26

Auriana

"What's going on?" a voice rang out. The people in the room started to panic, people started screaming, pulling and pushing. Together with my friends we dived under the long table with snacks and drinks. The rug reached the floor and no one would be able to see us. Brooke and I huddled close to Jake and Jimmy.

"Angela, Mr. Williams? What are you doing here?!" the voice of Principal Nickolas sounded. The lights had finally come back on. I felt all the color drain from my face when I heard that my father was here.

"Getting the girl who ruined our lives!" Angela said. We looked at each other in shock. We all recognized the voice of Mrs. Scheeps.

"Where's Auriana?" my father asked. His voice was still fairly calm. The principal didn't move a muscle, she racked her brains about how to keep her students safe.

"She's… sick! She's in the hospital."

"Then why is her bike here, Tina?!" The students started talking. Renee took her phone out of her pocket and called the police.

"Your father was serving a life sentence, wasn't he?" whispered Scarlet. I sat there, deathly still and pale. At that moment I couldn't speak.

"He must have escaped," whispered Jeremy.

"The police are on their way!" whispered Renee. Jake put his arm around my shoulders.

"Tina, where is my daughter?!" He was losing his patience, I recognized that tone anywhere.

"In the hospital visiting her mother. She got a lift from Scarlet's father, that's why her bike is still here," the principal insisted. Slowly but surely the color returned to my cheeks now that I knew help was on the way.

"You're lying!" shouted Angela.

"We have to come out!" whispered Jake. Before we could say anything, Jake crawled out from under the table. The others looked at each other determinedly and decided in an instant that they could not leave him alone against my father and Mrs. Scheeps. Renee, Emma, ​​Jimmy, Scarlet and Jeremy also crawled out from under the table. Brooke looked at Nikki and nodded. They also crawled out from under the table, followed by Skylar.

"Oh, look at that, my daughter's nine best friends!" My father pulled out a gun. Others started screaming and ran out of the gym. They were following the protocol that the school had drawn up and had practiced several times after a school shooting not far from Westbrook. I lay down on my stomach and peered through a crack at the scene in the gym. My friends firmly grabbed each others hands and stood there. On my stomach I slowly crawled to the back of the table. My father pointed the gun at Skylar, because he knew she was the "weakest". She stood there with her head held high. Mr. Williams was surprised and pointed at the others, but they all did the same. I gathered all my courage before I came out from under the table and walked over to the others.

"Ah, there's my "sweet" daughter," he said as he pointed the gun at me. I grabbed Jake's hand and looked at my father with a determined face. If my own father who wants to shoot me then so be it. He slowly lowered the gun. As angry as he was, he couldn't bring himself to pull the trigger. Mrs. Scheeps pulled the gun out of his hands and pointed it back at me. My friends gathered around me.

"Shoot!" I said determinedly. Mrs. Scheeps was surprised.

"If you shoot her, you have to shoot me too!" Jake said.

"Me too!" the others said in unison. I couldn't believe my friends would let themselves be shot for me and pushed my way forward.

"Go ahead, shoot!" I challenged as I walked back to my friends, "but remember that our friendship is strong and if you shoot us, you could go to jail for life!"

"Shut up!" Angela's voice boomed through the gym. Mrs. Scheeps walked off the stage and returned with three more people.

"What would you do if I put a bullet in their heads!?" I stood there frozen.

"Auriana!" the three people shouted. Angela put the gun to the little redhead's head. Even my father didn't dare to move now. Anger was written all over his face. That was clearly not part of the agreement between him and Mrs. Scheeps. The principal had crept over to the light switches and turned them off. I didn't hesitate and ran onto the stage where I grabbed the gun from Angela's hands.

"Get out of here!" I shouted at Ryleigh, Rose and my grandmother as I took the bullets out of the gun. Jake helped them out of the room before the lights came back on.

"Give me back the gun!" Angela shouted. Her face was about to explode.

"Okay." No one knew I had the bullets in my hands and threw the gun back at Angela. My friends couldn't believe their eyes.

"Auriana! What are you doing?!!" Brooke shouted. Angela pointed the gun at me again and pulled the trigger…but nothing happened. We only heard a soft click.

"What!?"

"Are you looking for these?" I asked, holding up the bullets. Sirens could be heard in the distance.

"If you want them, come and get them!" I ran outside. Angela wanted to follow me, but she got no further than the nine children holding her back.

"Let me through!" That's my girl, my father thought. He felt proud. Proud that I had been smart enough to remove the bullets from the gun, and proud that I had been brave enough to do it at all. The gym was adjacent to the outside door, and you could hear everything that was said inside as long as the doors were open. I took a little sneak peak around the corner.

"No!" Jake said. Jake, Renee, and Scarlet walked forward and got into a defensive stance. The officers walked in and handcuffed Angela and my dad. My dad walked out with him without a fight, while Angela resisted.

"Wait!" I ran to my dad as he walked out with a police officer, "why didn't you shoot when you had the chance?" I was stopped by a police officer, but I squeezed past him.

"You're my daughter, I may not have always been the best father, but I love you." I wrapped my arms around his waist. This was probably the last time I would see him for a while.

"I love you too." And with that I let go of him and watched as they walked to the police car.

"Get inside and rock that stage!" he said before he was put in the car. I laughed with tears in my eyes at his comment.

"I'm gonna miss you."

"I'm gonna miss you too, Auriana." The police cars drove away and the other students from West Field High stood in the school yard. Just like they were taught, all together, away from the windows in the back and on the yard by the bike shed. No one is allowed to leave the school grounds because of possible witnesses. Unless immediate safety is at risk.

"Okay, let's go back inside and have a great night!" Brooke shouted. A lot of the people walked back inside, but there were also a few who went home. The police spoke briefly with the principal and my friends and me but quickly decided that we didn't know too much about the motives of the couple.

"Okay, I know this night didn't exactly go as planned but it's all over and there are no more surprises!" Principal Nickolas walked onto the stage, "actually…there are still a few surprises…but they are nice surprises…I want the party team and Scarlet on stage." We walked onto the stage.

"You've had a tough time the last two months, the stress of this party, the accident, Auriana's memory loss, Nikki's coma, Scarlet's move, Brooke and Renee's fight and Jimmy's confusion about who he liked." We were amazed at how much the principal actually knew about us. Jake grabbed my hand.

"You've proven that no matter what the circumstances, you're there for each other, you're honest, sporty, funny, creative, cool, generous, loyal, kind, positive and smart, that's why you sometimes feel like one big family. Now that Scarlet is staying, Auriana, Jake, Jimmy and Brooke have found love, everyone is back on their feet, my daughter is engaged and I'm getting an awesome son-in-law, it's time to party! HIT IT!"

"I'm MC Michelle and I'm the DJ, Jake what song?"

"A thousand years by Cristina Perrie!" As Michelle looked up the song, Jake stuck out his hand.

"Can I have this dance?" A giggle escaped my throat before I could stop it.

"Of course," I said with a laugh and took his outstretched hand. We walked to the dance floor and began to dance. Brooke and Jimmy followed suit. Scarlet, Skylar, Renee, Nikki, and Emma sat on the edge of the stage.

"They're finally together," Renee said.

"After so much effort," Emma laughed. At that comment, I stuck my tongue out at them, letting them know I could hear them.

"They belong together," Nikki said.