holy crap.
woah.
what?
yikes.
yeah.
:/
today was...strange. and scary. and sort of like...blahish gah.
let's see. how it started. my mom was pulling into the driveway of the school and i saw some kids outside on the other end of the building, towards the back. i just thought it was for career building or something since we had that today instead of MCAS which the some of the other classes were having. then i heard a beeping. i thought maybe it was something else for career building but i was kind of concerned and was saying in my head, "what?" then as my mom came to a stop i saw everyone coming out of the door. like a bunch of people. i saw the ninth graders first so the only explanation i could think of was "career building started early?" but they wouldn't start it before homeroom. i still wasn't sure what was going on but i told my mom that i saw Abby and off i went towards them then waited for them to get closer and we walked onto the grass. them being Abby, Mollie, Colin, Devin, Josh, Ryan, and some other ninth graders. okay?
i'm not sure when it came to me that it was a fire drill. either Abby said it or i put everything together. then i found out it isn't a fire drill. it isn't a drill. the fire part is true. i don't know who was the first one to tell me or who was the first one to know but all we really knew for "certain" (but not really certain but as close as we could get) was that an eighth grader lit his pants on fire.
i was trying not to think about it. it wasn't a conscience thing. i was just blocking it from my mind not wanting to think about it. i never decided to not really think about it i just didn't. everyone else was still talking about it. they started talking about if he died. then i really didn't want to hear it. at all. it was becoming my decision to not listen to it. so instead i began to think of other things to do.
we were out there for a long time. so i'll try to fill you in with some of what happened out there.
well first there was a big group of ninth graders, they put us in groups according to grades. one of the teachers came around and wrote down our names on the back of a piece of cardboard or something. then our "circle of friends" sort of migrated towards the blacktop since it was warmer over there. so our "circle" become me, Abby, Colin, Mollie, Devin, Josh, Ryan, Lisa for a bit then she left along with Renee.
now i want to talk about Abby. Abby went home early the day before because she felt sick. she was sick that night. she was planning on going to the doctor today. where was she instead? at school. they couldn't get her in until 3. so she was stuck outside with us which probably didn't help her at all. the annoying chatter of Devin didn't help either especially since Devin kept leaning on her even though Abby wasn't stable. Abby had Colin though who was warming her hands and was concerned about her enough for all of us. so i didn't have to be concerned about her! not that i wasn't...
we talked for a bit. back and forth. nothing particular. of course about what we thought. we complained. well i know i complained. i sort of wish i had just shut my mouth and dealt with it but i didn't. i said that i shouldn't have even come at all. my mom said later if she knew that was going to happen she wouldn't have left me at school. she didn't know what was happening...she just dropped me off and later Lynn the Librarian filled her in. anyways back to the complaining. i was complaining about being out in the cold even though some kid just burned himself really badly, his family and friends were probably freaking out. what was i doing during this? complaining about the cold. yay for Molly.
then we saw a worm. a big one. it got bigger then smaller. but it was still bigger. we all made a circle around it and sort of traveled with it. then everyone except for Josh and Ryan sort of moved on but they kept following it. you realize that now that worm is going to be the one thing we always remember about this day. that worm.
right after we saw that Josh and Ryan were still with the worm Colin said a story about how Josh use to pick up all the worms on the pavement and put on them on the grass after a rain storm. then Devin flung herself on Josh saying how sweet he is and is he single? i despise her. seriously.
Abby just reminded me of something. she is writing a blog about this now. her blog url is mylifeaselura.blogspot.com she reminded me of a comment i made after someone said his pants were on fire, "was he lying?" get it? liar, liar pants on fire...hahaha...yeah. another comment i made was too bad this didn't happen tomorrow. tomorrow is April Fools. i hate April Fools just so everyone knows. but that is about how much i put myself into the conversation about the boy.
i think if we go back to the outdoor activities. we saw firetrucks. unmarked firetrucks that still had flashing red lights. firemen. they went inside. then a while later we saw an ambulance come. they went inside with a stretcher. right now it just came to me what happened to that kid while we were all evacuating and outside waiting. what was he doing? what was he feeling? what was he thinking? who was with him? we saw the stretcher come out with someone on it. i didn't think about what that could mean or what it couldn't mean.
we were still outside. cars were stopped before they drove into the school and were told to drop off their kids or seniors had to go park up at the town hall and walk down since they had a field trip. that was a while before a lot of this.
i'm not sure how much in order this all is. just try to imagine it.
then we were out there for over an hour. maeve and maura would have been in school. 8:30. yeah. i first got there like 7:3oish. it was probably around that time that i was getting impatient. i started playing the game known as "I'm Thinking of an Animal" or "Got it!" or "20 Questions." Mollie was mostly guessing but then Colin got it but he didn't want to have a turn at thinking of an animal. no one else played. it would have been funner (more fun, whatever) with more people but whatever. then i think i played two rounds of I Spy with Mollie and gave up on that. then I made her guess what horse gait was was doing. that didn't go well. maybe that was before the other games. i don't remember.
it was probably around then we went inside but of course i am going to backtrack and mention a few more things.
Abby wanted to call her mom but she didn't want to get in trouble for using a cellphone. don't blame her. but i still felt bad for the sickly one. i love that strong little girl. <3
i think now i will go inside because the other little details i remember are kind of stupid like Josh talking about a scary movie asking if we saw it then going into details about it which i blocked out by repeating "no thank you" over and over again. and the school bus of elementary school children that drove past us. and Abby's cannibal cousin who came over to us. and how scary us ninth graders are. crap. i'm a ninth grader aren't i? wow.
i think we saw the kids in the parking lot go inside first. then we went in. (8:50ish) we were all put into the cafeteria. the other kids were in the auditorium. i found out later that they were watching WallE. guess what we were doing?
first we were just sort of like blah i guess. they took attendance again. i had my laptop so i took it out after I saw Ryan on his. i played a game of tic tac toe with Mollie. then checkers which i wonnnnn! then we played connect four and everyone was watching and of course i lost. i'm too competitive for my own good and i know it. then i gave up and let Colin play a game of mancala with Mollie.
waitttt. before i got the laptop out i played Concentration with Mollie and then Devin and then played Miss Mary Mack with Mollie. I lost when I played with Mollie and won with Devin. (:
Becca and Lisa asked Colin for his headphones and listened to my itunes. Becca...ehhhhh.
then i started to play this drawing game with Abby who had already taken my whole pencil case (remember i still had my bag seeing as i never went in the school) and was doodling with Colin before. then Abby went to find her cousin i think. i doodled by myself. i listened to music cause Becca gave up the headphones. i was still doodling by myself and such when the principal came in. i turned off the music and listened. i'm going to try to find exactly what she said somewhere. i think it is on Mass Live.
well what she said was not on there. she said something about this morning a child's electronic set on fire and was burned. the school was evacuated for precautions and no other children were hurt. now classes were returning to normal. and no talking to the press, direct them to her.
it was about 9:45 then. first and second period had already gone by. i packed up my laptop and we went to our lockers. the kids in the auditorium hadn't been told yet so the hallways were pretty empty.
that was the first time in my life i was told not to talk to the press. pretty cool...but not really.
so we went to third period. Renee and I were the only people up in Ms. Streker's room. Her door was open so we just let ourselves in and turned on the light. then i went to look and see who was out and i saw a huge horde (vocab word) of people coming down the 7th grade hallway. everyone else was told to come.
so then everyone was in third period minus the juniors and seniors who didn't have to come to school until 4th period because of the MCAS that they didn't have and the people who were suppose to have it didn't either. Ms. Streker of course didn't even realize she wasn't going to see us today or tomorrow. so we went over one thing from yesterday since she was out then we played 7 up. i played a few times then began writing in my spanish notebook about this just for the sake of doing something. it was a useless period. everyone was really relaxed and easygoing.
it smelled on the third floor.
4th period. we went on class like normal since well that was what we were planning on doing today anyways since that would have been when career building/MCAS would have been over. not really going to go into that. i didn't say much and just did my work.
health. we watched some of supersize me. i really hope i don't pass out during this movie. i didn't watch the throw up scene so i was good for today. Ms. Levrault told us if anyone said anything about that whether we thought they really were or not to tell an adult. will do Ms. L.
lunch. we talked some. i was just out of it and didn't want to be there. they weren't letting anyone leave or come. there was a police in the hallway.
science. Steph and I talked some. we did our lab.
history. i had to deal with my unmotivated group. we are doing a skit tomorrow. we are going to fail. crap. i'm starting to get nervous now. ahhhhhhhhhhhhh. but i can't do everything can i?
now i'll give you a bunch of the stuff i heard. firecracker. more than a firecracker. arsen-something or other that he got from his uncle cause he said it was for his science fair project. a bomb threat. he was planning on hurting people. he wanted to hurt himself. it was intentional. it was unintentional. it was a rocket launcher. he got picked on. his name is Ryan Bishop. his friends got taken away with him.
i rode the bus home. i got home and my mother was outside getting groceries out of the car. she asked what i had heard. which was nothing really. she told me what she heard from Lynn who talked to an EMT. it was a remote control bottle rocket launcher that he set off and got scared so put it in his pocket and it burned his hand, groin, legs. i told her that the kid was picked on a lot. she felt bad for him.
i go to babysitting. i don't mention anything about it to the kids. their mother says "so i heard you had a bit of excitement this morning" when she gets there. i tell her the bits that i know.
i walk home. i don't think about much.
i get there. the kids were asking about it. it is bunny 4H night. there is no need for them to know. they leave.
i talk to Abby and Katelyn on AIM. i am the only one who really knew anything knew. Abby told me it was going to be on the news at 5. i tivo it in. i watch it and let Katelyn watch it by video chatting. everything they say reconfirm what my mother had heard.
he's at a hospital in Boston.
he has serious serious burns.
wow.
everyone is like in shock right now. nothing like this has happened at school before. not our school.
what would have happened if his pants didn't catch on fire? why did he have it in the first place? his intent? what is going to happen to him?
i feel really bad for him right now but what is my sorrow going to do...nothing.
tomorrow i am still going to have to do career building stuff while MCAS is going on. i am going to have to do that stupid history skit that i am dreading because i don't feel prepared for it at all. it's not going to be 5 minutes. i'm worried. and now that is taking over my head even though i still have all of this to worry about. great. what a wonderful life i have.
the truth is i do have a wonderful life and i shouldn't be complaining so i am going to shut up now.
i started this blog at about 5:25pm. it is 6:44.
