A kid jogged in, sobbing, saying he had been shot. The kid, an 11th grader, I’ve seen around school, was shot in the arm close to his shoulder and blood was barley oozing out. He was in pain, but luckily the bullet skinned him. Someone got up and shut the door quietly. He and four other boys, who I knew in some of my classes, then put a desk in front of the door so nobody could come in.
We bandaged the injured guy and learned his name was Shane. Minnie was on the verge of tears, she was worried that we all were going to die. Outside I could hear sirens. Then I heard a police officer speak into a megaphone. “Son, we are all hear to help you. We want the least amount of people hurt as possible. Just tell us what you want, and we will try out best to help you get it.”
By this time Minnie was crying. She had always been an emotional person. She cries during movies and during E*TRADE commercials. Definitely the one with the milkoholic Lindsey.
“Why would he cheat on his beautiful girlfriend, with an addict?” Minnie said one time when the commercial came on. I just looked at her, I honestly didn’t know what to say, but I did want to laugh.

I looked over and saw Jason by himself on the computer. Everyone had gathered around a large table in the middle of the library. I casually walked over to him. He was wearing a light blue shirt with a cartoon character that I didn’t recognize on it. Jason was on the Pizza Hut website ordering pizza.
“Why are you ordering pizza?!”
“There is a vent, where we can get the pizza. Can you ask everyone what type of pizza they want?” Jason sounded depressed and worried, he spoke in a monotone voice.
I went back to where everyone else was and asked what kind of pizza they wanted. I went back to Jason and told him what everyone wanted. He ordered the pizza and gave him money which he declined.
“I have a credit card for emergency use. I think this is an emergency,” Jason said.
I had never heard seen this side of him. He always seemed like this tough guy, but he was really sweet.
“I haven’t introduced myself. My name is Jazmine. Some people call me Jazzy.”
“I’m Jason,” he smiled when he said it. He had perfect white teeth and his lips were the perfect shape and size.
“What grade are you in?” I asked.
“11th. What about you?”
“I’m in 10th.”
“I’ve seen you around school. You’re close friends with DJ right?”
“Yeah, we had P.E. together last year.”
“DJ is cool. He’s the homie.”
The way he said “homie” made me laugh. He was trying to sound tough, but he still had a high voice.
“Do you know who has the gun?” I asked.
“I heard some guy name Ad−
Then a loud BOOM! It sounded like it was outside the door. Then BOOM! About 3 kids came in with guns.
“Everyone get on this wall and lay down!” a kid in my history class shouted. I didn’t know the guy’s name but everyone called him Urkel because he looked a lot like Steve Urkel. Jason grabbed me and took me to the closet inside the hallway.

“We are going to escape,” he whispered to me.
I nodded. Words couldn’t come out, I was scared out of my mind.
Jason then opened the closet door and we sprinted to the front of the school. When I got outside the first thing I noticed was the pizza hut guy. Police ran to us and took us to their squad car. They asked us if we could call our parents to get them to drive us to the police station to be questioned. Then another loud BOOM!
My mom came about a half an hour later. Jason’s dad came at about the same time. When we got to the police station it was only a few minutes past twelve, I was in the police station lobby for a few hours before I looked up at the T.V. inside the lobby and I saw a headline that said “All hostages were killed at a local high school!”
I wondered if Minnie or DJ were killed. I wondered if LeAnn and Tristan had gotten out or were killed. The police officer’s office was bare and only had pictures of him and his family and medals he has won.
“I don’t know if you know but all the remaining hostages were shot or killed. There were 70 people injured and 30 people killed. Two of the four boys killed themselves and the other two boys are in police custody. We are going to have to talk to your parents, but can you go to the stand and identify the two boys as the shooters?”
“I’d rather not,” I snapped back.
“May I ask you some questions then?”
“Sure.”
“Did the kids say why they went on a shooting rampage?”
“No.”
“Did you know any of the shooters?”
“I think I saw Urkel and heard it was a kid named Adam.”
“Who is Urkel?”
“One of the kids who came into the library with a gun.”
“So you think he was one of the guys.”
“Yes.”
‘Thank you very much for your help in this investigation,” the police officer said.
He shook my hand and I left his office. When I got to the lobby neither Jason nor his dad were there. When I got home I went up to my room and took a shower. When I came back downstairs my mom hugged me.
“Do you want to go somewhere to eat tonight, honey?” my mom asked.
“No, I want to stay home.”
I then went back upstairs and I called LeAnn, she didn’t answer her phone so I assumed she was dead. I then called Tristan, she answered her phone after two rings.
“Omigod, you’re still alive! I’ve been so worried. My eyes have been glued to the T.V. I called you and your phone went straight to voicemail. I called LeAnn and Minnie, but neither answered!” Tristan said. I’ve never heard her talk so much before.
“Minnie is probably dead. She was in the library when Urkel and some other kid came in with guns.”
“How do you know this?”
“I was in there, but I escaped with Jason.”
“The Jason you have like since 8th grade?”
“Yes, that Jason. He saved my life. I’m even more in love with him than I was before.”
“That is so sweet. I really hope LeAnn is okay. I’m really scared to call her home number.”
“Me too. I’d rather not hear the bad news.”
“We will probably find out at school tomorrow.”
“Yeah, I’m going to bed.”
“It’s only four o’clock. I hope everything works out. We had one hell of a day.” Tristan said with a chuckle.
“Good bye. See you tomorrow.”
“Good bye. I love you, BFF.”
I then hung up the phone and went on the computer. While on Facebook, I noticed Jason was online. He then messaged me.
“How did the police questioning go?”
“Okay I guess. But they made today sound so violent.”
“I know. DJ is in the hospital. He’s expected to live. I’m going to go visit him tomorrow.”
“Wow, what a great friend. Tell DJ I say hi.”
“If you want, you can come with me?” Jason said.
“Okay, yeah that would be great.”
“We will go right after school, meet me in the front of the golden statue.”
“Okay, sound awesome.”
“:). See you tomorrow.”
The he went offline.

At school the next day, so many people acted like nothing happened. But still rumors were spread like wildfire. Most of the rumors were dramatic and unrealistic. One rumor was the shooters was rejected by girls that they liked, one rumor said it was part of some dare to come to school with a gun, but things got out of control. A rumor I heard in the bathroom was that everyone was alive and hidden somewhere by the Illuminati, I wished for that rumor to be true.
In the morning there was a moment of silence for everyone who died. They named everyone who was killed, Minnie was named. I miss Minnie so much. Without Jason I would be dead. I tried not to think about yesterday at all, I didn’t want to come to the realization that 32 people were dead, and I could’ve been one of them.
That Tuesday, was one of the longest Tuesday of my life. After school I rushed to the front of the school and saw Jason siting on the foot of the gold statue.
“Are you ready to go?” Jason said.
“Yes, I am.”
We walked to his car not talking or making eye contact, I still hadn’t thanked him for saving my life. We got in his red mustang. The outside of the car was clean, so clean in fact I can see my face perfectly. Jason opened the passenger door for me. I smiled at him. Jason’s car was spotless, I didn’t see one spick of dirt. I noticed a hand held vacuum, baby wipes, and window cleaner. He noticed me looking around in his car. “I’m a neat freak. That is something people don’t like about me. Girls have broken up with me because of it. I have OCD, I take medicine to keep it under control.”
“Really? Wow. I am clinically depressed. You’re the first person I’ve ever told that to.”
“You are too. You seem like you don’t judge. I feel like I can be open with you,” Jason said and his face turned red.
“Same here,” I chucked. I wanted to make him feel less embarrassed.
The rest of the ride was comfortable and I got to learn more about Jason. He loves to read and write mystery novels, he photographs as a hobby and wants to become a photojournalist when he grows up. “I want people all over the world to see the emotion of what I take,” Jason explains to me.
I gained so much respect for Jason. Jason’s dad is an investment banker and his mom is a professor at a community college. I told him that I want to be an interior designer and my love for colors.
“That explains all the bright bangles you wear every day,” Jason told me after I talked about my dream job. I told him about my hobby of painting and drawing. I told him about my anger of my parents for being different races and confusing me.
“My dad is Italian-American and he is a florist. My mom is African-American and she is a caterer,” I told Jason.
“I know the feeling, my mom is Mexican and my dad is black,” Jason said.
When we got to DJ’s room he was asleep.
“Should we wake him?” I asked Jason.
“No, let’s come back later.”
“Can we go visit my friend LeAnn?”
“Sure.”
LeAnn was shot in the head, but is expected to survive but with severe consequences, the doctors said she will never be able to talk like she used to and will have to be watched constantly.
During Jason and I’s visit with LeAnn she didn’t say a word. It felt like she wasn’t even there, she gave us blank stares like she didn’t know who were. It hurt so much that one of my best friends since second grade didn’t recognized me.
After about 20 minutes we left LeAnn’s room and went back to DJ. This time DJ was awake.
“Hey guys!” DJ said with a load full of energy.
“Dude, you seem great. I would never have guessed you were shot yesterday!” Jason said sounding very surprised.
“Man, I feel great. Except knowing that all those people are dead. I had surgery yesterday and am expecting a full recovery. Hey how’s it going Jaz?”
“Good. Considering, everything that has happened.”
“Remember Shane, the guy who came in shot?”
“Yep,” I replied.
“He got shot again by Urkel, but he is okay, he visited me a couple hours ago,” DJ explained.
“Wow! That’s great.”
“Yeah.”
Jason and I were with DJ for about another hour. It felt like nothing had even happened, DJ was exactly the same.
By the time I got home it was sprinkling. The weather seems to representing my mood. I went on the computer and read an article about school shootings. The article said that the shooters are usually mentally unstable and some were bullied at school. A rush of guilt came over me. Urkel was bullied all the time by students at my school. Adam was always being picked on. Indirectly I was part of the bullying too. I laughed at Urkel jokes, I laughed when they took Adam’s glasses. I never once tried to stop Urkel and Adam form being bullied.
After reading that article I knew what I had to do.

6 Months later…….
I got up early the morning of the trial, I decided to testify in court about the school shooting. I looked in my closet and put on plain black slacks and a button down gray long sleeve. I also put on three inch leather black pumps. I arrived at the court house at 9:45, 15 minutes before trial. I saw Jason in the front of the court house with his mom and dad; he flashed me a quick smile.
I felt restless in the courtroom. The district attorney finally called Jason’s name to the stand.
“Can you identify these two boys as the shooters at your high school shooting?”
“No, they don’t look like them.”
The district attorney questioned him some more, then Adam’s and the other kid’s attorneys. Next the district attorney called my name.
“Can you identify these two boys as the shooters?”
“No,” I said while I looked at Adam and Adam mouthed “Thank You.”