Predicamental Upperclassmen || Luis Mendoza

Chapter 20

Mid October soon arrived and school did not stop keeping us on our feet. Our second report cards came in and mine had three A's total. They were English, History, and Music. B was my grade in Chemistry, and it was no shock that Math was the lowest. It wasn't a bad grade, but not an amazing one either. It was a C. I couldn't understand what I was getting wrong. I thought I was getting the hang of things. Guess not. But, oh well. I'm still trying my hardest.

As for trouble, I was progressing in staying out of it ever since my last ISS predicament, but it was not so great for Luis still.

He got detention again for throwing paper airplanes that had funny dirty stuff written on them in class with his buddy Jared and making a mess with them all over the floor of the classroom. The teacher was out of the classroom again at the time and was not so pleased when she came back to find paper airplanes stuck on shelves and between desk lamps. Luis was scolded even more when she saw him picking one up that he had just threw. When he told me this, I could only shake my head disappointingly, but I also laughed at his clownish antics. So, because of this, he skipped out on practice again. His coach was beginning to become more stricter with him about his detention days, but just not along after his paper plane situation, the next thing he did started to make me worry for him more than ever.

I was in Math taking down notes like usual. I focused hard on the material and jolted down extra things just incase I needed any reminders or tips during homework or other tasks. The teacher had went steady this time so he could make sure I was catching up. I was doing good so far. He was up by the board going over our current lesson with us. Suddenly, before he could get another word out, the fire alarm went off. He stopped writing, putting his marker down.

"Everyone leave your stuff and head out to the hallway", he directed.

We did as we were told and got up from our seats. We walked out into the hallway with other classes to the nearest exit outside. We trudged across the grassy fields as far away from the building as possible. Our teachers lined us up and quieted us down so that they could hear for any signal from their walkie talkies. The main staff said they were checking for any fires in the hallways and bathrooms. They debated whether or not to call the fire department incase it was a false alarm. After a few minutes of being outside, they reported to the teachers that everything was clear and there were no signs of smoke or flames anywhere. Everyone was confused, even me.

Just then, Mr. Tucker spoke back through the walkie talkies saying that it was indeed a false alarm and that it was okay to go inside. Still puzzled, we all went back inside and went back into our classrooms.

Once we get back inside ours, the teacher closed the door.

"What happened?", asked a student.

"Somebody messed with the fire alarm causing the whole system to go off", he reported.

That was unusual. Who would be stupid enough to pull the fire alarm like that?

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After school however, I soon found out the answer.

It turned out Luis and another friend of his were in the gym after gym class when really, they weren't supposed to be, but he told me they didn't know that. They were changing in the locker room and had to shower and stuff. They were taking a long time though because they were goofing off like normally. While they were in the shower room, the rest of their class had left to head for their next period. The weird thing was the coach somehow had forgotten they were still in there and left the gym after the rest of the class did, locking the doors behind him. He was an old man substitute coach though, so that could be the reason. Since there would be no gym class during third period, the gym was unoccupied. Once Luis and his friend had gotten dressed and headed out, the gym was completely deserted. They tried to leave but the doors were locked. All of them were. Instead of trying to find a way out like what smarter people would do, they just simply gave up and started fucking around, throwing basketballs everywhere and shooting at hoops. At one point, Luis passed the ball to his friend, but he threw it too hard making his friend duck and that's when the ball struck the fire alarm. Not having a way out to escape the place, they ran back into the locker room to hide, and during the checking of bathrooms and other areas, an assistant principal spotted them and they gave in. They threatened to expel him, but since it was an accident and not done purposely, he received 2 weeks.