Disclaimer: I do not own Dawson's Creek...I do not make any money from the writing of this fan-fiction. It's simply for fun.

It was a typical Thursday at Capeside High. Students were in various areas enjoying the lunch period, some outside, some in the library, some eating in the cafeteria.

Joey Potter and Pacey Witter were spending their lunch period together in the cafeteria.

Dawson Leery was spending his lunch period in the film lab. Dawson was working on a script for a new movie he was planning to begin shooting in the next few weeks.

Jen Lindley and Jack McPhee were in the computer lab, researching colleges. Jack and Jen were determined to go to college together the next fall and get out of Capeside at the same time.

Andie McPhee was in the library studying, determined to keep her grades perfect, even though she'd already received her acceptance letter to Harvard.

All six friends were spending their day as any other. They didn't know that their whole world was about to get turned upside down. No one knew that on an innocent Thursday afternoon, someone had planned a what would appear to be a massacre.

No one knew...until the first shot rang out over the campus.

He thinks he's so funny! Well... maybe he is. But that's why I love Pacey Witter, my Pacey. He's looking at me with those eyes... the eyes through which I see his soul. He takes my hand, and kisses it.

"You know you love me, Jo, don't try to deny it" he says, flashing a smile.

"You, bug me. Sorry, but you do," I reply, though I know the smile on my face is betraying my words.

"Come on, Jo. What if one of us gets in a freak accident after school? Do you really want the words, 'You bug me', to be the last thing you ever said to me?" he asks with an adorable pouty look. I can't deny him when he looks at me like that.

"I love you, Pace," I whisper as I lean in, and kiss him.

Something stops us suddenly...there's no way that can be what I think it is. I look at Pacey and I know he's thinking the exact same thing I am, he already knows. We can hear screaming from the hallway and more gunfire. The shooters are getting closer. I see some students running toward the back of the cafeteria.

I look at Pacey, and I know I must look terrified because he grabs my hand and pulls me towards the running students.

What the hell is going on? Who would have thought that we'd have a high school shooting, in Capeside?

There are students everywhere; we're all running for our lives. The gunfire is getting louder and the doors suddenly burst open. Pacey throws me behind an upturned table.

"We can't stay here, Jo, we gotta move," Pacey tells me. He's leaning around the side of the table checking to see whats going on. "Now, Joey." He grabs my hand and we run into the crowd.

I see a girl fall beside me...she's in my math class...blood is covering her shirt...I wonder if she's dead? Suddenly I don't feel Pacey's hand anymore. I can't see him through the sea of people. I decide to keep running.

"Pacey!" I scream, but I get no reply. There is too much screaming going on, he can't hear me. The bullets are still flying as I make my way through the cafeteria doors. I have no idea what to do, so I do the only thing I can think of. I duck into the janitor's closet on my left. I push everything I can find in front of the door. I collapse onto the floor and start crying. All I can think about are my friends, where's Pacey? Did he make it out? Is he going to find his dad? His dad can bring in the cops. Where is Dawson? Where are Jen and Jack? Where's Andie?

Suddenly I remember my cell phone. Do I still have it with me? Yes, it's in my pocket. I try the sheriff's office, the line is busy. I call Bessie, no answer. I call Dawson's house, no answer. Where is everybody? I try Doug, no answer. The restaurant, I'll call Mrs. Leery's restaurant. Mr. Leery is always there.

It's ringing...somebody please answer.

"Hello...Leery's Fresh Fish...this is Gretchen...can I help you?"

"Gretchen...Thank God" I'm yelling at her.

"Joey?"

"Gretchen listen someone came to school with a gun, I can still hear the shooting, call your dad..Please hurry...I don't know where Pacey is" I'm sobbing.

"OK...listen, calm down...you know Pacey I'm sure he's fine...I'll call you right back"

She hangs up. I'm hugging my knees, praying my friends are OK. Should I call Grams? Is Mr. McPhee home? Maybe I should try Bessie again. My mind is cluttered with thoughts.

Where's Joey? I was just holding her hand as we ran from the cafeteria. She's a smart girl, she'll be fine. She has to be, I can't live without her. I can still hear the guns, but I think they're still shooting up the cafeteria.
I see an open classroom door to the right, I go in. It's empty. I shut the door quickly and lock it as the mob of running students head for the doors. I act quickly. I push all the nearby desks against the door and crouch down behind the teacher's desk.

I can still here gunfire. Who would want to shoot up Capeside High?
Maybe I can get out the window. I crawl over to the window and peek out. There's no one outside. Wait a minute...how can there be no one outside I saw a mob running for the doors. Did they lock us in? I notice a window two classrooms down open, someone's about to climb out. It's Drue Valentine.

"Drue!" I whisper-yell at him.

"Witter...are you ok?"

"Yeah, I'm fine...you thinking about trying to make a run for it?"

"Well, I don't think we can get out the doors, the front ones are locked I tried those whenI heard the first shots. I ducked in here when I saw everyone running from the cafeteria. Thought about jumping out of this window, though. You game, Witter?"

"I am, if you are, Valentine."

"On 3."

I nod. I can still here shots behind me. All I can think about is Joey. She has to be ok. I hear Drue yell 3. We jump. We run as fast as we can. I glance behind me and see the front lawn of the school littered with broken glass. This can not be happening.

"Pacey, over here." Drue yells to me. I see his car just to the left in the senior parking lot. We get to the car just as the upstairs window begin to shatter.

"Go!" I yell as soon as we get. "I've got to find my dad."

"Here, put this on the charger and call him."

Drue hands me his cell. I plug it into the charger and fumble to turn it on. The 10 seconds it takes to turn on feel like an eternity as Drue pulls out onto the road. I dial the office. The line is busy. I try my brother's cell, no answer.

I hang up. "Drue, drive downtown...we'll have to find him ourselves. The
line at the office is busy and my brother isn't answering."

We drive downtown. I notice my dad and brother's cruisers in front of the Leery's restaurant.

"Stop" I yell. I jump out before he can even put the car in park. I run into the restaurant. I see Doug standing next to the bar talking hurriedly into his phone. My dad is sitting at a nearby table with Mr. and Mrs. Leery and Grams.

"Oh, Pacey, thank God," Mrs. Leery runs over and wraps me in a motherly hug. Mr. Leery is next, then Grams.

"Did you see Dawson?" Mr. Leery asks.

"No, sir. It all happened so quickly...wait...how did you know?" I ask.

"Joey called." Gretchen says walking over to us. Drue walks in at the same moment. Before I can ask about Joey my dad interrupts.

"I'm glad you're ok Pace, but we got to figure out how to get the rest of those kids out safely. Can you tell me what happened?"

I replay the whole story to him, then Drue tells them what he saw. The gun men were all in masks, we're not sure who they could be. As soon as I finish talking to my dad I immediately ask Gretchen about Joey.

"I think she's hiding...she called me and told me what happened and told me to call dad and that she didn't know what happened to you. I tried calling her back, but I can't get the call to connect."

All I can think about is my poor Joey, all alone in that war zone. My dad and Doug are working out a plan. They'll save her. They have to.

I suddenly felt totally and completely inspired to make another movie last night while watching a, you guessed it, a movie. I haven't made a movie or even felt like making one in what feels like forever.
This is how I ended up spending my lunch period in the film lab. I'm just writing out a script, making plans in my head. I'm, of course, torn as to who should be the producer: Jen or Joey? They've both done such great jobs in the past.

Then again, Joey spends every waking moment with Pacey now. And Jen spends every waking moment with Jack. Maybe if I convince Andie it'll look good to Harvard, she'd produce for me. She's fun and she'd probably be really good at it. Maybe Gretchen? It's a good excuse to spend more time with her.

I look up from my computer as I hear what sounds like gunfire coming from the football field, but it can't be, not in Capeside. Then I hear screaming. Someone is shooting up Capeside High.

I instantly duck under the desk of the computer I'm working on. The film lab...due to filming purposes, has no windows. Whoever thought that one up is a complete ass hat.

All rational thought exits my mind as I hear the door open and shots being fired into the room. There wasn't anyone else in here, I don't think so. I was paying attention. The shooting doesn't stop. I hear computers being shot at, glass shattering all around me. I can honestly say for the first time in my life, that I don't give a rat's ass about my script.

Suddenly, the shooting stops, but I don't move a muscle. I hardly even breathe. I hear footsteps. I'm in the very back corner of the room. I notice my bag on the floor by my legs. I quickly and quietly grab it and tuck it under the desk with me. Maybe they won't see me. I can still hear footsteps. I hold my breath waiting for them to leave. The footsteps seem to be fading. I hear shots again, in the hallway again. They're gone. I glance around my desk, there's glass all over the floor, the computer monitors are smoking. I slowly stand up.

"Hey, is anyone in here?" I call out, breathlessly, hoping to hear a reply.

"I'm over here. Help me please." I see someone huddled behind the cameras. She's stuck. It's a girl from my history class, I don't know her name. I walk over to her trying to avoid the broken glass.

"Are you ok, uh..." I ask her, I can't remember her name.

"It's Kayla and yeah I think so." She tells me as I help her up.

"Dawson." I quickly notice that we are lucky, the room looks like a war zone.

"I know," she says, noticing what I just realized, "what's going on? A school shooting in Capeside?"

"I know what you mean, do you have any idea who the shooters are?" I ask her, as I walk toward the door and lock it, pushing everything I can move in front of it.

"I don't have any idea, I was too scared to look."

"This is one of those times that I really wish I had a cell phone," I chuckle, nervously.

"Here," Kayla hands me her phone. "I'm too shaken up to talk to the police."

I dial the number to the Sheriff's office. I know the number well. The line is busy. People must be finding out what's going on. I decide to call my mom's restaurant.

"Hello...Leery's Fresh Fish." It was Gretchen.

"Gretchen, it's me Dawson...can I talk to my dad? Is he there?"

"Oh my God, Dawson, I'm so glad you're ok." I hear her yell for my dad.

"Dawson, thank God, are you ok?"

"Yes dad, I'm ok. I'm stuck in the film lab. They came in shooting, but I hid and they left. We've locked the door and pushed everything heavy up against it. That should keep the shooters out. Where is Pacey's dad? Is he coming up here?"

"John and Doug are here now. The shooters have the school locked down. Pacey and Drue made it out and Joey called the restaurant, Gretchen talked to her. Gretchen thinks she's hiding out somewhere too. Some other students managed to get away, but most are still inside."

"What about Jen? Jack? Andie? Have you heard from them? Did you call Grams or Mr. McPhee? Bessie?"

"We haven't heard about Jen, Jack or Andie, Dawson. Mrs. Ryan is here and has called Jack and Andie's father, he should be here within the hour and we finally got in touch with Bessie, she and Bodie just walked in. Your mother wants to talk to you. I love you, Dawson."

I can tell my mother's been crying. "Dawson, honey, are you ok?"

"Yes, mom, I'm fine. I stuck in the film lab, but we're safe. I'm worried about Joey and Jen and Jack and Andie. Can I talk to Pacey?"

"Sure, honey, here he is, I love you."

"Dawson?" He's confused, understandable.

"Pacey, I'm so glad you're ok and I'm sorry about everything that's gone down between us the past couple months. Something like this really puts your priorities in order."

"Dawson, I'm so glad to hear you say that. I'm sorry too. Man, I'm glad you're ok. I'm worried about Joey though. You know how she panics."

"Pace, trust me, she's gonna be ok. She's brave. Just tell your dad and Doug to get us out of here."

"I will, man. They're working on it. Stay safe, she still loves you too. You know?"

"I know." I hang up. Kayla is sitting in a chair, hugging her knees, sobbing quietly.

"It's gonna be ok. Sheriff Witter is working on a plan right now to get us out of here." I sit down next to her. I don't know how to comfort her, I'm scared too.