She Was Ugly

Chapter 4: The News

When I got home, I threw my bag onto my bedroom floor and collapsed onto my bed. The day had really taken a toll on me, and it was only going to get worse. This was only the first day and it was already a complete disaster. It had started out good but then started slowly going downhill then it all came crashing and burning down the hill at 100 miles per hour when I saw Leo.

Part of me was still a little annoyed at Via for not telling me that her brother was coming home, but I'll get over it. I can't be that mad at her anyway. If my brother was coming back after not seeing him for 6 years I would be happy too. Being apart from family is one of the worst feelings in the world.

I mean, I guess I should have known that he would come back eventually. It's not like he was going to stay in France forever. Especially, if his sister was living in the States. Plus, I know him and he wouldn't want to live in France his whole life.

Why did my first day have to go like this? Why?

I planned on my senior year being filled with studying and applying to different colleges. I definitely didn't think that it was going to be filled with my best friends brother. Maybe if I ignore him he will leave me alone. But right now, all I needed was a hot bath, and some form of chocolate.

Chocolate always helped me calm down for some reason. I went down into the kitchen and grabbed a box of saltine crackers. My father and Via both didn't like saltine crackers, and I was the only one that used them in my soup.

It was the perfect place to keep a secret stash of chocolate. I grabbed a Snickers out of the box and then put it back in the cupboard. They would never bother to look in there. That's what makes it the best hiding spot for food I don't want to share with them.

As I unwrapped the Snickers, I walked over to the TV to see what was on.

Usually by now my dad would be home, but today he had to work a little bit later. My dad worked as an accountant. It wasn't the most exciting job, but it paid the bills. The money he made was enough to not be poor, but we were in no way rich.

I should probably start looking for a job so I can save up for college. Going to college was going to cost a lot of money.

I aimlessly flipped through the channels, trying to find something to watch. There's never anything on this early in the afternoon. All the good shows are on at night. My thumb was about to press the 'Next' button on the remote when a news channel story caught my eye.

Apparently, there had been a school shooting in Oregon. There was 3 people dead, including the principal, a student, and one of the janitors. The news reporter stated that there were at least 5 in serious condition and another 7 in less serious conditions.

The poor families, I thought. There's been so many school shootings recently, and nothing's being done about it. It just keeps happening. The people who control gun laws need to form some kind of new laws that are more restricting on who can by guns.

I'm all for the 2nd amendment, people should be able to own guns to protect themselves, but the laws in place now are horrible.

They aren't protecting people from guns, protecting families from the heart shattering loss. All they do is allow politicians to grow fat while they sit on an ever growing pile of cash. How would they feel if their kid was shot dead? Of course if their kid as shot and killed, they would have enough money to do something about it. But they won't because they are all selfish and dumb.

The politicians just use all the protests and rallies to gain more public favor and money. My dad agreed with me on this, and so did Via. Us students shouldn't have to fear for our lives because politicians won't get get off their fat asses and do something about it.