The Eruption- Volume 1

The Eruption- Chapter 5

                                                                                            Chapter 5

I woke up before my alarm once again the following morning. I don't think my parents will ever get used to this. "Good morning, dad!" I said brightly. "Son, I'm taking you to the doctor if you wake up early again! Ding dangit! What's the occasion this time?" "I have no idea!" I exclaimed. "It must be that girl getting you up so early." My dad said. "Dad!" Mom must have been eavesdropping on us. "Ohhh a girl! Already? Who is it? What's her name? Is she cute?" "Mom! Stop it!" I shouted. My little brother of a brother joined in on the fun. "Hey Jake! I hear your going to make out with her behind a dumpster!" The whole house exploded with laughter. "Marvin! That's not funny!" I ran back upstairs and slammed my room door. I stayed there until it was time for school to begin. I actually like going to school for once and... well you already know why.

I once again arrived about a half hour before the beginning of the school day. I walked into Room 201, sitting down in my usual spot. I heard a familiar voice say: "Mrs. Snow? Are you here?" Déjà vu! "Well hi Allison!" I exclaimed. "Oh, hi Jake! Well, this is quite redundant!" "I agree. So, what's up?" "Well, I have some data I've gathered about Yellowstone. Want to see it?" "Of course I do!" "Well, this is even more redundant for me to ask you this, but mind if I sit next to you?" I laughed and signaled her to sit next to me. She pulled out her laptop. "Okay, ever since Yellowstone's hydrothermal event yesterday, there has been a noteable increase of small, shallow earthquakes, but all less than magnitude 3. 47 earthquakes have been recorded since yesterday! Even more interesting is they follow this old fault line, right between Old Faithful and Steamboat." Allison said. "Do you think this quake activity is connected to it?" I asked. "More than likely; I'm not exactly sure what though." The bell rang for first hour to begin. Students began to pour into the classroom. Ed stood at the edge of the table. "I see I have a hi-jacker of my spot!" he said. "Sorry. I was speaking to Jake this morning." Allison said. "Oh, that's totally alright." Allison got up and Ed took her spot. "Morning, Jake." "Hey Ed." Mrs. Snow walked into the classroom. "Alright, class! Please open up your textbooks. We have lots to cover today today with little time, so we need to move quickly! Chop chop chop!" Mrs. Snow said. I got out my textbook and opened it up. "Today, we will be continuing our discussion on transcendentalists and their beliefs. Can anyone tell me who..." There was a sudden vibrating noise heard from one side of the classroom. "Ed, did you hear that?" I whispered. "Yeah, what was that?" he replied. Mrs. Snow continued. "Anyways.. Can anyone tell..." The vibrating noise interrupted again, this time much louder. "Alright class, we have too much to cover today so whoever is distracting the class, stop that non-sense!" she exclaimed. "Mrs. Snow" Ed began saying "None of us are doing anything." Suddenly, the noise ran all over the class, rattling desks and books. You could see the bookshelf starting to sway. Suddenly, everything began to tremble. "It's an earthquake!" I shouted. The shaking intensified dramatically, with books, papers, and various class supplies tumbling down to the floor. "Everybody! Under your tables now!" Mrs. Snow screamed over the noise. Ed and I ducked under the desk as everything around us fell onto the floor. I heard the windows crack. Ceiling fixtures fell onto the desk above us. The electricity cut out, leaving the whole room pitch dark. It was a terrifying 48 seconds, but it seemed like it went on forever. "Is everyone okay?" Mrs. Snow asked as the class fell quiet. The only sounds you could hear were pieces of the ceiling falling to the floor. The class got up. "Do not go anywhere. We don't know if it's safe to enter the halls." Mrs. Snow advised. I glanced over at Allison. She appeared to be in complete shock of what just happened. Just then, a police officer came in. "Class is dismissed. Please exit straight outside. Do not stop by your lockers." The officer said. The halls were full of fallen debris. It was hard to breathe as dust filled the air. Outside, similar damages were seen on houses and other structures nearby. Allison caught up to me. "Jake, are you okay?" "Yeah I'm fine. I'm just shocked." "Tell me about it." "Where do you think this came from?" I asked her. "It's hard to know for sure." Allison said. "Once I get home, I'll analyze all the data that has been collected so far." "Sounds good." I said. "Hey, Jake?" "Yes?" She paused for a moment. "If you aren't busy this afternoon, would you like to come over to my place for a little while?" My entire body froze. No girl has ever asked me to go anywhere in my entire life! "It's fine if you don't. It's only a suggestion." "I'd love to come over!" I finally said. "There isn't much to do at my house anyways!" Allison gave me a smile. "Awesome! I can just give you a ride straight from school." She said. My phone rang suddenly. "Hello? I'm still at the school. Yes, I'm doing fine ma! No, I'm getting a ride from a friend. Yes it's a girl. Ma! We're only friends! Gosh!" I hung up the phone. "Well I'm all set. Let's go!" I exclaimed. "Right this way." I followed Allison to her car, parked in the student lot. I think my mom was under the impression that someone was taking me home. Oh well, it's still morning. No one is at home anyhow. I got into her car, and we drove away. I still couldn't believe I was in a car with a girl. This surely was a bit awkward for me. "I live outside of town so it will take a little bit to get there." Allison said. Around the town of Cody, earthquake damage was widespread. Thankfully, I did not see any buildings that were completely destroyed. Some homes had only minor damage, but others weren't as lucky. Most traffic signals were off, so I think most of Cody is without power. "Man, this was one serious earthquake." I said. "Yeah." Allison replied, "I can't wait to see where this monster originated from."