Paige ran into the school excited to see her friends. She was unaware of the adult troubles that addled her mother. She was simply concerned with where her friends were and what snack would be available that day.

She galloped through the hallways, her pigtails bouncing behind her. She wove through the crowds without a worry. Her little feet knew those tiled hallways well. She was in second grade after all, so she considered herself a veteran on campus.

She was dragging air into her tiny lungs when she finally reached her classroom! She skidded to a halt in the doorway, quickly scanning the room. Her eyes landed on her two best friends already laughing together in the corner. Jerry and Olivia, her favorite classmates.

Paige skipped over to them with a radiant smile. She dove into them as she neared, tackling them both into the wall.

Her friends recognized her curls instantly and cheered her arrival. The three of them chatted about the simpler things in life. They discussed their prior evening and showed off their animal related t-shirts. Paige’s favorite part of school was the little trio she was a part of.

They were so busy wrapped up in each other’s lives, the three children never noticed the barely concealed fear and worry plastered to their teacher’s face.

“Alright, alright,” their teacher addressed them. Her tone wasn’t the normal lighthearted tone they were used to, but no one took note of it. “Everyone sit down, please. Quickly now.”

Paige plopped into a seat next to her two best friends. They were still giddy and excited for the day, obviously unaware of the world outside their classroom.

After a few language lessons, their teacher began a math lesson. Paige was ecstatic as she was one of the best in the class when it came to math.

Their teacher asked, “So, we’ve been working on fractions, can anyone come up and draw a line on this circle to cut it in half?” She gestured to the board behind her where eight circles were pre-drawn.

This was an easy one for Paige, she knew she could do it. Paige thrust her hand in the air. She raised herself off the chair, essentially standing as she begged her teacher to pick on her.

“Alright, Lily. Can you try please?” their teacher spoke.

Paige deflated in her seat. She felt disappointment surge through her as she realized she hadn’t been chosen to answer the question.

She watched intently as Lily, another classmate, quietly walked to the board and grabbed a piece of chalk. She seemed scared and Paige couldn’t understand why. It was one line, surely everyone would understand how to do that. Paige watched her, preparing her little arm to soar in the sky once more, if Lily somehow got it wrong.

Before Lily could raise the chalk, an alarm started blaring in the school.

It startled all the students in the classroom, some of them tearing up in confusion, others screamed in fear. Paige jumped out of her seat and glanced around. They had had fire drills previously, but there was nothing like this before. This alarm sounded different.

“Hello, students! This is your principal speaking. This is not a drill. Everyone is to report to the cafeteria immediately. Your parents will be here shortly to pick you up.”

“Okay! You heard the principal. We don’t need to panic, we need to line up and go to the cafeteria.” Their teacher once more tried to hold her calm façade above the fear, but Paige noticed something new. Paige saw the sweat accumulating on her forehead.

The students lined up in the classroom. The alarm resumed blaring after their principal had spoken. Many of the students were sobbing in fear, others were trying to hide behind their teacher.

Paige, however, walked to the board and grabbed a piece of chalk. She drew one line down the center of the circle, cutting it in half. She spun around to look at her class, proud of what she’d done. But, no one was looking at her. No one cared. Not even her two best friends.

A tear started to accumulate in Paige’s eye. She assumed that there would be cake awaiting them in the cafeteria, she didn’t know why everyone was in such a panic. Sure, the alarms hurt her ears, but was that enough reason to cry? She didn’t think so. However, all her friends ignoring her and her successful ability at halving the circle, that was reason to cry.

Before long, she stood in an empty classroom. Her tears threatened to fall while she glanced around the room. It remained a shell of the happiness she felt mere moments ago.

“Paige!”

Paige snapped her eyes towards the voice calling her. She saw one of her best friends, Jerry. His eyes were panic stricken, fear evident in his actions as he fiddled with his fingers and bounced on the balls of his feet.

“Paige, let’s go!” he yelled out to her.

“Jerry, why are you so scared?” Paige asked, a bit of worry seeping into her voice. She didn’t understand his fear. Everything was fine.

“I overheard my mum and dad talking. They said there’s gonna be a war. What if this is about the war?” Jerry whispered, glancing around at his classmates who were filing out of the classroom.

“War? Where?” Paige asked, utterly confused.

“Here!” Jerry screeched, gaining the attention of all his peers. His face blossomed out in pink and he ducked his head to hide it.

“W-What?” Paige asked, slowly starting to get scared herself.

Jerry sighed, grasping her hand and pulled her to the back of their class line. They met up with their other friend, Olivia there. Olivia was crying into her hands, repeating one sentence over and over. “I want my mommy!”

Paige looked at Jerry, “What’s wrong with her?”

“I dunno. Maybe she’s just scared too?” Jerry asked, making it very clear he had no idea, but his face was riddled with concern.

“I- is this war, real?” Paige whispered. She’d heard of war, but she didn’t understand what it truly meant. She was still confused as to how it impacted her life.

“I dunno,” Jerry shrugged, still wringing his hands together.

“Do you know what war is?” Paige asked, accepting math was her area of expertise, and she had barely passed history.

“I think it’s like the video games my brother plays,” Jerry started. “There’s guns, a lot of blood too. Mum doesn’t like me to play them, but I’ve seen Jason play heaps. It’s scary.”

“Guns?” Paige’s face paled. “Are people going to die?”

“I dunno.” Jerry whispered. “I hope not. Dying seems scary.”

Paige shivered, suddenly much more scared of the alarms blaring in the hallway. She finally understood her peers’ tears. She struggled to keep her own at bay as she imagined a video game coming to life around her. She had seen her oldest brother, Seth, play a few too. They were always terrifying to her. Those games were loud too, like the alarms around her.

After navigating the hysteria with her class, Paige and her class found themselves in the cafeteria.

“Alright children. Find a seat over here, your parents will be here shortly,” their principal bellowed above the alarms, screams and sobs.

“Mr. Goldson is tough, he’ll protect us? Right?” Paige commented, staring at the man addressing her.