I’m Not Going Anywhere - Chapter 2
After his argument with his dad, Donnie rode his bike to school. Gary was currently talking to Principal Walker about postponing the Graduation Ceremony. Principal Walker wasn’t taking it too well. Donnie zoomed in on the two adults talking.
“There's Dad taking shit from Principal Walker.” Donnie commented. Donnie looked over and saw [Y/N] and Trey walking over. Along with the two brothers, [Y/N] volunteered to do interviews for the video time capsules.
“Did you two get the last of the interviews?” Donnie asked the pair. [Y/N] shook her head, looking at the Junior.
“No, we still got a few to do.” She said. Trey smirked.
“But what we did get was a nice shot of Miss Bell's cleavage. Wanna see?” Trey asked. He showed Donnie the footage. [Y/N] frowned. Donnie sighed.
“Trey.” Donnie said. Trey shrugged his shoulders.
“What? You don't get many teachers with a rack like that.” Trey said, pointing to the footage. [Y/N] slapped the boy on the back of the head. Trey flinched. “Ow!” Trey shouted.
“You deserved that, cut it out. We need to start editing right after graduation.” [Y/N] said. Donnie nodded, looking at the girl.
“[Y/N]’s right. Dad wants the clips online by the end of next week.” Donnie said. Trey closed the screen of the camera. He looked at [Y/N] and shrugged his shoulders, shaking his head.
“What's the point of doing a video time capsule? Video won't even exist in 25 years.” Trey said. [Y/N] looked at him with shock and disappointment. “What?” He asked.
“Time Capsules record important events! It’s leaving things behind for the next generation!” [Y/N] said. Trey shook his head, holding his hands out.
“What next generation? The only next generation is the high schoolers who aren’t graduating yet.” Trey said. [Y/N] gave him a ‘Duh’ look.
“Exactly! Why do you think we are asking people to say something to the future them?” [Y/N] asked. Donnie sighed, shaking his head.
“Let's just get it finished. Okay?” Donnie said. [Y/N] nodded. She understood that Donnie was under a lot of stress.
“Yeah. Okay.” She said. She smiled kindly at him. A small bit of jealousy erupted into Trey’s mind. He looked down at the camera in his hands.
“Fine,” Trey said. He looked up again, looking around. “Did you guys see the weather report? Supposed to be a big storm coming. Maybe they'll cancel the whole,” Trey was cut off when [Y/N] elbowed him. He looked to her. [Y/N] pointed at something. That something was Kaitlyn Johnston.
Trey started up the camera again. “Whoa. There's your girl.” Trey said. Kaitlyn seemed to be talking to Miss. Blasky about something. Miss. Blasky walked away. Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and ran her hand through her hair in distress. Trey smacked Donnie on the shoulder.
“Oh, dude. Now's your chance, man. Vulnerable girl. Comforting guy. Right?” Trey asked. Donnie sighed and shook his head. [Y/N] looked at Donnie. She also knew of Donnie’s crush on her friend. Kaitlyn was one of the second people, beside Donnie and Trey to welcome her to Silverton. Kaitlyn and [Y/N] immediately hit it off. They were extremely close, almost like sisters.
“Just go talk to her and see if she's okay.” [Y/N] said. Donnie shook his head.
“We have work to do.” Donnie said. Trey shook his head.
“Chickenshit. Come on.” Trey urged.
“I need to get the last of the interviews, and Dad's, like, on my case about it.” Donnie said. Trey shook his head.
“Screw Dad.” Trey said. [Y/N] looked at Trey, shocked.
“Trey!” [Y/N] scolded. Trey looked at her and shrugged.
“What? It’s true,” he said. “Go do something for yourself for once.” Trey said. [Y/N] sighed. She knew that Trey was just trying to help his brother out. “Bro, [Y/N] and I are literally begging you.” Trey said. [Y/N] placed her hands on Donnie’s upper arms.
“Just go talk to her. All right?” [Y/N] said. Donnie sighed, knowing he wouldn’t win this argument. Especially against his brother and his best friend.
“All right.” Donnie said. Trey and [Y/N] smiled.
“Yeah?” Trey asked. Donnie chuckled.
“Stop.” Donnie said, starting to walk towards the library where Kaitlyn had gone a few seconds before.
Trey and I smiled as we watched his older brother head off towards the library. Trey laughed.
“Heh. Have fun.” Trey called in a sing-song voice. Trey looked at me. “He's really doing it.” Trey said, laughing. “We gotta film this train wreck.” Trey said. I looked at him.
“Trey, leave him, alone for once.” I said. Trey looked at me.
“Come on, [Y/N]. This is epic! He’s finally going to ask her out!” Trey said. I shook my head.
“He’s not going to ask her out. He’s going to comfort her.” I said. Trey pointed at me and shook his head.
“You don’t know that and there’s one way to find out.” Trey said. Before I knew it, Trey grabbed my wrist and pulled me towards the library.
Donnie walked up to Kaitlyn, who was sitting at a table with her laptop out in front of her.
“And he's pulling into the station.” Trey said quietly. He and I were hiding behind the doors to the library. Trey zoomed in on the two with his camera.
“Hey, Kaitlyn?” Donnie asked quietly. Kaitlyn looked up and smiled lightly.
“Hey.” She said back. Donnie pointed to himself, still standing.
“It's Donnie.” Donnie said, not quite knowing if she knew his name. Kaitlyn nodded.
“Yeah. I know.” She said.
“Strike one.” Trey said quietly. I smiled lightly and shook my head.
“Trey, shut up.” I hissed. Donnie, unaware of our presence, set his back pack down. He took a seat next to her.
“Are you okay?” Donnie asked. “I saw you outside with Miss Blasky.” He said. Kaitlyn looked back at her computer screen.
“Right. Uh, I had this application for an apprenticeship, and it had to be submitted by the weekend,” she started explaining. She opened the application to show Trey. “And Miss Blasky checked it for me, and it's just completely corrupted. I don't know what happened to it. It was fine yesterday.” She said. Donnie looked at the application.
“Yeah. Yeah, that's toast. What was it about?” He asked.
“The abandoned factory on Garner.” Kaitlyn said.
“Oh, the paper mill?” Donnie asked. Kaitlyn nodded, looking at him.
“Yeah.” She said. Donnie nodded his head.
“Yeah.” He said, slightly awkward. Undeterred by the awkward comment, Kaitlyn continued describing what her application was about.
“When they shut it down, the state never paid for an official cleanup. So there's all these chemicals and hazardous materials sitting there contaminating the soil and probably running off into the water.” Kaitlyn said.
“That's what the film's about.” Donnie said, not sounding very interested.
“Pretend to be interested.” Trey said quietly. I glanced at him.
“You do know your advice is practically useless when he can’t even hear it?” I asked quietly. Trey rolled his eyes.
“Anyway, the submission doesn't make any sense at all without it. So I'm screwed.” Kaitlyn said. She ran her hands through her hair again. I really wished that I could be over there comforting her. But, as much as I don’t really like to agree with Trey on this, it was the only way and probably the only chance Donnie had at asking Kaitlyn out.
“Come on, man. Take a swing.” Trey urged.
“Trey, shut up!” I hissed again.
“You're into all this environmental stuff, huh?” Donnie asked.
“Come on, man. Just ask her out.” Trey urged again.
“Trey, if you don’t shut up right now, I swear I’m going to duck-tape your fucking mouth shut!” I threatened.
“Gotta take care of the planet, right? Or else the planet will take care of us, right? Heh.” Donnie said, laughing awkwardly.
“That was awkward.” Trey said. I growled quietly.
“Alright, that’s it.” I said. Trey looked at me.
“You don’t even have duck-tape on you!” Trey said. I shook my head.
“So? Doesn’t mean I can’t go and find some, come back and then duck-tape your loud mouth shut!” I argued back. Kaitlyn laughed dryly.
“Heh. Yeah. Well, some of us care, or at least are trying to.” She said. Donnie looked at her.
“No. I'm sorry. I can help. I have all these cameras and this editing software and,” Donnie said. Kaitlyn looked at him, her hope renewed.
“Really?” She asked. Donnie nodded.
“Yeah.” He said. “Well, this will be easy. We can reshoot this.” Donnie said, looking at the computer.
“It'd have to be today.” Kaitlyn said. Donnie froze.
“Today?” He asked. Kaitlyn’s eyes widened.
“Oh, you and [Y/N] are filming the graduation.” Kaitlyn said. “No, it's fine.” She changed her mind.
“No. No. My brother, Trey, he's good with all this stuff too. He and [Y/N] can get that.” Donnie reassured her. While I was perfectly fine with this, Trey wasn’t.
“No way.” Trey whispered.
“Like, they can get that footage.” Donnie said.
“Really?” Kaitlyn asked. Donnie nodded.
“It's not a problem.” He said.
“Sure?” She asked again. Donnie nodded.
“Yes, it's a problem.” Trey whispered. I snickered. Trey glared at me.
“[Y/N], now’s not the time.” He whispered, causing me to snicker more. Donnie nodded.
“I'm sure. Yeah.” Donnie said. Kaitlyn sighed in relief.
“Thank you so much,” Kaitlyn said. Donnie shook his head. “No. You have no idea what this means for me. I owe you so big for this.” Kaitlyn said. She stood up. Donnie stood as well and shrugged.
“No. Well, you know, me and the planet go way back, so,” Donnie said. The bell rang. Kaitlyn gathered her things.
“Thank you. I'll see you later.” Kaitlyn said. Donnie nodded.
“Cool.” Donnie said. Kaitlyn started to walk away.
“Thank you.” She said again, this time leaving. Trey sighed.
“Okay, no.” Trey said. He pushed through the doors, me following after. Donnie looked up and saw the both of us.
“This is so not cool.” Trey said. I sighed.
“Trey,” I tried to calm him down.
“You are kidding me.” Donnie sighed in anger. “What are you two doing?” Donnie asked. I raised my hands in defense.
“Hey, he dragged me into this.” I said, pointing at Trey. Trey looked at me like I betrayed him. I shrugged. “What?” I asked. Trey looked back at Donnie.
“What are you doing? You're gonna skip the ceremony?” Trey asked. I had to admit that I agreed with Trey on this one. If Donnie skipped the ceremony, Gary would not be happy. Donnie nodded.
“Yeah. Yeah. You two said do something for yourself, so I'm doing something for myself.” Donnie said. Trey looked at me for help on the matter. I shrugged.
“We did technically say that.” I said. Trey sighed and pointed a finger at me.
“Not helping, Squirt.” He said. I chuckled. I knew he couldn’t get mad at me. We were best friends. Arguments and playful banter were bound to happen.
“Yeah. And leaving me and [Y/N] to do all the filming?” Trey asked. Donnie looked at us.
“You guys can handle it. Right?” Donnie asked. Neither Trey nor I answered. Donnie’s smile fell and worry crossed his features. “You guys can handle it, right?” Donnie asked again. I looked to Trey then back at Donnie. I nodded.
“Yes.” I said, confidently. Donnie smiled. I elbowed Trey. He groaned.
“Yeah. Yeah. Totally. Hey. You go for it, bro,” Trey said. Donnie smiled and started to walk away. “But get some skin on camera.” Trey called. Donnie stopped and turned around. “E- mail it to me.” He said. I rolled my eyes.
“Trey, come one.” I said. Trey chuckled. Donnie smiled.
“Just get the interviews, all right?” Donnie said. Trey nodded.
“All right, all right, we’re going.” Trey said. Donnie smiled.
“Okay.” Donnie said, chuckling.
[Y/N] and Trey were in the gym interviewing Todd White, the captain of the Silverton High Basketball team.
“Yo, Todd. We're rolling.” Trey shouted. Todd shot a basket ball through the hoop. Todd turned to the camera.
“Yo, what's up, me? How's life in the future, bro? So I just know by now you are playing for the NBA, you're super loaded, and you got a super-smoking-hot
cheerleader wife. So why the hell are you watching this right now? Why don't you get up to your penthouse and bang her good, right?” Todd shouted, chuckling. [Y/N] stared at him, not that impressed.
“That's your time-capsule message, Todd?” Trey asked. Todd shook his head.
“Why not?” He asked. [Y/N] rolled her eyes.
“Boys are gross.” She said. Trey looked at her.
“Hey!” He shouted, sounding offended. [Y/N] didn’t look at him.
“A message?” The two Sophomores were now interviewing a construction worker named Frank. Frank shook his head. “Nah, too late for me. Too late for these guys,” he gestured to the other workers behind him. “But my kids? Grandkids? Simple. Study. Get good grades. Or else you're gonna hang around this group of losers shoveling shit all day,” Frank chuckled. He realized that he cussed on tape. “Sorry.” He apologized. [Y/N] chuckled.
“No harm done, Frank.” She said.
“Please marry a rich guy. Please marry a rich guy.” A cheerleader named London chanted, her eyes closed and fingers crossed. [Y/N] frowned, confused.
“Uh, we're rolling.” [Y/N] said. London opened her eyes and looked at the camera.
“So, what would you like to say to yourself in 25 years?” Trey asked. London looked at the two.
“That was it.” She said. [Y/N] groaned slightly and pinched the bridge of her nose. High schoolers could be so stupid. Trey placed his hand on her thigh, gently patting it, letting her know that they were almost done.
“Twenty-five years time?” An old man named Chester asked. “Ha! My guess is we'd have blown up the world by that time!” Chester said. His dog sat next to him. [Y/N] chuckled. Chester was her favorite interviewee by far.
“High school sucked,” Jimmy said. Jimmy was an Honor Role student and what most of the students at Silverton High would classify, a nerd. “Hopefully, it was all worth it. You've got your Ph. D. from Brown. You're doing research and using your skills to help,” Jimmy was interrupted by Todd.
“Douche-rocket! Ha!” Todd shouted, laughing. Jimmy frowned. Trey chuckled. [Y/N] elbowed him in the ribs.
“Ow!” Trey winced. “Sorry, man.” Trey apologized.
“I’m still going to duck-tape your fucking mouth shut later.” [Y/N] said. Trey chuckled.
“Yeah, good luck with that, Squirt.” Trey said.
“Am I done here?” Jimmy asked.
“Uh, yeah, sorry, Jimmy. Thank you for your time.” [Y/N] said, smiling kindly.
The stage was set up on the field for the ceremony.
“Mike check. One, two, three.” Principal Walker tested the mic. Gary walked across the field, Trey and I following.
“Where's Donnie?” Gary asked. Trey shrugged.
“I don't know. Around.” Trey said. I didn’t really say anything, knowing that I shouldn’t get in the middle of this.
“He knows what time we're starting?” Gary asked. Trey nodded.
“Yes, Mr. Fuller. Donnie knows what time we’re starting.” I said.
“Anyway, [Y/N] and I can run the cameras.” Trey said. Gary looked back at him.
“All three?” He asked. Trey nodded.
“Well, yes, Dad. That's why they invented tripods.” He replied sarcastically. I sighed.
“Trey, now really isn’t the time.” I said gently. Gary sighed and looked at Trey and I.
“Trey, [Y/N] this is important.” Gary said. Trey scoffed.
“And we can't do it, right?” Trey asked. Gary shook his head.
“I didn't say that.” He said calmly. Trey nodded.
“Yeah, you kind of did.” Trey said. He walked away.
“Trey,” I started. He walked past me. I sighed and looked at Gary. “I’ll talk to him.” I said. I was about to walk off when Gary gently grabbed my arm.
“[Y/N], you don’t have to.” He said.
“Yeah, I do,” I pulled my arm out of his hand. “Trey’s my best friend. It’s my job to make sure that he’s alright.” I said and walked off. I saw Trey near the back of the stage. I gently placed my hand on his upper arm. I was a little shorter than he was, reaching up to his nose in height. “Hey. You okay?” I asked gently. Trey shrugged.
“No, not really. I just wish dad had more faith in me.” He said. I smiled at him sympathetically.
“I know,” I reached down and started playing with his fingers gently. “I know things have been rough for you all since your mom died. Your dad’s under a lot of stress, and from what I’ve noticed, he has kind of a hard time expressing his emotions,” I said. Trey looked down, nodding. I tucked my fingers under his chin, gently lifting. Trey looked at me. “But believe me when I say that he loves you. He really does. He just forgets to show it sometimes.” I said. Trey nodded, looking down again.
“Yeah.” Trey whispered out. I gently cupped both sides of his face. He looked at me.
“You okay now?” I asked gently. Trey placed his larger hands over my own smaller ones and nodded. I sighed. “Come here.” I said. I removed my hands and pulled him into a gentle hug, kissing his cheek. Trey sighed and closed his eyes.
The Ceremony had started. [Y/N] was standing in the middle of the row of chairs filled with graduating seniors.
“To all the students of this year's Graduating Class,” Principal Walker said. “Who have dedicated themselves to the hard work necessary to reach this day, you are now standing on the threshold of adult life,” Gary looked at the other cameras and noticed that Donnie wasn’t there. And let me tell you, he did not look happy. He looked at [Y/N]. Where’s Donnie? He mouthed to her. [Y/N] shrugged her shoulders and shook her head. She lowered her eyes to the camera again. “You are free to take your own path and that path will be different for all of you. But it's now time to create your own lives. To create your own destiny.” Principal Walker continued. [Y/N] looked up at the sky, worried. Dark clouds were forming, thunder rumbling. “I leave you with John Updike's words: "You cannot help but learn more as you take the world into your hands. Take it up reverently, for it is an old piece of clay, with millions of thumbprints on it.”,” Rain now started to come down. Students and parents alike pulled out umbrellas, clearly paying attention to the storm warning on the news. [Y/N] arched her back and blinked rapidly, trying to get the rain out of her eyes.
“Oh, great. I guess we should, uh, I guess we should start finishing up, then.” Walker said. [Y/N] rolled her eyes. No shit Sherlock. She thought. The rain started to come down harder. The clouds got darker. This weather was starting to worry [Y/N]. “Seniors! Stand up! Stand up!” The seniors stood. “We salute you!” Walker shouted. The seniors tossed their caps into the air, cheering. The wind started to pick up. “All right! Ah.” Walker groaned as tornado warning sirens started blaring. Okay, now [Y/N] was really freaked out.
The sirens kept blaring. “Go inside, guys.” Principal Walker shouted over the sirens. Gary stood up.
“Stay calm! Move inside in an orderly fashion!” He shouted. I looked around, trying to find either my dad or Trey in the commotion.
“Everybody, back inside.” I heard my dad shout. I looked around.
“Dad!” I shouted, trying to find him.
“To the main building.” Gary said. Trey was still holding the camera.
“Dude, come on,” he urged. I looked around.
“Thing 2!” A familiar voice shouted. I looked behind me and saw Trey.
“Thing 1!” I shouted. Trey grabbed my hand.
“Are you okay?” Trey shouted. I nodded.
“What about you?” I asked. Trey nodded in confirmation. “We need to go, now.” I said. Trey and I quickly rushed to the main building. Gary was still ushering people in.
“Here we go! Quickly! Come on! Here we go! Come on, this way.” Gary urged. “Everybody! Okay, 90!” Gary shouted, somehow keeping track of how many people were coming in. “Here we go. Here we go. Keep moving. All the way down the hall. “Keep this door open. Come on.” Gary said to a graduate.
“Move on in, folks. Move in.” Walker said, trying to remain calm.
“Everybody into the storm shelter area.” Gary ordered. “Keep this hallway clear. Make sure nobody's behind us. All the way down!” Gary shouted. Trey and I raced in. I looked around for my dad.
“[Y/N]!” I whirled around and sighed in relief. Dad raced over to me and pulled me into a hug. He gently cupped my face as we pulled away. “Are you alright?” Dad asked. I nodded.
“Yeah, I’m fine. What about you?” I asked. Dad shook his head.
“Don’t worry about me. Go all the way in, alright.” Dad said. I shook my head.
“I’m not going anywhere until I know that Mr. Fuller and Trey are safe!” I shouted. Dad sighed. He knew there was no stopping me. Trey was still near the window, so I would stick close to him.
“Trey! Where's Donnie?” I heard Gary ask. I looked behind me and saw Trey still by the windows, filming.
“Uh, I don't exactly know.” Trey said, trying not to reveal the truth.
“Get away from the window.” Gary ordered. Just then, a whole tree came flying through the window. Dad gently yet quickly pushed me to the wall, covering me with his body. I screamed.
//I apologize if Chapter 2 is a little long. If the switching between Third and First person is too confusing, please let me know so I can fix it. I want all my readers to have the best reading experience they can. I hope you all like it.//
