Ten Days After
Ten days later, Josie sneaks down stairs to view a tape her friends gave her for her sixteenth birthday. The video had footage of Courtney, Drew, Matt, Haley, John, and Maddie, few who were still alive. A memory of her birthday was visited from where the crew had a barbecue. Josie stares at the camera to see herself in her boyfriends arms being so carefree. By now, Josie couldn't stop sobbing. She shoved her fist in her mouth so her mother couldn't hear the crying. After Matt had left the video, Josie ripped off the necklace she was wearing and zipped it into a couch cushion, and ran upstairs to her bedroom.
Lacy and Lewis had just sat down for breakfast, when Lacy realized they were out of milk. Since Peter's parents can only visit their son in jail once a week, Lacy is left thinking at home. Lacy runs to the store to grab some milk. At the till was a donation box for the families of the Sterling High victims. Lacy is caught starring at the box, while the cashier asks, "You've got to wonder about the parents, don't you? I mean how could they not have known?"(166). Lacy stayed silent, because she didn't know herself.
Ervin Peabody, the professor of psychiatry at the college, offered to run a grief session for the entire town of Sterling at a church. By the time the meeting convened, cars were parked as far as a half mile away. Jordan, Peter's lawyer was present at the meeting, and astonished with the mass of people that showed up. The whole town seemed to gang up on Jordan, and one man had asked him, "How can you live with yourself"(168). The meeting had ended on bad terms, as much of the crowd was still in too emotional of a state.
Selena, Jordan's wife, had met Lacy to investigate more about Peter's past. Lacy confessed how normal of a child Peter was, with the exception of jealousy from his older, now dead from a drunk driving car accident, brother. Peter was physically healthy growing up, which now didn't help Selena determine any psychiatric problems.
One week after the shooting, Mount Lebanon, a primary school had opened up additional classes for the student of Sterling High to finish the remainder of their school year. This was supposed to be Josie's first day back, but she couldn't bring herself to walk out the door. Josie ran back upstairs to her bedroom to finish crying. Suddenly, Josie heard a familiar roar in the driveway. She looked out the window to see Drew's vehicle, not Matt's. Josie appreciates her friend picking her up, and hops in the truck with him. The two begin the rest of their school year together.
Patrick turned on his computer, to play a video game at work. The video game Peter Houghton had created was a game titled, "HIDE AND GO SHRIEK". The game involved shooting at a high school, with certain familiar characters, only to survive. The more students you shot, the more points you gained. Patrick had now realized Peter had been planning this for a long time. Patrick also had examined a yearbook of Peter's class. All the victims shot that day were circled with a black sharpie, except for one. Josie Cormier's picture was circled and underlined in thick letters, "LET LIVE".