Below, please find the prologue and chapter one...Enjoy.
Prologue
Dear Troy,
It is difficult for me to write you this letter. I am still so mad at you. Over the last few months I have tried extremely hard to figure out why you would have done this to us. No logical reason comes to mind. Whenever I try to process what I know, I figure out something new. Then the anger starts all over again. I’m tired of being angry, Troy.
It is overwhelmingly difficult to find a way to forgive you for everything that happened. I’m not sure if I will ever be able to, but I wanted to make sure you know that I will always be your friend. With everything that has happened, and everything that I know will happen, my family can’t stay here. It will be hard to give everything up that we know, especially you, but the move is just something that has to happen. Maybe in a new place I’ll be able to figure things out – start fresh. Or at least figure out a way to start to forgive.
I want you to know, that the move is not your fault. I’m not going to lie and tell you that it has nothing to do with you, because it has everything to do with you, but it isn’t your fault. The last few months have been extremely difficult. All of the questions, the staring, the whispering…it’s just too hard to handle and I’ve let it get through. I can’t take it anymore.
You will always be my best friend and I will come back to visit as often as I can, but this is the best move I can make. This feels like the only thing I can be in control of anymore. I hope that someday I am able to forgive you. Until that day comes, just know that you will always be my best friend and that I love you – no matter how angry I may be.
All My Love,
Erin
Erin folded the letter and slid it in to the envelope, tucking in the back flap. She looked out the window and then wrote Troy’s name on the front. She would deliver it to him later, after 60 Minutes had aired their story.
Chapter One
June 6, 2010 – 7:00 PM
“Tonight on sixty minutes…” Maryanne lowered the volume of her television set as the program started.
Mason had asked the reporters that were camping out around the town to please respect her privacy, so she didn’t have to worry about them tonight; but she didn’t need to watch 60 Minutes to remember what had happened two months ago. The memories were burned into her brain and the wound to her shoulder was a constant reminder.
“A small town in Ohio was changed forever, and the lives of five individuals would never be the same again.” The reporter began as the camera zoomed in on his face. “The date was March 18, a normal day for the students and their teacher in algebra class.” The program continued quietly in the background as Maryanne turned her head away from the screen and looked out the windows of her three bedroom home.
March 18, 2010 – 9:15 AM
Maryanne lifted her pen from the attendance page in her binder and looked around the room one more time. “Has anyone seen Troy today?” She asked the other’s sitting in the class. She remembered seeing him earlier in the day and it wasn’t like him to be late.
Erin raised her hand, “I think he may have gone home. He didn’t look like he was feeling too great earlier today.”
Maryanne marked him absent and flipped the page to next period’s class list. If Troy had gone to the nurse she would be notified soon enough that he had either gone home or would be in class shortly. “Okay, open you books to page 95, please.” She motioned to the assignment on the white board behind her and began to go over the instructions for the day’s lesson when the door opened.
She turned to face the door and watched Troy quietly enter the room and close the door behind him. He did not look toward her or offer any type of explanation, but looked toward the back of the classroom. Maryanne waited a moment for him to take his seat, but when he showed no signs of movement she cleared her throat. Troy glanced at her and then looked toward the back of the room, his eyes narrowing slightly.
“Do you have a pass, Troy?” She asked turning her body to face him. When he didn’t answer she made a movement toward him. “Troy?”
He looked at her quickly and lifted the arm he had been holding behind his back. “Please, Ms. Teague, don’t walk over here.”
Maryanne paused and inhaled a quick breath as she stared at the black, block-like object he pointed in her direction. There was silence in the room until one of the girls in the front row made a quiet noise, in the back of her mind Maryanne realized it was a whimper, but she tried to keep her attention on Troy. She held a hand up toward him. “Troy, what are you doing?”
Troy’s hand was steady as he continued to point the gun at her. “I don’t want to hurt you, Ms. Teague.” He said quietly and then glared toward the back of the room, “but I will if you don’t stay where you are.”
Maryanne looked from him to the other fourteen students in her class. She was trying to gauge the situation quickly, going through all the drills in her mind. Fourteen other students in her classroom now relied on her to keep their classmate from hurting anyone. She looked back at the gun and then up into Troy’s eyes as they met and read her own.
“Okay, Troy. I won’t come any closer.” She took another breath trying to keep herself calm and gain control over her own fear. “Just tell me what this is about.”
Troy’s scowl deepened. “Ask them.” His voice was sharp, the words saturated with anger, hatred and hurt. He motioned to two boys sitting in the back of the room, Jason Dawson and Cameron Harding.
Maryanne did not need to look at the two students to know who Troy was talking about, but turned her head slightly using her peripheral vision to watch both Troy and the other students. Inwardly she was going through her memories. Troy had spoken to her about the boys harassing him, bullying him. She had listened to him tell her about the pranks and the jokes they had pulled on him. She had sent them to the office and both had received detentions, but Troy hadn’t told her anything since. She had watched them in the hall, but that did not mean they weren’t doing anything outside of school.
“Okay,” she said, trying to sound as calm as possible, but could hear the fear and panic in her voice. “Why don’t you put the gun down and we’ll talk about this.”
Troy shook his head. “No. Talking doesn’t work. Actions speak louder than words.” She could see tears in his eyes as he spoke, “isn’t that what you told me? That if I showed them that what they were doing didn’t bother me, they would leave me alone?” There was malice in his voice.
“I did say that…” she paused, “but this is taking it a little far. You’re smarter than this, Troy. Just put the gun down.”
“No,” he shifted the position of the gun and pointed it toward the two boys, “ignoring them didn’t work. Maybe this will keep them from tormenting other kids in the school.”
Maryanne took an automatic step forward reaching out toward him, “Wait.” The movement caused him to swing the gun back around toward her. She raised her hands up in surrender.
“Wait.” She said again as calmly and firmly as possible. She could feel the adrenaline pumping through her. “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.” She glanced knowingly toward Erin Williams, Troy’s best friend. “Think about them for a moment and just…just wait Troy.”
She saw as Troy thought through what she was saying. He was a smart kid, one of the brightest in the freshman class. He also glanced toward Erin. Small victories. Small victories to keep them safe. She thought to herself as Troy lowered the gun just slightly.
No comments:
Post a Comment