G is for...

E is for

Everything.

Everything made sense, in this moment.

But nothing did.

It was the best day of my life, but the worst one.

I sighed to myself, as I was the only person left in this classroom to sigh to. The memory of Tommy's lips on mine was all that I was focusing on, and I couldn't help but feel happy.

But, how could I feel happy, after everything that's happened? It didn't make sense. It was a sad day, not a happy one.

I've heard before how traumatic events cause you to re-evaluate your life.

Is this how I want to live? What did I regret? What would I regret?

And the truth is, I didn't have anything to regret. Not anymore. Maybe I should have told Tommy sooner, but maybe... maybe this happened the way it was supposed to happen. Maybe, seeing what we saw today, it made us realize. We loved each other, right? It didn't matter the timing, all that mattered was we realized it, in the end.

The moments ticked by as I remembered what had happened in this room. Maybe it wasn't as important as what had happened out in the halls, but it wasn't nothing.

All of my friends, the ones I had spent every day with. They were all going through something. They were going through things I had never noticed. They had been going through things I had never seen.

And, maybe that's true for everyone. Maybe, we're all going through things that even our closest friends don't know about.

It wasn't long this time, before I heard the knock on the door. I rose to my feet, knowing that there was only me here now, and there was only one name left for the officer to call.

I heard the door unlock, and I saw as he pushed his head through the crack.

"Amelia Port?" He asked, though he must know that I was the only one here. "Your guardian is here to collect you."

It wasn't the relief I thought I would feel. It was more like a calm that rushed over me, as I walked towards the door. I was ready to see my Aunt. I was ready to hug her and tell her how much I loved her, because now I knew how much it mattered.

I wondered if the kids that had been shot had told their loved ones how much they meant to them. I wondered if they had hugged their parents, or called their friends. I wondered if they had any regrets.

I had no one to turn back to, I had no words left to say, as I approached the door. The officer looked at me, strangely, before he let the door fall free, allowing it to land wide open.

I felt my face scrunch in confusion, as I saw who stood at the other side of the door.

I blinked rapidly, the events of today rushing through my mind as if it was a movie playing in fast forward.

The shots. The blood. The ground. The smell.

It wasn't random students on the floor, it was me. Me and my friends.

Running, running, running. We weren't running, we're we?

The officer, he wasn't real. Was he?

A safe haven. A waiting room.

"Mom? Dad?" I took a breath as I said the names I thought I would never call to again, the realization of what happened rushing over me.

We didn't survive. Did we?

Though, it wasn't a painful realization.

It was a peaceful one, like a warm bath of oil, coating me completely. I felt love in my heart as I stepped through the door, into my parents arms, the world around me fading into a brilliant white.

G wasn't for gunshots, after all. It was for goodbye.