Remember the Name: Chapter One

Written by Alex.

I had never before realized how much someone means to me until they're gone. Nor did I ever realized how easy it is to remember something when that's something I usually struggle with. Maybe I just remembered this one thing because it was extremely important. Or maybe I just remembered it because what he did changed my entire life...

 

   I paced down the well lit halls of Twinbrook Academy. My Converse tennis shoes made a padding sound on the boring, white tile floors of our high school. I had gotten to school early and I really had nothing to do so I was wandering around, aimlessly. 

   Students started filing in the school doors and it got louder and louder as they all talked and laughed. As I walked, I held my books and papers close, and then decided to go upstairs and walk around up there. I didn't have anything better to do. I did start to wonder where my friend, Clay, was though...

   Suddenly, I ran into what felt like a brick wall. I fell backwards and onto the hard floor. My books scattered while papers flew in every direction. I looked up to see what it was I had hit and there was a tall, masculine boy with brown hair standing before me. I could tell he was trying not to laugh as I blushed. Someone called him and he turned away and went to them, leaving me and my stuff on the floor. I glared at him as he ran to his friend.

   What a jerk, I thought.

   I got on my hands and knees and started collecting the books and papers. Students just kept walking by like I wasn't even there. Some of them "accidentally" stepping on one of my papers and leaving a footprint from their shoe on it. I really wanted Clay to be there. I knew he would have helped me. Once I had everything in my arm again, I stood back up and brushed myself off with my free hand and continued walking. Everyone was talking and laughing and enjoying their morning while I walked all alone. That's when I decided I would just go drop everything off at my first class of the day which was history.

   I slowly made my way to the classroom and opened the door. My teacher was sitting at his desk grading papers and I walked past him quietly and put my books down. He looked up and said good morning, but then went back to his papers. Posters emphasizing how important history was were hanging everywhere in the room. Our teacher was stuck in the past. The one thing he talked about the most, whether that's what we were supposed to be learning about or not, was World War II. He just found it to be the most fascinating thing ever. He always found a way to relate what we were learning about to it. But anyways, I smiled and greeted him, then quickly left the room, shutting the door quietly behind me.

   It wasn't too long before the bell rang and everyone scrambled to get to their classes. There were the occasional students who just decided they'd go to class when they wanted to so they kept wandering around, waiting for a teacher to come yell at them. As for me, I got to class as quick as I could. Being tardy was something I was not okay with. Student after student came into the soon-to-be cluttered history room. The final bell rang and most of us were all there. The teacher was sitting at the computer at his desk as we all talked to our classmates. Most teachers ask us to sit quietly, but this teacher didn't really seem to care what we did as long as we didn't get to loud or disruptive. He looked back and forth between the computer and all of us, obviously taking attendance. Shortly after that, class started and he talked on and on while we took notes.

   I doodled in the top left corner of my paper and started thinking about summer. I imagined going swimming and being with friends, specifically Clay, all the time. And better yet, being away from school.

   "Alexis?" the older man said.

   I stopped daydreaming and said, "Yes?"

   He just looked at me and assumed that he got the message across that I was supposed to be listening. I slid down in my seat and put my feet on the rack of the person's desk in front of me. She turned around and looked at me and I moved them so I didn't annoy her, then she turned back to face forward. I felt like I was kind of getting on a lot of people's nerves that morning.

   "Please take out your notes from yesterday."

   I opened my binder and started flipping through sheets, searching for the notes he had asked us to take out. I sighed, annoyed. I couldn't find it. I walked up to him and had him sign a pass so I could go to my locker. He looked at me and sighed as he initialed it. He wasn't the most fond of me and I wasn't always very sure why. I was only a teenager. What more could he expect? So I forgot something. Big deal!

   I left the room and headed towards the locker bay. I suddenly heard someone screaming.

   "You know far too much!"

   "No, I don't know anything! Please!"

   I turned the corner and standing there was Clay with a gun pointed at a frightened, shaking girl. They both looked at me as I stood there, motionless and shocked with my jaw dropped. Clay turned back to the girl and I could tell she was trying not to cry. Clay was hiding one of his blue eyes with his blonde hair and he looked like he was pretty angry at this girl.

   "Wh - what are you doing, Clay?" I asked him. "Put the gun down..."

   He kept the gun pointed at her, but looked over at me and sort of glared. Suddenly a teacher came running down the hallway in a panic. Clay pointed the gun at her and pulled the trigger. The girl and I both shrieked. Clay had perfect aim, the bullet went directly through her heart and she fell to the ground instantly, a pool of blood already forming underneath her.

   Clay focused on the girl again and said, "You either need to come with me, or else I need to get rid of you. Which will it be?"

   I looked at the girl who was looking down and sobbing. I could tell she was truly terrified. She didn't answer, just begged Clay to leave her alone. He just stared her down, not caring about what she was saying. He suddenly drew his arm back and swung through, hitting the girl right in the head. She was out right away and laying on the floor. Clay turned to me, then, and I avoided his eyes.

   "You know too much, too, y'know," he said almost in a voice that someone would use if they were trying to comfort someone.

   I didn't understand why his tone of voice was like that, but I just asked him what he was talking about.

   "Don't ask any questions," he said, his voice starting to sound angry again.

   I just looked at him, tears starting to flood down my face. He looked back at me, his blonde hair still covering one eye. I didn't understand what was going on. I didn't know what he was talking about. All I knew was that I was terrified. He just continued to glare at me.

   Everything started to happen so fast. I saw the gun come flying at my head in his hand. I felt a sharp jabbing pain and fell to the floor. He stood above me, a sick grin spreading across his face and then everything went black.

Reviews

[Safe&sound<3 ♫]

wow. i love the suspense of it! it's very good! but i have one thing to say. on the sentence that said this:"Posters emphasizing how important history was were hanging everywhere in the room.", there should be a comma before emphasizing and after was. it's an informational piece, which means that it was extra information. you could have just said, " posters were hanging everywhere in the room" and it would have made sense. i love this story though. its very good and suspenseful.