I’ll never forget the drop in my stomach when that news alert appeared on my cell phone screen. “Shooting in Isla Vista, CA. Multiple fatalities.”
Around 30 people from my high school class were students at UCSB, and I immediately began sending texts to check in with all my closest friends. Only one never responded.
The next morning we heard the worst. She, along with another sorority sister, were shot and killed walking to grab a bite to eat. Suddenly my center of gravity was shattered and has never quite been repaired. Shots fired, and the most wonderful friend gone but never forgotten and always loved.