Sierra's+Rough+Draft


 * THE SUNDIAL.**

NOTE*: THE FOLLOWING IS BASED ON A TRUE STORY. ONLY THE NAMES, PLACES AND EVENTS HAVE BEEN CHANGED.

What could happen during a lockdown? Well… I'll tell you.

It was not a great day to begin with. The sky had been gray all morning. It had been cold all morning. It had been raining – All morning. That's the thing about Manoa valley – It'll rain for hours, for days, for weeks, but it's all different kinds of rain. And it's always completely unpredictable; it can go from just a sprinkle to pouring down and drenching you in less than a minute. If you happen to bring an umbrella on a morning like this one, it'll do you no good. It stops raining, just when you're prepared. It's gloomy and rather dull on days like this, though. And there was still school... Students were in need of a little excitement. //They// picked the perfect day to attack. But I won't start there; I'll go back to the beginning.

Wel first off, there is a sundial on our campus, right smack dab in the middle of the quad. It's about as old as the school and made of mosaics, each piece shaped, carved and colored to fit in perfectly with the rest. It's beautiful to look at and it works rather well (people have proven that). But when it gets wet, the glossed-over tiles and shoes or bare feet are like socks on hardwood floors. Only worse. A lot worse. So naturally, //everyone// knows walking across the sundial on days like this one is like wishing for sudden death or a hip replacement or a broken back or utter humiliation when they slip. That's a good piece of information for you. Anyway, a few days before the attack, two girls and best friends were on a mission. A top-secret Oahuan-classified mission: collecting miscellaneous quotes from students for the high-school yearbook.

They have a list, these girls, of special (mostly upperclassmen) that they pay "special attention" to. So they of course, took this as a most wonderful opportunity and set off on their mission. The quote that pertains to the attack, however, was one from a Junior, named Band Man: "I like to run across the Sundial when it rains. To see if I slip!"

Obviously, the two girls knew what it meant to run across the Sundial in the rain: Death. So this quote was rather amusing to hear from a "sensible upperclassman". But it was that particular quote that got them thinking about the Sundial on rainy days. Like this one.

This day was very rainy, sheets coming down from clouds so heavy and so close that you could almost reach them. Water had already accumulated several inches on regular sidewalk by the time the two girls and their other close friend, who they call Dear-san, had Freshman Assembly. Now, no one really pays close attention during Assembly. But today, the topic today was "Emergency LOCKDOWNS". That got everyone's attention, and they all listened to their deans go over the "Lockdown Procedure", and tell them that there would be drills coming up soon. Campus Lockdowns sounded scary and all, but apparently not scary enough to stop them from stampeding out the doors to Dillingham once dismissed. When assemblies get dismissed, they are usually finished earlier than expected. Thus, about 400 freshmen have break. The two girls, Capri (George Clooney's daughter) and Cholo, had an extra break after that, but Dear-san did not. So they all casually slipped away from the crowds heading toward the snack bar and somehow managed to get there before almost everyone else. The three of them bought lunch and headed down to the Freshman (Moose) Tree where they usually hung out. They stopped before then to finish lunch, so they wouldn't have to carry their food all the way across the quad. When they finished, they got up and started walking, in a straight line of three, of course (because girls always walk in a horizontal line, no matter how many are there), around the snack bar and pool and through the quad, down to the Freshman (Moose) Tree.

They had just been talking casually amongst themselves when they got to about the middle of the quad to see chaos everywhere. (Keep in mind that it was still raining. Hard.) There were sirens, the rain was pouring down, people screaming and running across the quad into classrooms, teachers yelling and chasing students into classrooms. It was pretty hectic. Dear-san, Cholo, and Capri (George Clooney's daughter), had no idea what was going on, but suspected that it was a lockdown drill. So they racked their brains to try and remember beyond the latest gossip they'd shared on the way into the quad, to the assembly announcements on Lockdown Procedure. They ended up guessing they should be inside, when almost every door was shut and they were almost the only people remaining outside. There were only three teachers left, "recruiting" any other students into the last open classrooms. Dear-san was pulled into Alexander, and Capri and Cholo were left to sprint across the quad. Capri was instructed to immediately go into the last open classroom there and told Cholo that she'd finish whatever story she was telling before all this happened, later. Cholo nodded and saw that there weren't anymore visible classroom doors and instantly thought Pauahi. So she ran down the pathway and up the stairs, yanked open the door and there was one open classroom on the second floor. She exhaled deeply and ran into the classroom. The door slammed behind her and she realized she was in a classroom with other people. A group of about 19 or 20 was sitting there, staring blankly at her, dripping wet, clothes and hair completely messed up, tangled and muddy. (Luckily, she'd thought of waterproof makeup, so it wasn't running off her face). She was very happy to discover a cute guy she'd known since 7th grade; Sweater. She also noticed an upperclassman friend she'd known since she was in 2nd grade, named 9th guide. She sat in the empty space between them and said hi. Then she remembered why she was there in the first place. Only, she didn't really know. So she jumped up (splashing water everywhere), and raised her hand - though no one cared anyway, and asked, "can anyone please tell me what's going on here?" The teacher sighed and said, "well, I don't want you to be misinformed by common gossip, so I'll tell you...

A group of our own students, mostly juniors, were reported to have left campus without proper permission or privilege cards, so we assumed they would receive the appropriate consequences later from their deans. But later today, a group all in black, from head to toe, with ski masks on, were seen on campus. With guns. Naturally, we called for a Campus Lockdown. After all, our first priority is you all; the students, and their safety." Cholo responded with a very confused "what?"

"Well, we aren't supposed to have the windows open during a lockdown, but I will allow you to draw the blinds just this once, to see for yourself. They are said to have entered campus from the Main Gate, down near Montague, which is where they were first seen."

The entire group sitting in the classroom couldn't have been more eager to pull up those blinds and see; and they saw the women. Cholo noticed that from the bottoms of each ski mask, protruded two braids, and noted that they were all wearing heeled black boots. Outdated ones of course, (she was quite the fashionista), but heels nonetheless. Oh how she wished for her cell phone (which are not allowed during a lockdown), to call Dear-san and Capri to update them on what she'd just learned. But what she didn't know, was that they didn't need it. Dear-san, had been locked into the building that housed the dean's offices. Obviously, they had told her a very brief, but informative, version of what she needed to know. They, however, would not open the windows to allow the students held there to see the campus invaders.

Not so far away, in the building next to Pauahi (where Cholo was), Capri was truly the most fortunate of them all. She had been called into a classroom in Bingham, with about 10 others. But one of the others was him. Smiley. The boy who owned the top-priority section of the "Special Attention Upperclassmen". In fact, he was the one who began the list. The two girls wondered, how is it possible to have a smile like his? He had laugh lines at an age of 17, lovely eyes (of course), and the most amazing, perfect, almost disturbingly wonderful hair. Oh how they loved him. Cholo had been the one lucky enough to actually know him, but Capri had had her eyes on him for four years, ever since she saw him dancing as an 8th grader when she had been only a 5th. They looked forward to each and every school day as one opportunity after the other to talk to him, to wave to him, to exchange a fabulous smile. They took note of his unique idiosyncracies. For example, the way he walks, the way he moves his hands when he walks, where he likes to go, what he likes to, who his friends are. Most of his friends happen to be almost as good looking, but nowhere near as flawless as him. They all had rather strange names, but if you met them, you'd think they matched perfectly. There's Blondie (ManWhore), WhoMayor, Physics Man, Dreadlocks, Water polo Guy, and Eyebrow Man. There are others on this "Special Attention Upperclassmen"; 9th Guide, Football Guy, Boardshorts, and one freshman, Tubesocks (White Rasta). Capri and Cholo know all about these guys. But not in a creepy way- these girls would never stoop to be stalkerlike. These guys know exactly who Cholo and Capri are, just not personally. Whenever Cholo or Capri happen to run into or see any of them, "the look" is always returned, a brief and vague expression of recognition. These moments definitely make for fun story-sharings. There's something else you should know about these members of "Special Attention Upperclassman" (and Tubesocks). That is their taste in girlfriends. Almost all of them have girlfriends, and only two words can describe those girls: undeserving and egregious. There's Blondie's girlfriend, Physics Man's girlfriend, Eyebrow Man's girlfriend, Football guy's girlfriend (Gymnastics chick), Boardshort's girlfriend, Tubesock's girlfriend (Vanessa). The thing about these girls is just that they are not even comparable (as far as looks go) to their boyfriends. Some of them aren't even great personality-wise. But Smiley's got the worst: Cavewoman. Her name matches her looks, her style, and her personality, just add a bit of the Wicked Witch of the West and that's her. She isn't the nicest girl around and there are certainly better-looking girls out there. Bottom line: Cholo and Capri didn't believe they were the best couple. Don't think that they were being overly judgemental, not for a second; Cholo in particular had had many encounters including Cavewoman, and all ended with vicious uncalled-for verbal attacks from Cavewoman. Cavewoman also took any chance she got to give either Cholo or Capri her worst death glare. Anyway, the two liked him equally, and while one (Cholo), actually knew and talked to him, Capri was the terribly lucky one who got the privilege of being locked in a room with him.

Capri entered the room, looking just as wet as Cholo, with hair and clothes in utter disarray and she only wears waterproof cosmetics, so her "face was still in place". Her heeled foam slippers squeaked and water trailed behind her as she walked to the desk where he was sitting. As the teacher began closing the blinds, locking the windows and such, Capri took a deep breath and decided to take the risk. She sat right on top of the desk with Smiley behind it, but so as not to make it awkward, she sat on the far edge of the table, distancing herself approximately four feet away. She looked at him, and he smiled at her. She had to smile back; she couldn't shaft him. But her conscience immediately thought of how jealous Cholo would be when she found out- Capri wasn't so big on long-term secrets. She just liked telling stories with suspense. So she smiled back. She opened her mouth because she wanted to introduce herself, but of course, the teacher supervising that classroom interrupted, clearing her throat and said, "You all must be wondering what you're doing here." She paused, clearly wanting to see some nods. Once she did, she continued: "Well, it seems that there is a group on campus, running around with guns. We suspect that they may be students, but all are wearing black from head to toe, in addition to ski masks. We don't yet know what they are trying to do, but our biggest concern is student safety. We intend to get to the bottom of this very soon. So please, don't panic, just talk amongst yourselves quietly, and remember that leaving the classroom as well as usage of cellular phones is prohibited at the present time. I will be opening the blinds on this one window for brief moments at a time so that you all can see for yourselves, and maybe recognize these 'invaders'. But just this one in the far corner so as not to put you in jeopardy." So she walked over to the far corner of the room (Capri and Smiley were sharing the desk closest to the door) and slowly opened the blinds, so that just a sliver of the outside was visible. From that small 6 inches of the outside world that was visible, Capri glanced over and could tell that it was pretty dark outside, even though only an hour had passed since assembly's early dismissal. It was also incredibly wet and still raining outside. The planters were nearly full of water, and inches of water were running down the pathways. The quad was a muddy, mushy, marshy mess. From the bushes scattered between buildings, blurs of black could be seen darting to and fro. Once the class realized that those must've been them, all of them immediately made a run for the window, pushing and crowding toward the little uncovered splotch of clear glass, all squinting their eyes and trying to figure out who these mysterious people were. After an eternity-long minute, Capri returned her attention to Smiley, who was staring thoughtfully into space with his eyebrows slightly furrowed. She tapped him gently on the shoulder and he snapped back. She immediately withdrew her hand and stared at him. He jumped up out of his seat, making her blink, but she continued to watch as he shoved his chair back under the table. He stood up straight and then time stopped as he flipped his hair (in that way which is pristine). Capri's jaw dropped, but she recovered quickly. He looked right at her and announced, "I'm tired of this. I will save you all!"

She sighed and then realized that that could be the last thing he ever said. She jumped up, too and looked around the classroom. The other students appeared to not have registered or even heard what Smiley had said! "Uh!" she exclaimed. She turned around just in time to see Smiley open the classroom door and wave good-bye to her as he sprinted (he was captain of the school Cross-Country team) down the pathway that divides the quad in half. Capri pressed her face against the window in the door, placing one hand flat against the glass and the other hand on the doorknob in the exact way Smiley had. The others began to fight for the sliver of uncovered window in the classroom's far corner more intensely as they watched Smiley run heroically (hair bouncing, muscles flexing) down the pathway. Now, you should know that the way the quad and the pathways and buildings are structured, there are four pathways that all meet in one place near the sundial. One from the snack bar/locker room's direction, one from the Science Center, one from Montague and Pauahi, and one from Bingham. They all intersect at (gasp) the SUNDIAL. And as Smiley ran down that Bingham pathway, Capri was not the only one holding her breath as she watched from a window; Cholo was still gazing intently out the window of her 2nd floor of Pauahi window. From her view of the Academy, she also had a perfect view of heroic Smiley running to fight off the invaders. But from Pauahi, she could see what Capri couldn't yet: the group of girls making their way up from the Montague pathway, heading for the Sundial, no doubt to get rid of Smiley so they could get whatever it was that they wanted. The girls were speed walking, all holding their guns with one black-gloved hand ready to shoot it, and the other positioned to aim it. They were all approaching the Sundial fast, especially Smiley. One member of the group, with the longest braids and the tackiest shoes and the largest gun, appeared to be the leader. She signaled for the others to slow down as she began to jog toward the sundial. By now, Capri could see her and the others and she could not take it anymore. She burst out the door, with tears in her eyes, not even bothering with a second look back at the classroom. Arms flailing, shoes squeaking, pants sloshing as she ran through the rain, which was continuing to steadily accumulate on the sidewalks and in the grass, trying desperately to save Smiley.

But she was too late. She was halfway to the Sundial when he fell. He didn't try to slow down, and slipped horribly on the slicked Sundial of Doom, landing flat on his back in midstep. The leader threw back her head and laughed like the maniac she was as she readied her gun, only about ten feet away. Smiley did not get back up and Capri began to sob loudly, tears mixing with the rain and pouring off her face. Waterproof makeup was no match for this. Capri slowed as she neared the Sundial and plopped down on the edge of the Sundial, where Smiley's head had landed. She sat behind him, not caring about sitting in several inches of rain (she was totally drenched anyway) and gently picked up his head. She pulled him into her lap, to a sitting position and hugged him, forgetting all about everything, forgetting all about the leader, already aiming her gun. At him. Capri looked up right as the leader pulled that trigger. She was so close she couldn't miss. Capri twisted to the side as Smiley was shot, right below his chest.

He was still alive, but his breathing slowed dramatically and his back was bleeding all over Capri's lavender dress-code shirt (which she has stylishly – at Cholo's suggestion, layered over an undershirt). The blood was quickly staining it and the dark red patch was growing faster and faster. The rain splashed the blood everywhere, on her hands, in the water, on the rest of her clothes. She didn't care. She prayed with everything she had in her Mormon soul for him to survive. She held him and cried, cried, cried.

Cholo had fled her classroom in Pauahi right as the trigger was pulled. She jumped nearly whole staircases to get to the Sundial in time to catch the murderess on her way back to the main gate. Cholo was merciless; she had seen Smiley get shot, and knew that the shot had been cheap, indeed. She ran up behind the killer and snatched her gun away, throwing it as far away as she could. The leader turned in Cholo's arms, but Cholo had a very tight hold and resistance proved to be futile for the murderess. Cholo tightened her hold with one arm and yanked off the villain's mask. She gasped as she discovered (with minimum surprise) that this criminal, this killer, was in fact, the one and only Cavewoman. His own girlfriend! Never a better definition for the words "EVIL" and "scandalous!" Why? She took a look at Cavewoman, who still struggled to get away, whose warrior-painted face showed only anger, not any remorse or regret at all. Cholo shoved her away, as hard as possible.

Cavewoman reached into a pocket of her black pants and pulled out a black walkie-talkie, and summoned the rest of her group. A voice on the other end of the walkie-talkie, through a very static-ky connection, said something about not having their masks on because they thought she'd gotten the job done. "I DON'T CARE! I JUST NEED BACKUP! GET YOUR BUTTS DOWN HERE NOW!" She shoved the walkie-talkie back into her pocket and looked at Smiley. As her friends appeared out of nowhere and advanced toward the Sundial, Capri and Cholo looked at each other, then at Smiley, then at them. They shared a simultaneous gasp as they realized who the rest of them were: ALL the girlfriends! There was Gymnastics chick, Boardshort's girlfriend, Blondie's girlfriend, Vanessa, and Physics Man's girlfriend. There was a moment of silence as they looked first at Cholo, then at Capri, then at Cavewoman, and last, at Smiley. That span of a few seconds seemed like hours, and all that was audible was Smiley's very soft breathing, slowly fading away, Capri's quiet, spastic sobs and the rain, which was still coming down in sheets, each individual raindrop visible, feeling heavier and heavier as they plop!ed down. The girlfriends looked lost, suddenly becoming aware of exactly what they had just done. Capri stopped crying and sniffled dramatically. She glanced upward, still holding Smiley in her arms, and saw Cavewoman shed one single tear, smudging one singular gray line through her thick black war paint.

The silence ended when a few others joined the scene: Blondie, Physics Man, and Football guy. Their expressions said what they didn't. They were absolutely horrified and disgusted- who would do such a thing to their friend? Football guy was only surprised to see his girlfriend in the group because he and Gymnastics chick really were not affiliated with Cavewoman or Smiley in any way. He looked at her curiously, as if asking her with his eyes why she was caught being involved with such people and such an incident. She looked down, as if her shoes were really that interesting.

Cavewoman stared at the ground beneath her and slowly aimed her gun. At herself. She was so ashamed and so shocked at what she'd done. But she didn't commit suicide. She appeared to consider it, but instead, she snuck away from the group, while everyone's attention was on Smiley. Cholo saw her and looked at her as if to ask why? but Cavewoman didn't make eye contact. She continued to sneak away and when she was far enough away, she turned on her heel, and began to run. She kept the gun aimed at herself, but by the time she got to the main gate, curious people and random faculty had begun to file out of classrooms, trying to catch a glimpse of her and piece together what had happened during the Lockdown. Someone had been quick to dial 911 and police were waiting for her. She was detained and sentenced to life in prison by state court a week later. Her friends? They all managed to get away somehow. The only boyfriend who left with his girlfriend was Football guy. They were never seen again, but rumor has it they had plastic surgery done, transferred to a public school and still live together by themselves. Deans and authoritive figures were pushing back the growing crowds of people away from the Sundial, while glancing over their shoulders. As Smiley's breathing grew more and more faint, Capri slowly managed to "magically" remove her undershirt and use it as a sponge for Smiley's bleeding. She gently placed him back down- she could not bear to see him like that any more. She stood up and gave everyone one last look and walked away to somewhere without people.

Cholo watched her, along with Blondie and Physics Man, and looked at Smiley. She could not bear to see him like that. She gracefully sat down in one swift motion (which is unusual and difficult for someone like her) and took Capri's place. She looked up at his friends, standing above her and they nodded, as though with approval of some kind. She brushed back his hair and looked at his face thoughtfully, all the while shielding it from the rain (which was falling down harder and harder by the minute). Her eyes were full of tears, but she did not shed a single one as she stared down at his face. His eyes fluttered open and the bleeding, which had been gradually slowing since Cavewoman was driven away, came to a stop... But what to do?


 * //To Be Continued...//**

Sierra's Final Draft