Chapter Two
June 6, 2010 – 7:15 PM
Erin tapped her pencil impatiently on the dining room table. The eraser hit the wood surface in a soft staccato rhythm. Her parents had chosen to watch tonight’s special on 60 Minutes, saying that it was too important to not watch.
“You don’t know all of the sides.” Her dad had said. “Maybe you’ll learn something.”
Erin had shaken her head in disbelief. She knew who the newscasters had spoken to and did not want to hear their “opinion” of what had happened. She continued to tap her pencil on the table as the reporter’s voice drifted into the room.
“Troy Combs, a student here at West High School in central Ohio, changed the course of the school year.” There was a pause and Erin could hear the sound of a hand hitting metal. “It all started in this hallway when he opened locker 315.”
Erin did not need to hear the rest of the reporter’s words. She knew what was going to be reported next, because she had been the one to tell them this part of the story.
March 18, 2010 – 7:30 AM
“Troy!” Erin shouted over the heads of her classmates as she walked toward her best friend’s locker. He glanced up to look at her and she thought there was panic in his eyes. He quickly shoved something into his locker and turned to smile at her.
“Hey, Erin.” Troy shut his locker and leaned against in. He was smiling, but it was off just a little. The warmth wasn’t there today.
“What’s wrong?” She asked, worry saturating her voice. “You missed the bus today and now you look like you're afraid of something.”
Troy shook his head and flinched slightly as JD and Cameron walked past them laughing. “Nothing but the normal.” His smile faded and he shrugged his shoulders.
Erin turned to glare at the backs of the boys before she looked back at Troy. “They weren’t messing with you again, were they?” JD and Cameron were known bullies. Cameron was fine on his own, but JD tended to bring out the worst in him. He was a follower to the core.
“No more than usual.”
Erin shook her head and sighed, “Maybe you should talk to Ms. T again. She handled them the last time.”
Troy shook his head again, “Yeah, they stopped messing with me at school, but not in the neighborhood or around town. Ms. Teague can’t see what they do to me there.” Troy’s voice had taken on an acidic tone. “Don’t worry, though I’m going to take care of it this time. Ignoring them isn’t working, so I’ll just have to stand up to them.”
Erin tilted her head to the side and raised her eyebrow. “What do you mean by take care of it? You aren’t going to do anything stupid are you?”
Troy gave her a half smile. The one he used when he thought something wasn’t important. “Don’t worry about it, Erin. It’ll be fine.” His smile faded as he looked at the clock. “I’m actually not feeling too well; I think I’m going to go to the nurse. You should go to class, I’ll see you later.”
He shrugged away from the locker and walked past her toward the restrooms. “Are you going to be alright?”
He turned to face her, “Yeah, I’ll be fine.” and pushed open the door and disappeared in to the restroom.
Erin shook her head and walked toward her first period.
9:15 AM
Erin glanced at the empty desk next to her. Ms. Teague had just finished calling roll and was writing something in the attendance binder. Troy must have really not been feeling well this morning. It wasn’t like him to miss a class. He must have been sent home.
“Has anyone seen Troy today?” Ms. Teague asked the class.
Erin raised her hand, “I think he may have gone home. He didn’t look like he was feeling too great earlier today.” She didn’t mention the conversation they’d had at the lockers. Troy really had looked like something was wrong.
Ms. Teague nodded her head and began to go over what they would be doing in class when the door opened. Erin smiled as Troy entered the classroom and shut the door behind him. He didn’t return the smile and didn’t move from the doorway. His face looked scared. She changed her mind quickly, it wasn’t fear on his face and in his eyes, he was angry.
Ms. Teague spoke as Erin continued to look at her friend. She didn’t hear what the teacher said but followed Troy’s eyes and traced his glare to two students in the back of the room. Erin turned to look at him again and remembered the panic she had seen on his face when she had called his name at the lockers.
She examined her friend again. His left arm was behind his back and his right hung empty to his side. He had no books, no bags, none of his supplies. Erin’s mind reeled as she remembered the conversation before school. Troy had said he was going to take care of it. Her mind did not work quite as fast as Ms. Teague’s feet did. Troy’s arm swung up and Erin saw the weapon in his hand.
“Please, Ms. Teague, don’t walk over here.” He said.
The classroom was silent. You could have heard a pin drop, if anyone would have been able to move. Erin sat was frozen; her mind was working quickly, but wasn’t coming up with anything coherent. She kept hearing Troy’s words “I’m going to take care of it.” Troy had known he was going to do this and she hadn’t figured it out. He had specifically waited for this class. The only class that JD and Cameron had together.
She watched numbly, but didn’t hear Ms. Teague’s words. She was filled with panic. She watched as Troy swung the gun around toward her and the rest of the class. The panic was replaced with fear as her senses returned to her and she grasped her desk unable to close her eyes.
Ms. Teague took a step forward. “Wait.” Erin watched him swing the gun back toward their teacher. She wanted to scream at him, ask him what he thought he was doing. Ms. Teague had tried to help him and he said thank you by bringing a gun to class and pointing it at her.
“Wait.” Ms. Teague said again. “Just wait. We can talk about this. If you fire that, you are going to hurt a lot more students who have done nothing to hurt you. You might even hurt a friend.”
Erin thought she saw Ms. Teague glance at her, but she couldn’t pull her eyes away from Troy and the gun he was holding in his hand.
“Think about them for a moment and just…just wait, Troy.” Erin could hear the fear in Ms. Teague’s voice and watched as her eye slide across other students in the class.
Troy nodded his head and lowered the gun just slightly, so it wasn’t pointed toward Ms. Teague’s chest.
Why, Troy? Why? She screamed in her head as she stared at her best friend. Troy glanced at her and she could see the apology in his eyes. She wasn’t sure what her face was showing him. She felt a drop of water hit her hand and realized she had started crying. She looked away from him toward their teacher.
How could you, Troy? She thought again. Ms. Teague had tried to help him. Had told him to come and talk to her if they continued to bother him. He should have talked to her. She would have handled it, and he wouldn’t have been standing pointing a gun at her.
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