The salty sea air blew the hair around my face as I fingered the gun in my jacket pocket.  I could see the girl standing at the edge of the boardwalk, leaning against the feeble railing with a beer bottle in her hand.  My footsteps silent against the rotting wood, I crept towards the person who had tormented me for much of my life.  The water splashed against the rocks below the boardwalk, its briny spray flying up into the air like shooting stars in the sky.  I felt the cold air against my face, making me tremble.  The air was charged with energy, as if it was waiting, waiting for me to make my choice.

I thought of the laughs and awful whispers that followed me into my classrooms and into my bedroom after that video was released.  I thought of the comments left on my instagram account.  "omg such a s*** haha" and "lol look at her gay hair cut" and "why do you dress like a boy" and "kill yourself."

All comments started by the girl standing in front of me right now.  She was the one who had released that video.  She was the one who had told everyone my secret.  I hated her, and at the same time I loved her.  The feelings intertwined in my chest, mixing like ingredients in cake batter until I no longer knew which one was which.  I still remembered the images in that video, the ones she had sworn never to release.  The events that took place that night were secret, never to be told to anyone.  And yet she used it against me, as release for her overwhelming shame.

 
My target was close now.  Her pink nail polish contrasted with the murky brown of the beer bottle, and her long blond hair was tangled and dirty.  The sun was just starting to set, the rays of light reflecting on the water and shining into my eyes.  The girl took a sip from the bottle, her eyes widening as she noticed I was there.  I took my shaking hand out of my pocket and lifted the gun.  I aimed and took a breath.  With her petrified scream ringing in my ears, I pulled the trigger.

The click-boom of the gun wasn’t nearly as loud as the deafening silence that followed.