CringeFest 2019: The Chaos

Crucifijo I

November 7, 2018.

Ann was sitting through Chinese class.

She was writing down new Chinese characters until Lao Shi turned on the projector and flashed new grammar points.

"Jiā Yì Kǎi," said Lu Lao Shi. "Please translate."

Then, she wrote on the board. 我被老师打了。

"Wǒ bèi lǎo shī dà le," Ysobel silently reads.

Ykielle stands up and hesitates. "The teacher played me?"

And at that moment, everyone was laughing. Lu Lao Shi was smiling.

"'Dà' is supposed to mean 'beat', isn't it?" Ysobel asks.

"It's beat!" shouts Alec.

"Still, though, 'The teacher played me," Teresa repeats. "How'd you get to that?"

"We say 'dà lān qiú' which is 'play basketball'... So I thought 'dà' means play... Right?"

"You ain't wrong," says Ann, holding up an 'ok' sign with her right.

"'Played me?'?" repeat many of the boys.

"Ān jìng le!" Lu Lao Shi shouts.

Jeez, it's chaos now... What more for when it's SportsFest? We have a thousand high school students now, all crammed into this building... Mrs. Preston should give me details later. Hopefully. During club session.

2:50 p.m.

Ann settles down in the club room. Leia, a close friend of hers, sits beside her as usual.

"I finished the article," Ann states. "Last minute."

"Cool," Leia replies.

Mrs. Preston then walks into the clubroom. "Is everybody present? Please shout if you're here," she says.

A minute of roll call. "Leia Johns," she says.

"AAAAAH!" Leia shouts.

"I said say 'present' if you're here," responds Mrs. Preston sternly.

"You only said 'shout if you're present'," Ann replies. "So she did."

"That wasn't a shout. That was a scream."

Ann's hand tells her 'okay' again.

"Next term's gonna quite busy," says Preston. "We have six new articles to assign, and we'll need a photographer for each of them... Except for the first one, as the Media Team'll cover that. We also don't need photos for these two feature articles. Is anybody willing to volunteer? If none, I'll just assign."

"I'll do an article on the Open House this Saturday," says Hana. "P.M. session."

"I'll be a photographer for Open House," Zac follows. "Full day."

"I'd like to volunteer for Assignment of SportsFest Houses," says Ann. "Though, I'd like to ask a question: I don't think we really need a photographer unless it's a huge event like Christmas or—"

"Nope. We must record everything. If the photos taken end up BS, we'll use it for wall art. You remember Matt Fleming's speech during his campaign for Student Council President, right?"

"That we should make sure the bathroom isn't the most colourful place in this high school building?" says Ann. "Yeah. We remember."

Preston sighs. "Go join Gab there in the corner."

Ann stands up and walks to the empty seat beside Gab. "Hi, I'm Ann—"

"I didn't mean it literally. Return," says Preston.

"Miss, if you don't mean it, don't say it!" Gab blurts out.

Preston sighs again. "Anyway... Are there more volunteers?"

"Miss, question," says Nadeen. "Wasn't there a SportsFest last year? What's the feature on the house saints for?"

"Okay, well, to answer that question... For Year 9 and up, do you remember the names of your house saints?"

Andrew, Ann, Sebastian, Andre, Hana, Ania, and Gab all look at each other.

"I only remember Cangrejo's," says Ann. "And I'm not even sure of it... St. Joseph Anonas, I think...? Or was that another house?"

Mrs. Preston hesitates. "No, I don't think that was it... Well, I don't know either. See? That's why we need a feature on this. Can you do it, Nadeen?"

"I will, Miss."

I start writing my article on November 12... Shucks, and then I'll have to do something for Lit Month right after... Hope I'm not assigned!

At least I get to leak the date out.

A few more volunteer.

Club session finally ends. "To those assigned, please remember to submit your articles to your editors! And Hana, remember, you're Editor-in-Chief, so send me your article."

"Yes, miss," Hana replies.

"Yo, Leia," says Ann. "If you had the choice, which SportsFest house would you be?"

"Crucifijo, of course," Leia answers. "Campana would be good too, but although they are smart, they just aren't as strong or fast."

"High-five! Don't worry, Leia, because I'm joining the SportsFest committee."

"Cool," she replies.

"That means I get to choose who goes where, too," Ann adds.

"Do you get to add new sports?" Leia asks.

"Probably, yeah. If I could add a sport, I'd add Taekwondo. You?"

"Frisbee, probably."

"Neat choice as well."

"Ann, please don't count your eggs before they're hatched," Leia reminds. "Who knows who'll be at an advantage or disadvantage."