I got home from school that day, and like any day I turned on the TV to watch it or probably was going to work-out. I noticed that the TV was on CNN and remember being peeved about that, but instead of changing the channel, I saw that there had been a shooting at a school outside of Denver. Never had heard of the town and it was scary when they were first coming up with the numbers. The worst injured had 8 shrapnal wounds in her chest and I was like how could anyone be shot that much and there was no confirmed # of the dead at that time.
I finally turned the TV and started doing my homework and was on the computer. A friend of mine from Washington state called me and asked if I had heard about the shootings. Of course, I was yeah its terrible. Then she went on to tell me that she knew 2 people that attended the school and hadn't been able to get ahold of them or had talked to them. At that moment I was like, they are probably in shock, probably were near where the shootings happened and to give them a few days. If they were injured, they'd be on a list coming out eventually.
That eventually came minutes later when they had lists posted online. I checked over the injured list first, thinking if anything they'd be on there, I still didn't know the death toll number. Out of 2000 people, come on no way. Neither name was on the list and I was like give them a few days and they will be back online or call them tomorrow or whatever. She begged me to check the dead list and I said over and over nothing was wrong, but I finally checked. I got down the list and it was about at the end of it, I felt deep down neither name would be on there. I got down and read the teacher's name "Dave Sanders" and then without realizing it I read "Rachel Scott." I stopped after I realized what I had said and realized what I just did. Rachel was the first person shot outside of the school eating lunch with a friend (who was also shot...but survived). Her younger brother, Craig, was in the library under a table with 2 friends (who were both shot and killed) and he played dead in his friend's blood.
I spent the rest of my school year living in fear of what happened at Columbine would happen at my own school. The next day I got my lunch in the out skirts of the cafeteria, I ate in the choir hallway where my next class was going to be. I spent my study hall's in the library before Columbine, but not after. I never returned to the library, the one time I had to, I stood as close to the door as I could get.
Please never forget the tragedies that have happened before and since the shootings at Columbine. Eric and Dylan started something and so many kids have tried to finish what they started. If some one you know, love or some one that knows some one or some one they love has said something to the lines they are going to do something like this, tell some one else, tell the police, tell a counselor. Make sure it never happens to you, make sure you aren't me telling some one their friend is dead. You can make a difference.
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