Cerpen: Loud

It was a fine morning in a city in Florida. The cold wasn't that bad in November. A boy woke up from his sleep, his golden-short hair looked messy. 

"Aether, are you awake already?" his mother's voice could be heard from his room. He replied in a short yes, loud enough to be heard by his mother. It was just like any other morning, he woke up at the same time. It really was just like any other morning. He woke up to the same voice every day. Everything seems like any other day. 

"is a sandwich enough?" I nodded while checking my phone, there's a message from Ajax, a classmate of mine. He's asking about homework in history class. There are only the two of us in this house. It was a very normal morning, I ate my breakfast while my mom's getting ready for work. She was a busy woman, being a mother and also a father for me. I didn't feel lonely being only with her. Well, a father was something unfamiliar for me, I never knew his face because he left just before I was born, and my mother never bother to tell me about him. My life as a senior in high school was also pretty much normal, I have friends, my grades weren't that bad, I knew because my mother never lectured me about school. 

It's already 8:45 AM when I finished my breakfast. "I might be late today, there is food in the fridge or do you want to order something..?" my mom said as she got her bag in her room, checking herself once again before. My eyes kept following her until I realized she patted my head. "I'm going first, ok?" she kissed my cheek and went to the door. And she disappeared from my sight. I didn't know but it felt like the kitchen went colder when she went out of the house. PING! I looked at my phone and saw another message from Ajax. 

Ajax: You're not in school yet? im not done with my history homework

You: onw  

Fortunately, my school wasn't that far, only 10 minutes by bus. I grabbed my bag and went out of the building. The ground was almost covered up by snow, but I could see someone cleaning up the snow that was covering the road. 

... 

I could see my school gate, checking the time and it's already almost 9. Duk! I felt someone bump into my shoulder, I looked up in surprise and realized it was Anthon, one of my classmates. Without care he kept walking inside the school, wearing a navy blue hoodie that covered his head. Today must felt too cold for him. He's always been liked that. I barely ever talked to him since we've been classmates, and it's not only me. He has never seen hanging out with others in the school. 

.... 

"Aether! you're late!" Ajax said as he saw me walking inside the class. 

"enough with your chit chat" I took out my history book, and Ajax smiled widely as he snatched the book. 

I looked at the back row and saw Anthon sitting on the right side. He was looking at me. I slightly waved my hand at him, just for him to ignore me. 

"You don't need to pay attention to him you know" I could hear Ajax loud enough for Anthon to hear him. "you knew he's always been like that. 

I pinched his right arm, "he can hear you." Ajax shrugged, "that's the point."

"Something happened between you two, right? and I'm 99% sure it's on him." Just when I was about to complain about his words, Mr. Ragnvindr was already in class. I didn't realize the bell has rung. 

.... 

It was quiet during Mr. Ragnvindr's class. The students already knew the characteristics of every teacher. Mr. Ragnvindr won't tolerate any disturbance during his class, one time a classmate of mine was talking with her friend and Mr. Ragnvindr didn't hesitate to give a punishment to clean the school toilets. 

30 minutes passed, Mr. Ragnvindr gave us 5 minutes break and I chose to go to the restroom. I was washing my hands when I saw Anthon out of the stall. "Sorry for this morning," he said as he washed his hands. He actually surprised me a bit. I didn't expect him to talk to me. "okay, it's partially my fault too." I was about to get out of the restroom when I heard a loud bang outside. Once. Twice. Thrice. I looked at Anthon, he didn't look that surprised but I could feel he tensed up a bit. We both knew what sound that was. I reach my phone and an alert message confirmed my fear.

ALERT!! There is a report of an ARMED person throughout the school, shelter in place while police investigate.

I felt my heart drop for a moment. Then I heard another bang and it became closer and closer to the restroom. "we need to get out here" Anthon said as he checked on the surrounding. He locked the door to slow down the moment the shooter broke in. There were small windows on the right of the wastrels. The windows were small but big enough for people to go through it. "quick" Anthon calmly said to me. He still looked calm, but I knew how terrifying this situation was. 

My hands went cold. I walked to the window, tried to reach it but the window position just has to be higher than mine. Sometimes I hated my small figure. It put me on disadvantages. Anthon quickly squatted down, without further thinking I went up to his shoulders. When he stand up, we heard another bang. I quickly reached the window and jump off it. Anthon followed in a second. The moment we were out of the building, we heard a bang inside the restroom. 

Without any second wasted, we began to run to another building for shelter. My heart dropped when I saw a body lying on the ground. It was a body of a girl. I kept running with my head full of nothing but one thought, 'please save me.' The thought kept being repeated at the same beat as my heart. I felt the cold that morning was getting harsher. Until the moment we reached the shelter, I still have the same thought. I didn't realize my body has been shaking nonstop. 

"Ae, you okay" I heard a familiar voice. I saw Ajax coming closer to me, I just nodded my head. His state was not any better than mine, his body looked tense and I saw blood on his right shoulder. "what happened?" I looked at him, bad thoughts already filling my head. 

"I piggybacked a wounded student, fortunately, the shooter missed vital organs" I didn't realize I was holding my breath until I let out a relieved sigh. 

It's been a year since that tragedy. I still vividly remember my mom's reaction the first time she saw me after that. She hugged me so tight it made me hear her loud heartbeats. It was so loud, but it's different from the sound of the loud bang I heard in school. I lost friends and teachers in that terrifying winter. The loud sound of a gun was still clear, living in my memory.