."

"Like anyone will listen to him," mumbled Emily. I would have laughed if the situation wasn't so serious. A scary thought popped into my mind. What if the shooters were the men looking for me? No. That couldn't be it. It was probably just a crazy person.

Twenty minutes later, the manager informed us all that the police came and arrested the shooter. We were free to leave. It was a quiet ride home, and an interesting day at the mall. Emily and I decided not to tell our parents about the events that occurred. We didn't want to cause more unnecessary worry. If they asked, we'd just shrug it off. Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

 I practiced piano all Sunday afternoon. I had a black upright piano that played really well. My recital was being held at a local bookstore, and both my parents were attending. I wasn't really nervous because I've done many other recitals and competitions.

Two hours before my recital, Jason came over. He was coming with us to hear me play. I told Jason all about the day before, and how scary it was.

"Wow. Did that seriously happen? Or..."

"Again. I wouldn't joke about something like that, Jason!"

"Right. So, do you think it was your stalkers?"

"That's exactly what I thought, but it can't be. I mean, how would they know I was going to that mall? There are two other malls."

"You have a point. Did you tweet about it or something?" questioned Jason.

"Oh yeah... I guess I did."

"Aha! Maybe they know all about you because of your constant internet connection! All those websites you're apart of, you put all your information out there, right?"

"Yeah..."

"See?! That's how they know. Hasn't anybody ever told you not to put too much information on the web?"

"No. Wait, yeah. Oops," I muttered. Jason had a point. All the websites I used had all of my information. Maybe a little too much information... "You're right, Jason. I'll start taking off information now."

"I'm always right!"

"Shut up! No you're not. Actually, you're usually wrong..."

"Hey!" exclaimed Jason as he tackled me to the ground. We laughed so hard, we could barely breathe.

Time went by fast, and soon it was time to go to my recital. We arrived at the huge bookstore, and lots of families were inside, listening to others play. Finally, it was my school's turn to play.

"The next student to play is Morgan Smith, from the Chicago Performing Arts school," announced a middle-aged women. I walked up to the piano and sat down. It was a beautiful grand piano, and you could see the hammers inside. The keys were nice and shiny and looked like a feather could push them down. I took out my music and placed it on the piano. I was going to play Pachelbel's Canon in D.

I brought my fingers to the piano and started to play. I was really nervous at first, but once I started, the nervousness slowly went away. I was beginning to feel more comfortable. I practiced this song a lot, which payed off. I didn't make very many mistakes. Piano is amazing, but it didn't take over me like many others. I enjoyed playing, but it took me awhile to learn something. I didn't just automatically know a piece.

When I was finished, I stood up and bowed. I grabbed my music and walked over to where my family was seated.

"Good job, honey! You did great as always," my mother whispered as she gave me a sweet smile.

"Good job Morgan," my father and Jason chorused.

"Thanks guys," I smiled at all of them. More of my classmates went, and I clapped for all of them. Later on, we went to a restaurant. Today was a good day. Luckily, nothing bad happened.

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A/N: R.I.P to all the victims of shootings in this past year. :( Praying for the families of the victims of violence. Thanks to everyone for voting and viewing. It means a lot to me! I hope you guys like this story, and I hope it's not a drag. If you have any ideas for future chapters, please feel free to leave comments!! C: Also, a picture of Morgan's dress should be on the right!