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I HATE YOU
::  xv. | bird songs ( part 2 )

The school was in chaotic mode, everyone was running everywhere. In the midst of it all, the girls lost each other. Brooke found her way outside of the school, Peyton to the library and Ashely to one of the bathrooms. Brooke ran into Lucas and Nathan while she was out there, they had just gotten to school on a bus from something basketball related.

Brooke quickly explained to them what was going on. Whitey told the bus to drive off and that's when Chad ran up to them. Brooke caught him up to speed and then as an attempt to convince them not to go into the school on whitey's behalf, he goes in with them— convinced if he doesn't, something could happen to his sister or Peyton.

The three boys walked to whitey's office with their guard up and completely aware of their surroundings. Nathan grabbed a bat, tossed it to luke then luke tossed it to Chad. Soon enough they were all equipped with bats, but soon decided to go their separate ways. Nathan was going to find Haley, Chad went to find Peyton and Lucas went to find Ashely.

As they were coming to the rescue, Ashely was cooped up in the bathroom stall standing on top of the toilet with her legs bent, holding onto her arm. She assumed she cut herself when she was in a rush, she doesn't really remember. As she stood there with fear in her eyes and a worried expression on her face, you would think she would be thinking of her brother but she wasn't— she was thinking of the one person she hated the most, Rachel Gatina.

As she crossed the blonde's mind, she felt her phone vibrating in her back pocket. She pulled it out and read the caller ID, Chad. She pressed the green button and held the phone up to her hear with her wounded arm.

"Chad where are you?" Though he wasn't the first to cross her mind, she was still worried about her brother.

"In the school. Wanted to make sure you're safe. Lucas is coming for you."

"Why not you? You're my brother."

"Peyton. Need I say more?"

"Fine, but I don't need saving. So call Lucas off."

"Ash—?"

"I'm serious, Chad. It's bad enough you guys are walking the halls, I'm not trying to die being saved."

"Fine but don't do anything stupid."

And with the called ended, Rachel resurfaced in her mind. Sure she knew she could just call her and make sure everything's ok, but in the back of her mind . . she knew something was wrong and she didn't want to get Rachel killed by a stupid phone call. So she did what any rational person would do in this situation for someone they love, she left the stall.

She didn't give a crap about her arm anymore, the only thing she worried about was finding Rachel. As she peaked her head out the bathroom door, she glanced left and right before leaving and thinking about where Rachel could be held up.

• • •

As Ashely quietly walked the halls and then made a sharp turn, she bumped into Nathan and mouth.

"Jesus, you almost gave me a heart attack." Ashely's breathing slowed a bit when she recognized the boys.

"Well would you rather be hit with this?" Nathan gestured towards the bat he was holding.

"It'll hurt less." Ashely replied in a sarcastic tone.

"Guys? Could we keep moving? I'm not trying to die today." Mouth interrupted them.

Nathan sighed, "He's right. We're headed to the tutor room, you?"

Ashely nodded, "Same." To be honest, she didn't know where she was going. She's looking for Rachel but she didn't know where to start. So she thought what the hell? It's a lot safer than being in the halls at this point.

So she followed them to the tutor room. Once they got there, Nathan knocked on the door and announced himself, adding that ashely and mouth were out there too.

Once Rachel heard Ashely was out there as well, she agreed with Haley to open the door even though some were opposed of the idea. Skills pinned this guy to the wall, letting Haley through to open the door to let everyone inside. So they did, Nathan came in with Ashley and mouth behind him. Once they were inside, mouth quickly closed and locked the door behind him. What happened next . . . they did not expect.

Jimmy Edwards pulled out the hand gun from his hoodie pocket. He pointed it and waved it around, "Get back! Get back now!" Everyone was gasping, Ashely immediately went to Rachel's side.

"Jimmy . . . " Mouth with a tilt of his head, gave his a friend worried look.

Jimmy scoffed, "Don't Jimmy me mouth." He began to wave the gun around again, "What is everyone scared? They should be! You scared, scott?" He purposely aimed it at Nathan.

Nathan nodded, "Yeah, I am."

"Good!" Jimmy exclaimed.

"Dude-"

"Put your phones in here!" Jimmy grabbed an empty basket off the teacher's desk.

Everyone took out their phones and placed them in the basket. Jimmy then told Nathan to grab the blue tape and place it in a line on the floor to separate him and the rest of the students.

• • •

About an hour had passed and everyone was just sitting quietly, nervous out of their minds. jimmy was just waving the gun around as he shared a look with everyone.

Ashely's heart was racing faster and the only person keeping her calm was Rachel. They were sitting next to each other, watching as jimmy paced back and forth. Subconsciously, Ashely's hand reached for Rachel's and their fingers intertwined with one another's. Rachel noticed and she just thought Ashely was scared, so she was looking for comfort but that wasn't it at all.

"Jimmy, just put the gun down." Haley began, "You can get out of this."

The guy in the back snickered so loud it was like he wanted to be heard.

Nathan nodded, "You didn't hurt anyone. They'll let you down easy."

"He brought a gun to school . . . I hope they fry your ass." The guy chimed in from behind.

"Would you shut up!" Rachel turned to him then back to the front.

As everyone was lost in figuring out ways to survive, Ashely noticed the girl that sat behind her and Rachel. She saw that the girl looked quite sick, maybe. She let go of Rachel's hand and approached the girl, sitting down in front of her.

"Hey, are you ok?" Ashely's tone was soft. The brown haired girl didn't say anything. Ashely glanced at her wrist and noticed exactly what kind of band she had on, "Are you diabetic?" The girl just nodded. "What's your name?"

"Abby." She breathed out, "What happened to your arm?" Abby noticed the blood seeping from Ashely's wound.

Ashely ignored her and turned to jimmy, "Jimmy, she needs help. She's diabetic. She could die."

He continued to pace as he figured out what to do. He was racking his head and slowly getting irritated. After a moment or so, he told Abby to get up and he let her go. He opened the classroom door and she ran. Once she was gone, the room once again fell silent.

• • •

About ten minutes had past and jimmy had come to a decision. He was done waiting around.

"You know there are more of me out there. . . I'm not the only one."

"Come on, Jim . . ."

Jimmy scoffed, "And you're not one of them mouth?" Jimmy headed towards the door, "The next person that steps in the hall is dead."

"Dude—!" The guy in the back commented.

To everyone's surprise, there was a loud noise in the hallway. It sounded like a door closing shut.

"Guess that's my cue." Jimmy mumbled before leaving the tutor room to the sound in the hall, leaving everyone else in the room.

Ashely didn't know what to think. Her mind was in billions of places. That could've been anybody in the hall but she was afraid it was her brother or Lucas. She winced at the slight sting of her arm. She looked over at her wound and saw the blood continued to seep through.

Rachel noticed her arm and immediately took her jacket off. She tied her jacket around Ashely's arm to secure it and make sure she didn't bleed out. As Rachel finished tightening it, that's when the single gunshot was heard.

Haley gasped as tears left her eyes, Ashely's eyes closed holding potential tears back and hugging Rachel. Mouth was in shock but who wouldn't be. Then out of nowhere, another gunshot was heard. Ashely bit her lower lip, she did not want to cry at all. She was more angry than sad, extremely worried about Lucas, Chad, and Peyton. She just wanted everything to be over already. . .

But it was far from over.

a/n:
my bbies 😭

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