‘Dear Future Survivor’: School shooting survivors pen letters to future survivors

During my junior year of high school, I remember one day parking my car and walking toward my local gym. As I approached the entrance doors, I heard someone say “Brandon”, so I stopped, turned around, and saw my classmate Carmen standing there, smiling. We exchanged hellos — that was pretty much it — and then went our separate ways. The next day in my sixth-period class, she sat a couple rows behind and to the left of me. I remember going up to her and saying, “Carmen, it was nice to see you at the gym yesterday, I was honestly kind of surprised to see you there,” to which she wittily responded, “Really? I was surprised to see you there.”