Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School student Samantha Grady was in her Holocaust class Wednesday afternoon when she and her best friend, also in the class, heard gunshots fired outside the door of their classroom.
Soon, the gunman would approach, and Grady's friend would become one of at least 17 people to die during the horrific masacre. Grady was wounded but escaped, she said in an emotional interview on the "Today" show Thursday morning, crediting something her friend told her with helping her survive the harrowing ordeal.
The high school junior said: "There was a big bookshelf and we all kind of huddled there together. We clamped really close tightly together."
The class stayed behind the bookshelf, pushing a cabinet in front of them to block some of the bullets. But soon the gunman "came for our classroom," Grady said.
The students ran, but before they did, Grady's best friend — who she didn't name — told her, "'Grab a book. Grab a book.' It was a tiny book, but I took it and held it up."
Grady was hit by some of the gunfire but was able to escape alive.
"The book kind of deterred some of the bullets so they didn't hit me so badly," Grady explained.
But her best friend, "unfortunately, she didn't make it."
"She was the one who gave me the idea. She helped me a lot," Grady said.
Despite the death of her best friend, Samantha Grady said she doesn't want that day to control her. She said the concern and support from her family is "nice" and has even formed a stronger bond between them.