A Sense Of Déjà vu

I woke up with a start and sat up on my bed. It's weird how you wake up and think everything is fine, however, the memories of your previous day come crashing inside your head. The first thought that comes into mind is the fact that I saw him die. I saw Quentin Reynolds, one of my friends die before the police could arrive to stop it from happening as six others died too. To stop Chad Avery and Henry Bradley for being responsible for the school shooting. It was frightening yesterday.

The door opened and Nancy, my elder sister, said, "Hey, it's already 7:15, don't you have to go to school?"

"What are you talking about?" I asked, looking at her, confused. "How do you expect me to go to school with the events that took place yesterday?"

"What? What are you talking about?" she asked instead, with genuine confusion. "Nothing happened yesterday. Now get out of bed and get ready to go to school."

"Nancy, the school shooting," I told her, raising my eyebrows as if she had gone crazy. She was the one who came to get me in school and comforted me as we came home. "The police arrived? One of my friends got shot?"

She gave me a worried look and asked, "Was that what happened in your dream? Did you see a nightmare?"

"What...Nancy, it actually happened!" I exclaimed. "Quentin...he was shot, he died and..."

"I don't know what you're talking about but please get ready and go to school," Nancy said, looking uncomfortable. "Alright, I can drive you to school. Mom and Dad have already left to their jobs."

~

I didn't let Nancy drive me because she kept on asking me if I was okay. It bothered me so I walked the twenty five minutes walk to Lincoln High. I didn't know what was more shocking; not seeing any news of the school shooting on the newspapers as I checked them or seeing Quentin Reynolds walking in my direction with a smile on his face. He's alive, I thought to myself.

"Hi, Cathy," he said, in his normal cheerful way. "Great day, huh? Wanna walk to Lincoln's together?"

The image of him lying on the floor of our classroom, blood flowing out of his wound on his stomach as life left him...The image was so vivid. He had been dead. I know he had left us. Then how...

"Cath?" Quentin asked, looking at me nervously. "You're crying, are you okay?"

I blinked as I felt tears falling down my cheeks. Quickly wiping them away, I smiled at him and said, "I'm fine, I'm fine. It's just...I don't know why...I'm glad to see you."

He laughed at the statement and said, "I didn't know you'd be so happy to see me. If that were the case, I'd love to walk to school with you everyday. You know, make the day bearable."

I chuckled and we started talking as we walked to high school. Maybe it was only a bad dream. It wasn't real. How can it be real? Quentin was right here. There was no school shooting. It was only a pathetic nightmare.

~

Classes happened normally. Seeing Quentin and everyone else in their normal selves, I started to feel alright, even though there was still this nagging feeling in the back of my head about what happened the day before. There was a school shooting, I don't know why, but I was certain of it. But then...no one seemed to know. Maybe I was stuck in a time loop, like in the movies. So...does that mean I'm here reliving yesterday? But...in a time loop...won't there be a sense of déjà vu? Or am I just living the same day but differently? Is that possible?

"Cathy Wilson!"

I looked up startled as Mrs. Tomlinson shouted at me. "Yes, mam?" I asked paying attention.

"I've been calling out to you to answer the question on the board for the past five minutes," she said, seeming annoyed.

"Sorry, mam," I said, standing up and walking ahead to solve the equation on the board as others started laughing slightly. Sighing, I solved the equation on the board and after stating the answer to be correct, I was told to sit back. "Next time, pay attention."

"Yes, mam, I'm sorry," I said, sighing, as my cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. As Mrs. Tomlinson taught, my eyes travelled to the corner of the board where the date was 14th of March. My eyebrows furrowed, because yesterday it was definitely the 13th of March. In conclusion, I'm not stuck in a time loop.

But the memories of the school shooting are too vivid to become a dream. After all, I've never managed to remember my dreams once I woke up. Thinking of my dreams were like trying to hold water. They don't stay for long.

Then why...why was all that so real? I glanced at Quentin, after all, he had been dead yesterday. And yet he's alive? Besides him, I know that three sophomores were shot, two juniors from our batch and a teacher too.

I looked at Chad and Henry, who seemed to focus on their work. They really did shoot them. But now...they seemed alright. Yesterday Chad had a rifle and Henry had a gun. It was Henry who shot Quentin when he tried confronting him. I had thought that was a stupid move and an equally brave one as well.

~

During lunch, I seemed distracted to my friends. June Lark asked me, "Hey, Cath, you seem upset, you alright?"

"Nah, she's probably upset due to Mrs. Tomlinson, right Cathy?" George Dawson asked, grinning. He never takes anything seriously in his life.

"No, I...I'm okay," I said, managing to smile. "What were you guys talking about?"

June, George, Quentin and the rest of them began talking about this party and slowly, my thoughts drifted away from them again. I looked around the cafeteria and everything seemed to be alright. Except...Henry and Chad weren't there. I looked around frantically and began to feel afraid.

"Cathy? What happened?" George asked.

I looked at the rest of them as they looked at me worriedly. My eyes trailed on Quentin's face for a second longer and I looked at June, who I was the closest with and said, "June, can you come with me for a sec?"

"Of course," June said standing up. She was always the helpful one in the group, everyone trusted her, she was the one person everyone could count on. The uneasy feeling wasn't leaving me as I walked to the girls bathroom and she followed. "Okay," she said, standing and crossing her arms. "What's wrong?"

"I...I need to tell you something," I said, slowly. "It's just...I don't know if you'll believe me."

"It's okay, you can tell me," June said, smiling assuringly.

"Yesterday, there was a school shooting," I said. She raised her eyebrows. "I know, it might seem crazy but there was a school shooting. Here. In Lincoln High. Seven people were shot...including, including Quentin. Henry shot him."

"What are you saying?" June asked, not believing me. "Yesterday was a normal day. Just like today, except you weren't spaced out and we had normal classes."

"That's what I don't get," I told her. "Yesterday the whole day, it was fine, however before lunch there was a school shooting. Henry and Chad, they were responsible."

"You were...probably dreaming," she replied, uncertainly.

"That's what I thought, but then that's not possible because these memories are too real," I said.

The bell rang then and she just looked at me. After a while she said, "Cathy, it's not real, it didn't happen. Everyone is safe and fine, alright? It was just a night-"

A gunshot echoed and there were screams. My whole body felt cold as I rushed out the bathroom door, June behind me. The teacher, I didn't know his name but he taught the sophomores, was on the floor, blood flowing around him. I saw Henry walking inside the cafeteria. Everyone else was there, the students and the teachers.

I looked at June who had covered her mouth as if to stop it from screaming. "June, listen to me," I told her, holding her shoulders. "Go call the police okay? Henry and Chad don't know we're out here. Go call the - "

There was another shot from inside the cafeteria and June gasped as tears rolled down her cheeks. "June, call the police," I said, keeping my voice even.

"And what about you?"

"I'll go in the cafeteria, don't worry, it'll be fine, just go," I said and she nodded and rushed down the corridor.

I walked towards the cafeteria and opened the door. Another sophomore was dead and everyone's eyes were trained on Quentin, who stood up with both of his hands raised in front of him. Henry was there, pointing his gun at Quentin. It was happening again.

Chad was going around the cafeteria, forcing everyone to sit down. When one of them protested, Chad fired the rifle and killed the guy, who happened to be a junior from our batch, Ben Crompton.

"Stop this," Quentin said warningly.

"No," Henry said.

"Look, it'll be fine, just drop your gun, Henry," Quentin said, taking a step further.

"Stay where you are or I'll shoot you," Henry said.

"No, we're classmates right?" Quentin said, taking another step further slowly. "Stop this."

"I said take another step and I'll shoot you! Stay where you are Reynolds!" Henry shouted, his finger already on the trigger. Quentin was going to die, he was going to die...

Quentin took another slow step further. I don't know what happened next but I was running towards him and pushing him out of the way as I searing pain went through my stomach.

"CATHY!" Quentin's voice echoed in my ears. Everything was blurry, as I blinked I saw Henry still had a gun in his hands, directing it towards me. I think I faintly heard sirens and a look of panic flash over Henry. "Cathy? Cathy?!"

"Quentin?" I said, quietly. I didn't know where he was, I could hear him, but I was beginning to lose consciousness. "Are you alright?"

"You just saved my life," I heard him say, but his voice was faint. I could feel the blood soaking my t-shirt. "The police are here, you'll be alright, Cathy, hang on, okay?"

That was the last thing I heard before my vision went black.