Free Say Something by Jennifer Brown

I knew it was a hate list.”
    “And Chris Summers knew that attacking you in the locker room was wrong, too. I’m sure if everyone could take back everything, they would.”
    I blinked. Was that true? I knew it was true for me. And I guessed it was true for Valerie. And probably Jessica, given how close she and Val got after the shooting. I wondered if that was what was going on when Chris Summers reached down to help me up. Was he taking it all back? And when I grabbed his hand and let him help me, was I accepting it? I would never know for sure. “It’s too late, though,” I said.
    Dad turned, looked into my eyes, and said, “It’s over, David. This whole thing is over. It’s going to get better now. You have to trust that. Leave the nightmare behind, and trust it.”
    I made the scoffing noise again, but on the inside maybe the tiniest bit of me believed him. Maybe I could leave this behind and trust that things would get better. It was all I had to hang on to. But, for the time being, it was enough.

 
[F ROM   THE   G ARVIN   C OUNTY   S UN - TRIBUNE   M AY   11,  2009,  R EPORTER   A NGELA   D ASH ]
Suspect in School Shooting Apprehended in Cabin Hideout
    Warsaw, MO—A suspect in the 2008 Garvin High School shooting was arrested today, taken into custody by police, and led out of his cabin hideout in handcuffs. The police who found 22-year-old Jeremy Watson say they were led to the cabin by a tip from a former student of Garvin High School. The tipster was present during the May 2, 2008, shooting spree, and is believed to have been friends with the shooter.
    According to police Watson had been hiding in a relative’s rural cabin since the shooting and was found with multiple weapons, including bullets that police believe match the bullets used by shooter Nick Levil.
    Jack Angerson, principal of Garvin High School, said, “This is the puzzle piece we’ve all been missing. The why and the how. This young man knows why, and he knows how, and hopefully getting him behind bars will make everyone sleep better tonight. I know it will make me sleep better. We all need to do what we can to make sure he pays for his part in this tragedy. And maybe if he can tell us what made Nick Levil snap that day, we can prevent shootings like this from happening in the future.”
    “After Jeremy owns up to the truth of what happened, I suspect there are some people out there who will feel sorry for what they put my family through,” Jenny Leftman, mother of Valerie Leftman, a former suspect in the shooting, said. “It’s too late for that, though. We can’t get our lives back, no matter how much anyone apologizes.”
    Valerie Leftman had no comment.

Curious about Val’s side of the story?
    Keep reading for an excerpt of
Hate List
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[F ROM   THE   G ARVIN   C OUNTY   S UN - T RIBUNE ,  M AY   3,  2008,  R EPORTER   A NGELA   D ASH ]
The scene in the Garvin High School cafeteria, known as the Commons, is being described as “grim” by investigators who are working to identify the victims of a shooting spree that erupted Friday morning.
    “We have teams in there going over every detail,” says Sgt. Pam Marone. “We’re getting a pretty clear picture of what went on yesterday morning. It hasn’t been easy. Even some of our veteran officers got pretty shaken up when they walked in there. It’s such a tragedy.”
    The shooting, which began just as students were preparing for their first class, left at least six students dead and countless others wounded.
    Valerie Leftman, 16, was the last victim shot before Nick Levil, the alleged shooter, reportedly turned the gun on himself.
    Hit in the thigh at close range, Leftman required extensive surgery to repair her wounds. Representatives at Garvin County General list her in “critical condition.”
    “There was a lot of blood,” an EMT told reporters on the scene. “He must have hit her artery just right.”
    “She’s very