Yawning because it's the last lesson of the day,  I read Miss Woth's comment on my attempted poetry, 'You are quite the joker I see. But I would like a more serious topic from you this time.'

"You can talk to your partner if you need help but you should be speaking only about the work," Miss Woth instructs us and starts typing on her computer.

I look to my partner Esme who is chatting with the girl behind, Mandy. I find this funny since Esme always complains to me out of class about Mandy. It gives me the idea to make my subject about fake friends.

'If I were to cry, you would be laughing.                        

If I was laughing you would be frowning.       

If I was frowning you would be smiling.                                                                            

If I was smiling, you would be plotting how to make it disappear so it would appear on your face again.                                                                                                                                                                    

And again you would ignore me                                                                             

Smiling with your other friends,                                                                                         

Laughing behind my back with glee                                                                                   

Frowning when I say I'm okay                                                                                           

 Knowing you don't give me the time of day     

But of course, you only want your way.'

When I look up, I see Miss. Woth looking straight at me with a proud smile moulded on her face. I give a small smile back.

After the lesson, whiles walking in the corridor I see Jiaying coming out of her class. I speed up my step meaning to walk beside her when Orabelle takes that place. Oof I've been, cockblocked- except I don't have a cock of course. 

"Jacklynne!" I hear my name being called by an annoying voice. Esme falls into step beside me and starts talking about the fact that Mandy let this other girl sit in her lap and how Mandy has never let her do that. She's one of those girls that at first, when you're new to them, considering their 'school societal status', you feel honoured and proud that they're even speaking to you. But over the years, when they come with their cliques, you learn to realise it's like a joke, or an experiment or an agreed, collective dare. This reduces their morality in my opinion. As we walk along, we near the doorway of a classroom a the line of students exit their class. I use my shorter than average height to weave through them to escape.  

I rush up to join Orabelle and Jiaying as they exit the school gate. As I near them, I hear Jiaying  cooing about Mr. Chay, "He's so hot! I wish he would notice me."

Orabelle, yet with a disapproving tone, snickers, "Ew but isn't he like forty or something?"

Jiaying pats Orabelle's shoulder almost patronisingly, "My dear, age is but a number."

"Actually age is a word, Jiaying," I pipe in. Both of them seem to jump at my voice and my sudden presence. 

We take a right turn to go in the direction of the bus stop. "And no wonder he doesn't make eye contact with us when he's teaching. I've noticed he always looks up at the ceiling which I thought was weird not knowing that it was your gawking that creeped him out. Well at least since school is over he has time to erase the image of your stalking eyes following his every move."

"Well he's the only reason I concentrate in maths. Thank God school is over. Because starting the school week with maths and ending it with maths- it's disgusting! Who would do that to a child?" Jiaying exclaims.

Laughing, I start to answer her question even though I know it's rhetorical, "I don't know, I guess the-"

"Horrendous!" 

As I snort and roll my eyes, my shoulder bumps into someone. I turn to apologise to the person and my eyes fall upon familiar green ones that belong to the Joker and hold me captive. Terror paralyzes me to stay rooted to the spot even though I hear the sound of gun shots and alarming screams around me. The temporary paralysis fades away and instead of seeing the Jokers haunting fixed gaze I now see Jiaying's fixed panicked looked.

"Jackie, Jackie please move!" Jiaying's cry and tremulous hold of my shoulders brings me back to reality. 

"You didn't see that did you?" My voice involuntarily trembles. She frowns and shakes her head  in response before tugging me up the hill back towards school. I yank my hand away when I realise.

"Ew why are we going back to school?" 

"For safety," Jiaying replies. Someone knocks into me this time. They turn to apologise and I am met with familiar eyes once again but desperate ones. They are owned by the boy with the silver stud. I never learned his name that night he seemed to be having a panic attack. As soon as he thanked me, he rushed off, probably in embarrassment.  

Now, a flush of pink brushes across his cheekbones when we lock eyes. 

"Sorry, my name's Aasim by the way." he apologises hastily then starts marching past the teachers who call after him to come in whiles ushering people into the school.

"Boy this is for your own safety," a male teacher states, firmly gripping Aaism's shoulder attempting to pull him back but Aasim shrugs his hand off. 

"Mine is not important right now," he hisses then tries a softer approach. "Sir, my sister's school is just next to yours. Can I please go and get her?" 

"The care you have for your sister is admirable but it is better for you to come into the school where it is safe. If your sister's school is next to ours then they would have heard the gunshots too and are probably doing the same thing as us. Now get in, " the male teacher urges.

Suddenly, a series of shots sound out. I'm confused as to why no one has seen who is doing this by now.  

"Now!" the teacher shouts and even pushes Aaism through the school gates. My friends and I are swept through the school gates as more people hustle through hastily. We enter one of the blocks and go into a classroom which is already nearly full. 

"Huh, never thought I would be back to school," a woman laughs.

Jiaying, Orabelle and I sit in a corner and cross our legs. Our quietness contrasts the chatter from every person in the room. All except the boy with the silver stud across from us with his head buried in his knees. His fingers are planted in his honey coloured curls gently pulling. I can tell he is stressed.

There is a war in my head before I decide that I should speak, "I'm sure your sister is okay."

Aaism lifts his head heavily like it's effort just to do that and makes eye contact. His pink lips open to speak but an angry man comes storming in which interests everybody including us. 

"It was just some stupid kids making the sound of gun shots. Little motherfuckers!" he exclaims not minding the kids in the room. He peeks out the door when he hears something. "Here those idiots come."

And in come the 'idiots' escorted by Miss Woth. All boys, and one of them in which I identify to have been the boy in the bus that made fun of Orabelle's name. 

 "Hey isn't that your friend?" I look to Aasim when asking and am surprised to see a direct glare from him to who I assume is now his ex-friend. 

"Mason," he growls whiles standing up and marching right up to him. I regard Aaism's jaw clenching and fists balling up, then unclenching. 

 "I have no time for you right now," Aasim hisses and knocks Mason's shoulder with his own before walking out of the room. Mason noticeably lets out a breath of relief. The group of boys chorus an apology after being told by  Miss Woth then are taken away by her. I hear most adults kissing their teeth in annoyance.

"What a waste of time," the woman who laughed before mumbles and shakes her head.

Everyone exits the classroom and the gates in such a rush that my head bangs against the wall. I turn around as if I'm about to have a brawl with it then notice something. 

"Aren't these actual bullet holes?" I ask Orabelle and Jiaying. When they don't answer, I spin around and see what they are staring at. On the rooftops of buildings across from us are figures in dark suits walking away...

With serious looking guns in their hands.

I look around searching for a certain person. I see Mason alone and with a hunched posture, exiting from the upper gates and with a worried expression, looking exactly where the figures are leaving. I start running up to him calling, "Mason!"

He looks back panicked before realising that I'm the one calling, then makes a swatting hand gesture.

And as he walks faster away, Jiaying and Orabelle run up to me.

"Do you think it's possible that Mason and his friends made fake gun shots, to cover up the real ones?" I ask.

Both of them shrug.

"Well that would mean that Mason is working with a bad gang of people. But why?"

Both of them shrug again.

"And who exactly were they meaning to shoot? And don't you dare shrug again!"

"We don't know these answers Jackie." Jiaying replies softly.

"And honestly, we don't care." Orabelle inputs.

I scoff and head down the hill again to the bus stop. A bus luckily comes straightway. But when I look into the reflection of the glass, I freeze and the bus drives away.

In the reflection, I saw the Joker. Mouthing something I assume is the answer to the question I was asking before: Who exactly were those guys meaning to shoot?

The Joker had mouthed, "You."