it was time for lunch I was the first one there. I grabbed our usual table, always in the shaded area. Our student area is outside, with round cement tables and three cement benches, with lots and lots of oak trees around the large yard. We have metal benches scattered through the area for people who don’t want to sit at the tables. The cafeteria or rather the food court is located inside with more places to sit. You can have your pick from Taco Bell, McDonald’s, Subway or Panda Express.
I brought my own lunch as I always do, Peanut Butter and Jelly, chips and a water bottle. I opened my book and read and ate while I waited for the others.
I’ll skip over what the other girls have already told you but suffice to say the highlight of my day was the discussion I had with Natalie on the paradox theory.
I wasn’t to happy that school was out for the day. It meant returning to an empty home. The four of us headed for the parking lot.
“I can’t believe that bitch screwed me!” Randi screamed in anger.
“What are you gonna do now?” I asked.
“What choice do I have? Either I do it or I don’t go to competition and let Natalie win. And I rather die before I let Nat-
At 3:05 the horn blared indicating a shift change at the chemical plant. Followed by a scream from above, and then -
Part 2: Thursday Or The day everything forever changed (see what I did there reversed some of the words.)
Randi
Chapter 5
At 3:05 the horn blared indicating a shift change at the chemical plant. Followed by a scream from above, and then someone . . . fell from the roof of the school.
A female. She slammed onto the hood of a parked SUV. The hood caved in under the girl’s weight, forcing the windshield to splinter but not shatter.
Nobody moved. It was like we were all frozen in place. Just couldn’t believe it . . . it was like something out of a movie. It didn’t seem real.
Caren was the first one who spoke, “Belinda! It’s Belinda!” she stumbled backwards and fell on the grass. I looked up and saw Mark Harris peering over the edge. Apparently I wasn’t the only one, someone shouted his name and that’s when he took off.
Eventually the cops came, the ambulance came and even the fire department. The paramedics checked those of us who were close by of the accident to make sure we were all right. I guess. It took me awhile but I was able to coax Deirdre away from the car so the paramedic could have a look at her. She hadn’t moved the whole time the cops had showed up. Stood there dazed, looking at Belinda.
“Hey Deirdre are you okay?” I asked softly.
She kept shaking her head, tears running down her face, but she never said a word.
Caren on the other hand was a different story; Kaye was taking care of her. Apparently her and Belinda were good friends.
“Randi, honey, are you okay?” my dad asked running up to me.
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Okay.” He gave me a hug, kissed the top of my head and asked, “are you okay enough to drive home?”
“Yeah.”
He looked over at Deirdre, “what about you?”
She didn’t say a word. “Dad, I’ll take her home.”
“Okay, good.” He looked over and saw Caren crying, “is Caren going to be okay?”
“I don’t know. Her and Belinda were pretty close.”
“Make sure she gets home. Tell your mother I won’t be home for dinner.”
“Okay.”
He left and began shouting to some officers on the scene. He went from dad to cop without missing a beat. In the meantime I sat with Deirdre and Kaye sat with Caren. I didn’t tell my dad about Mark because I figured he’d know soon enough and right now my friend needed me.
Caren
Chapter 6
I got home later that night after dropping off Kaye. I entered the house through the garage, turned on the lights and just stood in the middle of the kitchen. As usual my house was quiet. A few lights were on for me, dinner on the counter and a note on the fridge.
Honey, going out with Andrew, will be home tomorrow morning. Dinner’s ready just warm it up in the oven. Love, Mom.
For my mother it was a typical Thursday as for me, it was anything but. Tonight I really needed my mom to be home. I crumpled up the note and threw it in the sink. I unwrapped the tinfoil and stared at my dinner. Fish and rice. Pescados y arroz. I took a year of Spanish and have never been able to remember a single thing, but now I remember how to say fish and rice. Funny what the mind holds onto. I let out a heavy sigh. I didn’t know what to do. I felt like my mind was going in a million different directions and there was no rest stop.
I had already left a dozen messages for my mom since this afternoon. She never called me back.
I called her again. Voicemail.
Redial. Voicemail.
Again I pressed redial. Again it went straight to voicemail. I sat down on the kitchen floor with my back against the refrigerator and cried.
Randi
Chapter 7
It felt like it had been hours since the tragedy at school but when I glanced at the clock on my dashboard it read: 4:00. Everything had happened in the blink of an eye.
3:05.
Remember when I told you earlier how there would come a moment when everything changes forever? Well 3:05 would soon be our defining moment, although I didn’t know yet.
Deirdre sat in the passenger seat staring blankly out her window. She hadn’t said anything since it happened.
I didn’t think she was in the right frame of mind to be driving so I decided to take her home. I figured tomorrow if she’d like I could take her to pick up her car.
I had heard through the grapevine that school was going to be canceled tomorrow. That’s good I didn’t think I could go right now.
I finally broke the silence, “how are you doing?”
Deirdre said nothing, just kept staring out the passenger window. Out of all of us she was the most sensitive.
“Listen, if you want to talk tonight just call me okay? No matter what time. I don’t think I will be sleeping much tonight anyways.”
Deirdre turned her head slowly towards me, tears still streaming down her
