This Is Where It Ends by Marieke Nijkamp [Nijkamp, Marieke] (z-lib.org).epub

with care so his Afghan accent isn’t as pronounced. Next thing, they’ll mark him
as a suspect. It wouldn’t be the first time. Things happen in the school, and he
gets questioned even when it doesn’t concern him at all. I hate it. It’s so unfair—
but at least it gives me some downtime.
The voice mumbles something unintelligible, and Fareed answers. “We’ve
heard several shots. I don’t know if anyone is hurt.” He listens for a moment.
“No, no, we’re not hurt.”
I inch a little closer, but I can imagine the operator’s next questions. Where
are you? How many of you are there?
“Just the two of us. We’re in the principal’s office. The rest of the students and
the teachers are in the auditorium for an assembly. The shots seemed to come
from over there. We haven’t been to the back of the school. No, we won’t. We
heard footsteps right before the shooting but nothing else.”
Can you get out? That’s what I would ask, but the voice relays more
information. It’s almost comforting to listen. The low murmur from the phone
line and the occasional gunfire in the distance are the only sounds. We’re safe
here. I think.
“Yes, yes. The principal’s office is in the administrative wing. On the east side
of the building. First floor. The principal’s parking spot is outside the window.
It’s clearly marked.”
I smile without mirth. The principal’s parking spot used to be toward the
auditorium, with the rest of the faculty, but my oldest brother once spray-painted
Trenton’s car pink after the two of them got into an, uh, educational
disagreement. She moved the parking spot so she could keep an eye on her new
convertible.
“We’ve locked the door. We haven’t seen or heard anyone else. We don’t
know what the situation is like in the rest of the building.”
Gunshots. Threats. Deaths.
“We can get out through the window if we have to.”
It won’t have been the first time we’ve sneaked out but never like this.