March 6, 2007
The first chapter of the novel Nineteen Minutes introduces six main characters including Alex Cormier, Josie Cormier, Matthew Royston, Lacy Houghton, Peter Houghton, and Patrick Ducharme. All of these individuals have very diverse lives but connect at the end of the chapter.
Josie Cormier, is a junior in high school who starts her morning off like any other day. Josie experiences a typical argument with her mother that is triggered from Josie's lack of appetite. Alex, a superior court judge, and Josie's mother, soon races off to work, while her daughter ditches the breakfast her mother made her. The audience is first exposed to Josies self-confidence and personal issues she endures. Matthew Royston, a jock at Sterling High is introduced after Alex leaves. He is initially seen as a caring boyfriend who would do anything for his girlfriend, but are people really who they seem to be? Patrick Ducharme, a sole detective on the Sterling police force, is presented as a character who does not receive the credit he deserves for his exhausting career. Consecutively, Lacy Houghtons life is described in a few paragraphs. Lacy is a midwife who has a passion for being involved in the first few breathes of a new person in the world. Peter Houghton, Lacy's troubled son who has been bullied since his elementary years has been discovered as a teenager attending Sterling High but would rather be anywhere than school. An ordinary day has begun at the high school when suddenly, a loud bang is heard from somewhere in the school, which is later discovered to be the explosion of Matt's car. As the students are distracted by the noise, gun shots are being fired spontaneously. When Patrick arrives at Sterling High, he searches the school to isolate the gunman, who is alleged to be a student at Sterling High.

After passing several dead or wounded victims, Patrick corners and arrests the criminal in the locker room, in which he finds two students lying on the floor, surrounded in blood. Matt is dead and has been shot in the head and stomach, turning out to be the only dead victim to have been shot twice; Josie is not seriously injured, but shocked and cannot remember what happened.