"Are you coming over later?" A smile tugged at my lips as I turned to glance up at my boyfriend, Noah, as we walked across our school's campus. "I want you to help me practice some more."

His grown out dirty blonde hair fell into his eyes as he looked down at me with a big smile. I felt a new hop in my step every time I saw it, giddiness taking over. Noah then tilted his head up toward the sun, the newly arrived warm weather giving everything a healthy glow. The spring semester of school had started a few weeks ago, which meant less time with my boyfriend and more time studying for classes. Any free second I had I wanted to spend with him.

Noah adjusted the strap of his guitar case on his shoulder before he spoke. "Not sure yet. Remember I told you I'm having dinner with my parents tonight."

I nodded my head in understanding, pushing a few strands of my almost black hair behind my ear. "Tell them I say hello then!"

"I will." Noah rolled his eyes playfully as he spoke in a joking manner. "Since they obviously love you more than their own son."

"Ha. Ha." I fake laughed as we came to a stop outside the library. "They love you... but I might just love you more."

A ghost of a smile appeared on his lips as I said those words. "I love you too, Kennedy."

"Here." The tender moment was over as he then pulled his guitar case from off his back and handed it to me. "If you want more practice take this and I'll come by for it another time."

"But it's your guitar..." I stared down at it mesmerized; he had never let me touch it before, much less play it. It was like his baby, he never went anywhere without it.

Noah thought he was only good at one thing and that was music. He put his whole heart into it and a few months ago I had asked him to teach me how to play the guitar because I wanted him to understand that I too believed in him and what he was making. I wasn't naturally gifted like he was, but he told me that I had picked it up much quicker than most would have, which only pushed me to play more.

"I know." He smiled again before he leaned down and kissed my cheek unexpectedly. "And I also know you'll take good care of it."

Without a word I wrapped my hand around the handle of the case, letting it lean against my side. People passed by us, some doing what I was and heading into the library to study, while others left looking exhausted from the time cooped up. Smiles spread across their faces as they stepped out into the open air and warm sun. After another moment I took one step up the cement staircase that led to the building and smiled.

"Call me later if you decide to come over."

He reach out and squeezed my hand lightly before he leaned forward to place a soft kiss on my lips. My heart fluttered and my eyes closed for a second until the only thing left was the sensation of where his lips had been pressed against mine.

"I'll see you tomorrow," I said wishfully.

Noah nodded once before he turned on his heels and walked in the opposite direction. "See you."

. . . . .

I sighed aloud, stuffing my phone into the back pocket of my jeans. My eyes glanced around the vast room full of shelves that contained books from law to fine art and everything in between. As weird as it was to say, I loved the library. I spent a lot of time there just skimming through books in hopes that the information I read may help me sometime in the future. I found an empty table at the far end of the room and set a short stack of books down on its wooden surface before I took a seat and opened the Medieval Art History book on the top of the bunch.

It was late by the time I left the library. The sun could just barely be seen as it dipped behind the tallest buildings in the distance. The air had cooled nicely and felt good against my skin after spending the entire day in the still air of the library. I had a test at the end of the week that I had to get a good grade on, knowing my professor was strict and based the quality of the person on how high their grades were. I never liked professors like that, ones who didn't even try to form a relationship with their students, but I really had wanted to take the class and they were the only one who taught it.

I got back to my dorm no more than ten minutes after I left the library. It wasn't a long walk, but far enough away to make me want to sleep in later before I would end up right back at the library to study again in the morning.

Just as I made it safely into my room I swiped my thumb across my phone and the screen lit up to show only my lock screen. The picture of Noah and I from our many trips out into the city put a smile on my face, but it faded quickly as I realized that there were no texts or calls from my boyfriend. It seemed a bit odd as he normally called around 10pm everyday to say goodnight, but I waved it off seeing as he was with his family and probably got caught up with them.

He had never been really close with his parents, keeping a safe distance from them because they always seemed to butt heads on everything. Noah wanted to be a musician while his parents expected him to go into pre-law, like his older brother had done to follow in their father's footsteps. Noah was talented, but there were only a select few people who actually knew that part of him.

And lucky for me, I was one of those few people who got to see the real Noah Gains.

. . . . .

The scratchy fabric of the old couch rubbed against my cheek as I shift over, once again ignoring the ringing of my phone that lay on the ground next to where I had fallen asleep the night before. Who could be calling this early? As the vibrations stopped, I finally felt my body relax back into the couch. After I had gotten home last night I had stayed up later than normal, too invested in reruns of Law and Order: SVU to go to bed.

My body tensed again and I groaned out of frustration as my phone once again started to ring. I reached my hand out and skimmed the carpeted floor before my hand finally came into contact with the mobile device.

"What?" My voice was scratchy as I answered to call.

"Kenny! Where are you?! Are you alright?" I sat up from the couch quickly, my mother sounding hysterical on the other end.

"I'm fine," I spoke sternly, my eyebrow knitted together in confusion. "I'm in the dorms-"

"Oh, thank god!" Her breath came out in small gasps and I realized then that she was crying.

"Mom, what's wrong?" It felt like a hole had grown in the pit of my stomach as her sobs continued to fill my silent room.

"Noah, honey. It's about Noah," She cried louder. "There was a shooting at the library. He-"

"He what?!" I rose from my sitting position, my eyes wide and heart racing. Was Noah okay?

"He killed them, Kennedy," My mother's voice sounded lifeless, the panic in her tone nowhere to be found. "He shot and killed a lot of people."

"W-what?" I was breathless, my heart pounded in my chest as bile started to travel up from my stomach. My hands grew clammy and I blinked rapidly to stop the tears that had welled up in my eyes. "Is he-"

"He's gone," She whispered. "I'm sorry, honey, but he's dead."

The phone dropped from my hand, my lips parted in shock as I tried to comprehend what my mother had just told me. It couldn't be true. I had just seen him yesterday afternoon and everything seemed fine. He was fine.