I must admit that I never thought anything like that would happen at an elite boarding school. That kind of stuff was supposed to happen at those poor inner-city schools. I truly had no idea.

It’s hard to really remember the day. Everything was sort of a huge blur. I think I might still be in some kind of shock. I remember that it was sunny outside. Bad things weren’t supposed to happen on sunny days. It wasn’t right.

I think that I was in my Ancient History class. It’s hard to remember; I’m not sure why. I was probably one of the first ones to get into class; my dorm was right next to the classroom block, so I usually was. That day, though, that kid, Talon Harper was there, too. I didn’t really pay attention to him; no one ever did.

Talon‘s parents were rich, and unlike the other rich kids at school, no one liked him. He was usually alone; even his roommate tended to avoid him. Looking back, I can’t really see why. He wasn’t so strange, just quiet. On school breaks, he was usually the kid that stayed on campus. I did too, but it was out of necessity for me. My parents lived a thousand miles away, and plane tickets were expensive. His home was only a short drive down the road. On those breaks, when there was no one on campus, I would run into him occasionally, passing him a smile or a small greeting. We never talked. We never hung out together. Now, I kind of wish I would have taken the initiative to talk to him. Maybe then, he wouldn’t have done what he did.

Just before that day, we had spring break. I stayed on campus; I remember that Talon had gone home. It didn’t strike me as odd, because I never really paid much attention to him. In retrospect, I can definitely piece together what he was doing. I just went about my life as normal, enjoying the solitude of my dorm room while my roommate was gone and calling my parents every once in a while. The weather was good; the temperature never rose above sixty-five degrees, and never did the puffy white clouds look threatening. Then, just as quickly as it began, my week in solitude was over; students returned to the hustle and bustle of boarding school life.

It wasn’t the first day back that he did it. We were presenting our projects. It had to be the second or third week. I remember how hard I worked on the project, but I can’t even remember what my topic was. I walked into class, and I walked to my desk; Talon was sitting in it. I frowned at him. He gave me a cold, disconnected smile, and got up. I watched him as he moved to the desk right next to mine and I stared as he fixed his gaze on the blackboard. Professor Hayes didn’t say anything. Even he was uncomfortable around Talon, and he made no effort to conceal his discomfort. Slowly, other students began to file in, whispering frantically, probably about Talon, their favorite subject. He paid no attention to them. As the tardy bell rang, Professor Hayes walked to his podium and cleared his throat, probably ready to get those projects over with.

“Who wants to go first?” Professor asked in a rather nonchalant voice. To everyone’s surprise, Talon raised his hand.

“I will,” he said, his voice quiet and, now that I think about it, probably a little bit scared. He stood and hesitated, as though he was not ready for what he was about to do.

“Move it, Harper,” Professor Hayes growled. Talon paid him no attention, instead opting to take his time.

“Professor, I’ve decided to do my project on weaponry,” Talon said. He waited a second, gauging Professor’s reaction. There was none. Sighing softly, Talon reached into his pocket.

The last thing I remember about that day was the flash of steel hitting the light.

Outside, it was sunny. Bad things weren’t supposed to happen on sunny days, but they did.

They did.