Spinner sat on the cool concrete behind the dot. His mind was tortured by the thoughts, the thoughts that his actions caused the death of an abuser and crippling of his best friend. He sat, his eyes blank, yet filled with tears. Never before had he been so scared, sick, and tortured. He just wanted to kill himself. He hadn't expected the psycho to bring a gun to school, and try and kill his friend. It all was just a joke. Revenge for what he had done to his car.

He knew that he had been asking for it. Jay and him had been torturing the kind for weeks, calling him an abuser, taunting, stealing and hitting him. He had all but given him the gun. It wasn't all him though, Emma and Paige had been with them before. They made a campaign, against the kid, against abuse. But some how, the creep managed to get to them, manage to get them to think he was a good guy. He wasn't. He would never be.

Poor Emma. Spinner knew he had tried to kill her too. Tried to, almost did. He had almost killed Sean too. Emma had been nothing but nice to him, and it was obvious that he had liked her, she probably rejected him. She knew if she went out with him, she would get hit, and her small body probably couldn't handle that. Spinner sighed, and put his head in his hands. If she had died, he would have killed himself. She was a good girl, always a good girl. She never did anything really wrong, and if he had been the reason the guy had killed her, he would have died.

As if she had read his mind, she came out to the back of the dot, slamming the door behind her. She collapsed, pressing her limp body on the door, as if keeping a mob of people from joining them. Her frail body racked with sobs, she looked so sad, like she had just escaped a mad man. She had. I watched sadly from the steps and she cried, unable to regain her composure and balance. I felt compelled to help her; I was the source of her problems. She turned to me, still crying. Her eyes were scared, not of me, but of something. She was afraid of death.

She clumsily turned on her knees, and crawled over to me, sitting sloppily down next to me. She looked as if she was sick, going to die any second. She was so terrified, so small. The tears never stopped coming from her eyes, but she seemed calmer, before she looked at me. She looked at me, as if to ask why I was here. I knew I owed her that much. She deserved to know why I was out back, sitting somberly, terrified of life.

I sighed, and spoke quietly, knowing that she could hear me; we weren't in the company of very talkative people. "I'm back here, because I feel responsible." She stared at me, she didn't look shocked. She was Rick's friend for a short time, she knew I had bullied him, she knew how horrible I was too him. She and Toby probably knew better then anyone how me I was. She sighed, choking back a small sob, and rubbed my arm. She knew she couldn't say it wasn't, her voice was gone from the sobbing, nothing left but a scratchy worn out croak. But some how she managed to say it.

She laid her head on my shoulder slowly, still rubbing my arm. I relaxed into the comfortable position, finding a little piece of comfort in it. She stopped rubbing my arm as I put my arm around her thin body. She looked up at me, without removing her head from the stop on my shoulder, and slowly croaked out a thank you. I looked down at her, finding her words strange. I had done nothing but put her and countless others in danger. She could have died tonight, and it would have been my fault.

She looked at me, before realizing she had to explain just what she meant. Sighing, she spoke softly, her croaking only slightly noticeable. She explained that ever since this afternoon, she hasn't felt normal, she hasn't felt safe in her own home. She told me that here, and now, she did. She moved and hugged me, a light hug. One that was over quickly, but it still lasted long enough for both of us to know it happened. She wobbled to her feet, trying to find a little sense of balance. She was still shaken up, but I had given her something, something so I could relax knowing she could make it through the night.

I felt compelled to get up too, and help her. She was too shaken up to do anything alone right now; she could barely take two steps without falling all over herself. She told me softly that she was fine, and could make it home by herself, I just shook my head. I wasn't going to let this girl get hurt on the way home. Then I would honestly be responsible. She gave in after she took two steps, and almost fell, I caught her quickly. She had no strength, and when I tried to stand her back up, she collapsed again.

I looked at her, and sighed, picking her up, she was the lightest thing I had ever carried. She was asleep by the time I made it to the front of the dot. Nestled in my arms, she looked like a troubled child, one who was having nightmares, so she had to sleep in her parent's bedroom. I felt like the responsible older brother, the one who loved the sister enough to play parent. I walked calmly through the streets, knowing that people were walking by, talking about the shooting, Emma, and Jimmy. But strangely, I felt comfortable.

On the way to her house, I heard someone call my name. Sean Cameron. He was standing behind me, he looked like a kid who lost his puppy, and wasn't going home with out it. I turned around, forgetting about the sleeping girl in my arms, and made my way over to him. He looked at her, and a small smile crept on his lips, and tears filled his eyes. He kept smiling through the tears, as if he had just found the lost puppy.

His body was overcome by sobs, and he looked up at me, as he stroked her long blonde hair. "You know, I did it for her…" It didn't surprise me; anyone with eyes could see that the kid still loved her, even though he was with Ellie. "He was gonna kill her, you know," he looked down at her, "I couldn't let him do that…I mean… I just couldn't" I watched as he continued to look at her peaceful body. Slowly, he started to nod his head.

I sighed and told him to help me take her home, he knew her mom, and I didn't, and I and Snake hadn't had the best relationship. We walked together, neither of us speaking. We didn't have to. We both knew what had happened, and why it had happened. As we turned on to her street, I saw him crack a small smile, the tears coming back into his eyes. I had no idea what to think of it, but I didn't say anything about it, I had no right too.

We walked up to the front porch, and he rang the bell, turning back to me and the girl in my arms. Snake came to the door, clad in only his boxers and a white tank, a sight that no student should ever see of their teacher. He looked at Emma and immediately freaked out, asking what had happened as he welcomed me and Sean into his humble abode. Sean took her from my arms, and told us he was going to put her in bed. To my surprise, Snake let him.

I told him what had happened, about how we met up, and talked. He sighed and rubbed his temples, and thanked me. He sighed and stared at the door Sean and his sleeping stepdaughter had disappeared through. "I have no idea what these guys are going through. Mentally, I mean…" I sighed and stared at my feet, knowing that it was my fault they were all in this state. But it couldn't be helped.

Snake and I stood up, and he went towards his daughter's door, I followed. We went down to the basement, and her room, and saw her lying in bed, with Sean by her side. He was kneeling next to the bed, his head on her comforter, crying. Snake went over and put his hand on his back, and Sean got up quickly. We shook Snake's hand and left quickly, both unsure of what to think about that night.

As we walked back towards the dot, Sean turned to me, and asked me not to tell anyone what I had seen him do at Emma's. I just sighed and hugged him. As we parted ways, he turned back to me, saying, "You're a great friend, Spin, you know that?" I sighed and turned away. I just got my best friend shot; I wasn't such a great friend. And with that, I made my way back home, to sleepless night.