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Middle School

Brooke sat with her brown hair tucked behind her ears, her green eyes watched her friend’s text, and her fingers flew across the keyboard just as fast. She wasn’t even listening to her idiotic teacher, Mrs. Myers. Brooke was texting her friends under her desk because later that day, she, Logan (her boyfriend), Cassie (her best friend), Liam (Cassie’s boyfriend), Sarah, Lyla, Athena, Finn, Mason, and Ryan were going to the beach house in Casco Bay. It was about an hour's drive from Portland, ME.

“Everyone, you know what to do, get behind my desk in the back.”

Brooke, Sarah, and Athena whispered loudly about their plans for after school. Colin, Lucas, Jack, Ethan, and Ryan were talking loudly in the corner where the desk and the wall meet. Sebastian, a loud nerdy kid was crying, he always did, during lockdown drills because of his “panic attacks”. some kids were laughing together along the wall because while there were only 16 kids in that class not everyone could fit behind the desk.

“Is it just me, or does the alarm sound different?” Sarah asked.

“Yeah, doesn’t it normally say 'THIS IS A LOCKDOWN DRILL STAY AWAY FROM ALL DO-ERS AND WINDOWS'," Athena said.

“Yeah, but what’s different...” Brooke trailed off when she realized it went static every time it was supposed to say it was a drill. Then she thought for a second and said, “It’s probably just a glitch” They were all silent for a minute until Ryan asked if they were O.K.

“Ryan, it's going static when it's supposed to say it’s a drill” Sarah started to say.

“It’s probably just a glitch, nothing to worry about,” Ryan said, cutting her off.

“Yeah” was all Athena said as she looked at Ryan with her brown puppy dog eyes and half smile.

Brooke started laughing and waved her hand in front of her friend’s face “Bro, you there?”

Athena blinked, “Oops” and smiled.

“Sarah,” Brooke said, “did you get the stuff you were supposed to bring for the rocks?”

“Yeah, but next time YOU have to get that,” Sarah said.

“Bro, you seriously think I could pass for 21?” Brooke asked, “Out of all of us, you’re the only one who can.”

*Cough *Cough “Old,” Athena said still half thinking of the chance this was a real lockdown.

“HEY, at least I-” Sarah started to say when the alarm stopped, and everyone in the room quieted down. Mrs. Meyers walked over to the light switch and turned on the lights and shortly after, the bell rang. Brooke grabbed her things and walked out of the room with Sarah and Athena, meeting Lyla in the hallway. They talked about how excited they were and made sure they had everything for their 3-night trip, when Lyla suggested, “Wanna ditch?”

“Yeah, but we gotta call Cassie and everyone else,” Brooke said.

“K I’ll do that,” Sarah said holding her phone up.

“Let’s wait by the car,” Lyla suggested. While the four made their way to the car Brooke thought about the bay and all the fun things they would do there. The beach was rocky but that didn’t matter, it was always fun there anyways, the beach house had 5 bedrooms so there were 2 people in each room, and it was on a hill so the path it had onto the beach was a 10-minute walk. There was a hot tub on a deck they had where they played games like their version of truth or dare.

They were taking two cars as always, but this year was going to be a little different since now, Brooke and Cassie had boyfriends and were trying to set Sarah up with Finn, and Lyla with Mason. Brooke and Logan would be in one car with Sarah, Finn, Lyla, and Mason while Cassie, Liam, Athena, and Ryan were in the other car.

“I call shotgun!” Brooke yelled as she bounced into her car, Logan got into the driver's seat, and everyone else loaded into the back. “What music do we want Brooke asked everyone, once they were on the road.

“Play the playlist we made the first time we all went!” Lyla yelled.

“Omg yes, our taste back then though was horrible,” Sarah laughed with everyone else joining her in a matter of seconds. Soon enough though everyone got tired of talking and went to their phones, this always happened, around thirty minutes into the car ride. Brooke thought about the first time they had gone to the Bay, it had been 9 years ago, and she, Cassie, Liam, and Logan had gone. It had been one of the highlights of her childhood.

Logan asked where they wanted to stop for lunch, but Brooke was looking at her phone going through her list of the things she had brought, she was almost certain she had forgotten something, she didn’t know why she was so nervous, she had been going on this trip for 9 years straight.

“We’re here,” Logan announced.

Brooke hopped out of the car and sighed in relief, it had only been an hour, but she had still been cooped up in that car for way too long. She plopped the bags on her bed as she walked in. Logan came into the room and put his things on the bed next to hers. Brooke got her phone out of her pocket and told Logan, “You know, that car ride was really tiring I think I’m just going to rest for the rest of the day, can you check if that’s ok with everyone else?”

“Yeah sure,” Logan replied, “you can just stay up here, I’ll tell everyone you’re tired.”

“O.K. Thanks,” Brooke smiled to herself, she really had a great boyfriend. Brooke quickly fell asleep, that car ride had really exhausted her.

When Brooke woke up it was raining a lot. There was thunder, lightning, and she could hear the wind whipping around the house. She got out of bed and got dressed for the day and headed downstairs. “Hey is anyone awake,” Brooke called.

“Yeah,” Lyla called back, “me and Cassie are here in the living room.”

Brooke walked up to them and sighed “What are we going to do today, it’s raining.”

“What if we do the mud slide again,” Lyla suggested.

“Oh my gosh remember the last time we did that,” Cassie said.

“Yeah, you got that giant scar from that branch, right?” Brooke said.

“Yeah, I still have it” Lyla laughed, “But lets go, we don’t have the whole day to waste.”

They laughed as they ran out the door, bringing the raft with them and hopped in it and flew down the hill, screaming all the way. It was still raining very hard and by the time the raft got to the ocean, it had already risen a lot. It was about 4 yards higher, and it was about halfway up the hill, and now they were miles away from the shore.

“Ummm, Guys, how are we getting back?” Brooke asked

“I have no idea,” Lyla said, watching the shore get smaller, and smaller.

“GUYS, BEHIND US!” Cassie yelled, right before a huge wave crashed on the boat.

Brooke swam to the surface gasping for breath, but the waves kept pushing her down, and soon she lost her breath…

Brooke woke up gasping for breath, eyes flying open, the sun was shining, the birds were chirping, and it had all been a dream.

July 26, 2024 02:19

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