9:30 A.M

An hour and a half later the bell rang and we were released from class. "Wow, I feel so amazingly smart." Nick said coming up behind me as we exited the class room.

"Why's that?"

"Because I knew every question, either that or I totally flunked it thinking I did an amazing job." Nick wasn't the smartest student in the school but he passed his classes. "I'm sure you did fine." He didn't look convinced. I grabbed his hand and gave it a light squeeze. He smiled "Well I'm off to biology." And I was off to P.E. in the opposite direction.

He held my hand till we were to far apart that our arms wouldn't reach and he softly let go smiling before turning away. I know it's crazy but every day since the first time I met him simply holding my hand made the world feel safe. I smiled and walked down the stair way to the lockers.

I walked into the locker room to find Lisa just slipping into her clothes. "Hey Sarah." I smiled, "Hey, so what are we doing to day?" She rolled her eyes. But before she could speak a loud pop from the level above us went off and screams pierced threw the ceiling.

Lisa quickly slipped on her sneakers. I looked at the ceiling terrified. "What the hell was that?" I looked over at her and she was rushing threw her purse. "A gun shot." I was shocked and frozen for a second as I watched her pull out her cell phone. "How do you know that, are you sure?" She looked at me as if I was kidding. "My entire family hunts Sarah; I know what a gun shot sounds like. Yes hello I would like to report a shooting at Salem High School." She turned her back and covered her mouth trying to drown out the screams that were building up threw the school.

"Lock the door." A girl from Lisa's gym class ordered. "Wait." I shouted and ran for the door. "What?" I went to open it but she slammed it shut. "I need to get out." She looked at me crazy. "Are you nuts, you could get killed their just above us." But with what ever strength I could muster up I ripped open the door and flung my self out into the hallway, leaving the door to be slammed shut and locked.

I had my backpack and purse with me. Too much weight. I dropped everything and started for the stairs but turned around and grabbed my purse. My phone, I might need it. I just needed to find Nick and leave. I know I'll be safe with him; I just have to find him first and then make it out of the school with out running into the gunmen.

I headed for the stairs slowly. I walked up a few and heard more shots. They seemed to have moved to the other end of the hallway. As I reached the top of the stairs I saw kids running away, I fallowed.

As I went to turn the corner I ran into Nick. "I knew you wouldn't stay down there." He shouted over the screaming, crying stampede of terrified students. "I couldn't knowing you were up here."

We fallowed the crowd of students to the end of the hallway. Then he pushed threw the students and threw a door into an empty class room.

For as long as I've been in school they always taught us that if this were to happen to stay in the class room and if you weren't in one to get into one and lock it. But everyone was doing the exact opposite. I guess it's just in our nature to do what ever we need to do to protect our selves, especially if we have to break the rules that we had been taught over the years.

"Why are we in here?" He kicked open the wooden door that was locked behind the teachers desk. The door would have made a loud noise getting the attention of the teachers and students but the whole school was in to big of a riot to notice.

The door led to a big square sized out side area. There were old decaying wooden picnic tables, plants and weeds taking over the out side area. "What is this place? I've never seen it before." He was looking around franticly. "See that door that's the cafeteria door that's never opened. They used it as another lunch area, but people stopped coming out here so they just closed it off."

I was trying to stay calm asking questions, it was working for me but Nick was trying to figure something out and I don't think they were helping him to much. "What are you looking for?" He took a breath and turned around. "You know the door in the library behind the check out desk? That one," His gaze was off me again. "I just can't remember which one it was."

I looked around having no clue. The only clue was that the one to our far right was the cafeteria. "Aren't we safe out here, what are the odds of them knowing about this place?" "I'm not taking any chances. We can't take any chance, they could be any body."

He stopped and looked straight ahead at two doors. He stared at the one to the left. "Come on." He still had a grip on my hand. I hadn't realized how tight it was till I looked down at it when he pulled me to the door. It was almost all white.

He pushed me as far behind him as he could with out letting go of my hand. In two hard kicks the door flung open just like the first one. I turned around as he pulled me in to the library.

Nick was walking fast when I came to a dead stop. Nick stopped hard, like he was chained to the wall and the chain's length ended. "What? We can't stop in here, this is probably one of the first places there going to go to." I just started crying.

He quickly pulled me to the far back book stacks to try to calm me before we moved on. "What's wrong? Sarah we're going to be okay don't worry." I was crying hysterically shaking my head. "We're going to die." He grabbed my face in between his hands gently. "NO!" he said hard and forceful, but lovingly. "I'm not going to let anything happen to you." I calmed down a bit, but the fear was still there.

"Threw that door is a staircase that's going to lead back down to the basement, at the far end of the basement is another door with the parking garage behind it." I shook my head. He led us to the door to the basement and stopped me. "Here." I looked down at my hand to see two sets of keys.

"These," he pointed the set I didn't know. "are the keys to the door that leads to the basement, and these are my car keys." He was scaring me even more. "Ya Nick, I know. Why are you giving them to me you hold them. I'm shaking too much I'll drop them."

He shook his head with a sorry look on his face. "I'm not going with you, I need to find Mitchell." I wasn't trying to cry they just started falling out. "He's a freshman he still doesn't know his way around the school well."

Nick was holding me up by my arms. I was clutching at his arms like he wasn't going to be able to get out of my grip. "How do you know your brother hasn't already gotten out of the school?" He held up his phone. "He called just before I ran into you; he's in a closet on the other side of the school in his language class."

We shouldn't have just stood there but we did, just staring at each other. "I have to go, and you need to get out of this school." I shook my head just a little. "No! I'm going with you."

His face became flat, there was no more sadness. There was just fire in his eyes. He pushed me up against the door. "NO YOUR NOT, you're getting out of this school." I knew he wasn't going to budge. "I don't need to be worrying about two people, please leave." He was right; Mitchell wasn't going to leave that closet unless Nick went to get him.

I shook my head agreeing. I lighten my grip on his arms as he did mine; but his wrapped around my body in a tight hug. "If anything happens to me please tell my brother, if I don't get to him, that I did try. Tell my parents that I was thinking of them and that I love them." I tried not to cry but the tears kept spilling out.

He hugged me tighter and whispered to me. "And know that I love you, I always have I always will." "I love you too." I whispered back. Both of us knowing that the love we were talking about wasn't a friendship.

He let go slowly and pulled away. His eyes were starting to get red; a few tears were running down his cheeks. His hand slipped out of mine and the world immediately turned terrifying. He turned around and started for the door that we had entered.

"Nick!" I didn't mean for it to be as loud as it was. He turned around just in time for me to throw my arms around his neck and kiss him. It was a long passionate kiss; something that was definitely over due. If I didn't end up seeing him again I needed to do it. I might not get another chance.

He slowly pulled away and laid his forehead on mine. Our eyes were closed saying nothing. "Aw… Tyler isn't that the cutest thing you've ever seen?" Our eyes snapped open and Nick was in front of me in seconds, his arms wrapped around my body as much as he could.

I couldn't believe this was happening.