Lock Down

Princeton, NJ: Trapped in the Central High guidance office while violence rages around them, Gwyn, Alaina, Jacque and Delilah struggle with whether to follow school procedures or find some other way to escape deadly, tauntingly repetitive attacks. As the shooting unfolds, it provides a framework for the individual narratives of these four women- a counselor, a parent, two teenage students- and others: Gwyn's carefully planned life disintegrating around her daughter's mental illness, Alaina's spiraling lack of control within her abusive marriage, Jacque's confusion and guilt about how her mother's cancer affects her own relentless drive for success, Delilah's inability to find her place in an affluent and academically competitive school. These stories expose a slice of our society: a society where our frantically protective procedures and policies are often revealed as a flimsy facade.

Cover Art by @Cndelo