Y2K part 8 Children of the Night...School
Ding Ding
The final bell rang, echoing the sweet sounds of freedom down the hallways — at least for those who didn't have to stick around.
Not me. It's the first night of night school.
I slung my backpack over one shoulder and walked out of my English 2B class with my brain half-fried and stomach half-empty.
English was already difficult for me. Then they had to add the classical stylings of Shakespeare.
Ugh!
What's the point?
Although I do have to admit — it worked with the Leo DiCaprio version of Romeo and Juliet. Maybe it was the guns, or the soundtrack and setting.
Even that didn't make me want to talk like that.
The school buses had already left—only leaving a faint smell of diesel in the air.
Most of the students had already cleared out, except those of us who had to stick around—whether it was voluntary or not.
I made my way to the courtyard to sit at our beloved piece of paradise—the plastic-coated picnic table we called the island.
It felt...lonely.
No bantering.
No random bursts of laughter or people goofing off.
Just me sprawled out across the table looking up at the sky with the sun hovering low over the Franklin Mountains.
I didn't find a point in going home, so I'll just lay here and wait til class.
The sound of clacking rifles and orders being barked broke the silence of my moment of solitude. It was the armed drill team.
I sat up grumpily and watched them from a distance.
Rifles were spinning in tight formation while being commandeered by some upperclassmen acting like a drill sergeant with a sugar rush.
Among the ones in formation was Kenny. His chest puffed, and his chin held high like he was hot shit. And on the other side of where they were practicing was the unarmed drill team—led by Heather.
You could spot that curly red hair a mile away like a bullseye on a dartboard.
I shook my head at both of them. I really thought I knew the guy. Now I'm just hoping he gets smacked in the face with his own rifle.
After a while, the clatter and cadence started to blend together, and I got bored. I got up and wandered around campus like a ghost—cutting through back halls, skipping over cracked pavement, kicking loose rocks just to hear them clink.
Eventually, I made my way to the south wing where there were vending machines still humming away. With whatever money I had left for the day, I got myself a Dr.Pepper and some hot fries chips.
I leaned back into the machines and munched on those spicy and savory chips. The small flight of stairs in that little hall has always caught my attention.
They were just begging to be used for stunts.
Looking around to see if anybody was around, I put my book bag and snacks down. I made my way up the flight and looked around again. Nobody was around and it was all clear.
I needed to feel something. Anything. Something that said I wasn't just stuck.
It's been a long time since I've done an aerial flip off of the stairs. I used to do them all the time in elementary school and a few times in middle school.
It was my signature trick.
With a running start, I pushed off at the ledge of the top step. Time felt like it slowed down for that moment as my face was staring directly at the steps below. My body followed through while my legs swung into the air to where I wanted to land like a cartwheel with no hands.
With my heart still racing, my feet hit the ground, and I felt the impact of my body landing.
"Holy shit. I still got it." I clapped and cheered in excitement.
I quickly ran up those stairs with the intent to try something new. The handrail in the middle looked perfect to vault over.
There was a moment of hesitation in my running start, but I went ahead and followed through with the jump. I felt one of my feet hook the rail in the middle of the jump.
Before I could react, my side was hitting the ground hard—knocking the wind completely out of me.
I quickly got up and started to dust myself in hopes nobody —
"Hey. Finally! Someone I know."
Great. Betty. Perfect time to see me being a jackass
I was still and just stared at her awkwardly.
"Did...you see anything?"
"No," Betty giggled. "Was I supposed to?"
"Nope." I shook my head and walked off casually like I didn't just eat the floor—even though I still had dust marks on my clothes.
"You're in night school?" I asked curiously.
She sighed deeply. "Yeah. I have to retake an English class because of my attendance issues. Long story."
"Fair enough." I shrugged. "Were you just hanging around the whole time waiting like I've been?"
"I was at the library until the librarian had to close. It got boring quick." Betty said following me.
I nodded. "I found that out too. Only I've been walking all over the place."
Betty's face dulled. "It's too quiet. It gets creepy."
"Mhmm. That doesn't surprise me." I added. "They say this school is haunted."
"You're kidding?" Betty became sceptical
"I'm actually serious. I didn't believe some of the stories, but apparently, weird shit happens at night. Random noises, shadow figures." I gestured.
Betty put her hand on her hip and stared in disbelief.
"What? You don't believe me?" I looked at her dumbfounded.
She shook her head slowly.
"Okay. I'll humor you."I adjusted myself. "What do you know about this school?"
"Not a lot, actually."Betty answered as she pursed her lips.
"Perfect!" I said enthusiastically. "I will personally give you a tour. We got like an hour till class."
Betty shrugged and sighed. She followed me around while I led the way like some unhinged tour guide.
"While this school itself is only 100 years old this year, this used to be sacred indigenous land. Way before Texas became part of the United States, way before this belonged to Mexico, and before the Spanish colonized these parts. It was said the Spanish built a mission around here in the 1600s. The native people did not like that and cursed those that defaced these lands." I shrugged. "I don't about that stuff. That's just whatever they talk about in history class and urban legends."
Betty smirked and rolled her eyes.
"I can tell you what is true." I paused to face her. "You know that bell tower upfront?
"Yeah." She answered. "Someone tried to sell me a ticket to go there."
I gawked. "Did you buy one?"
"No." Betty scoffed. " I'm not stupid."
"Good. That part's fake—but there are legends about that tower.
Betty shook her head. She was probably tuning me out by now.
"Back in the 50s or 60s, some girl jumped out of the bell tower and died. People say they still see images of her, and sometimes you can see shadows moving around in there at night."
Betty stopped and stared now becoming pale in the face. "Someone else told me the same thing."
"Because it's true." I clarified. "My friend Lilly and I found the ladder to get up there while skipping public speaking. It's in the theater room—all chained up with lots of locks."
"Wait! I didn't realize there was a theater here?" Betty said puzzled.
"It's a joke of a theater. It's really small." I added and shook my head.
"That explains why I haven't seen it." She said. "The one back home is huge."
"Want to see it? I need to grab my jacket and it's on the way."
She shrugged. "Sure."
As we continued to head there, I remembered something I had learned in English class.
"Oh. Get this. You see that room right there." I pointed it out. "It's part of the home economics class. There's a whole antique dining room and bathroom, complete with an iron-claw bathtub."
"O-kay?"Betty said confused and wondering if there was more to it.
"A few years ago, some movie studio filmed scenes there for Lolita with Jeremy Irons." I added.
"Okay, that's pretty cool. But isn't Lolita that one messed up story." Betty grimaced.
"Yup. My English teacher wasn't very fond of it either."I stated. "The film crew was also disrupting her class."
There was sudden laughter coming from around the corner to where the theater was.
"What the hell?"
Me and Betty froze in our tracks
"You heard that, too?" Betty asked frightened.
For a second, I thought it might be the haunted shadows I warned her about.
Nope.
It was worse.
Brittney Spears Baby One More Time started playing.
When we made the turn, we found ourselves witnessing all kinds of ridiculousness.
A group of girls were wearing very frumpy and raggedy clothes with robber cleaning gloves; some had bandanas on their heads while others had hair rollers.
They were also accessorized with oversized sunglasses and feather boas.
All of them were singing into a feather duster like a microphone while one girl was trying to dance seductively with a broom.
This was all being videoed by some metalhead guy with a large camcorder.
As soon as they spotted us, the whole group burst into laughter.
The girl who spotted us first waved her hands frantically at the Cameraman. "Danny! Cut! Cut!"
Danny fumbled frantically with the camera.
"What did we just walk into?" Betty asked dumbfounded.
I was still trying to process everything.
"Wait a minute!" I squinted in disbelief. "CC?"
Betty glanced over at me, then to CC.
CC laughed out loud and took off the oversized novelty sunglasses that were covering most of her face.
"AND LILLY?" I gawked and quickly pointed her out in the hair curlers.
"Hey!" Lilly put down the feather duster she was singing into and casually waved at us like she wasn't ridiculously dressed.
"Is this where you ran off to?" Betty asked CC.
"It's for Drama club." CC giggled and responded.
Oh shit.
I started recognizing the rest of the girls—They're all Lilly's friends. We're they all in drama club?
"What exactly is...all this?" I asked.
"We're making a parody video of Brittney's BABY ONE MORE TIME. Only instead of slutty school girls, we're frumpy cleaning ladies." Lilly giggled and waved the duster flirtatiously.
I just shook my head and gave CC a look.
And here I thought night school was going to suck.
If this is what after-hours looks like, maybe I can survive it. Hell, I might even enjoy it.
Betty and I made our way to my locker. When I opened it to grab my leather jacket, she took a peek inside.
There were a few boxes of Magic the Gathering and Pokémon cards, some comic books, Dragon Ball Z stickers stuck on the interior of the locker door, a Tamagotchi, an old Mario doll, a reem of printer paper and my school books.
"You really are a dork." She teased.
"Yeah. And I'm proud of it." I giggled I slung my jacket on. "Now to ruin my good mood with math."
"Oh. Who do you have?" Betty asked.
"Ms. Davies."I said not sounding enthusiastic about it.
"Hey, I like her. She's funny." Betty defended her teacher.
I hadn't even met this teacher and was already thinking negative of her.
Maybe she won't be that bad.
Maybe it's just the math part I'm hating on and not the teachers.
We went our separate ways to serve our time as punishment for our failures—In other words, class.
-----
Sitting in that classroom after our first lessons, I watched the sky through the window go from twilight to almost pitch black. I haven't seen my house or been there since 7am that morning.
Walking out to that brisky night sky was very peaceful. The street lights glowed down the street and the iconic star on the Franklin mountain illuminated brightly.
I took a deep breath of that small amount of freedom I had until I went home.
Betty had found me sitting at the front ledge waiting for my mom to pick me up.
"Was it that bad?" She asked
"The class? Not really. Ms. Davies is really sarcastic." I giggled. "I still don't think she likes me."
Betty giggled as well. She sat there thinking quietly for a moment and looked over at me.
"You like her, don't you?"She asked
"What?" My eyes widened in surprise.
"You like CC!" She teased.
"I don't know what you're talking about." I started to blush uncontrollably.
Betty gasped loudly and pointed at my rosy cheeks. "Oh my God. Yes, you do. Yes...you...do." she kept prodding at my side making me flinch. "I've seen the way you look at her."
Her poking and prodding had me giggling and trying not to laugh.
Why must my sides be so ticklish?!
My head hung low trying not to show the deep redness glowing on my face.
"Okay! Fine! Yes." I swatted her hand away.
"Ha. I knew it." She sat content with her discovery. "Why haven't you asked her out?"
I just shook my head and remained silent.
"Why?"She started to giggle playfully getting ready to poke me again.
"Because I can't!" I snapped.
Betty pulled back and stared in surprise at my sudden outburst.
My arms and legs had crossed and I slumped my body.
"I...just...can't."I muttered quietly.
I just wanted to shut down and be left alone with my thoughts.
I didn't mean to snap. I just didn't want to say it out loud—Not when it still hurt this much.
Sitting there, I started to realize something Lilly had said — I did roll up like a hedgehog whenever I felt frightened and exposed.
"I'm sorry." I sighed and loosened up a bit. I just kept my head low, only seeing Betty from the corner of my eye.
"It's... okay." Betty sighed. The concerned expression on her face can tell I've been hurt before.
She just sat there beside me, quiet. Not poking, not teasing—just there.
That meant more than I could say.
Maybe night school wasn't so bad.
Maybe I wasn't ready to tell CC. But telling someone—even just one person—felt like loosening the lid on a jar I'd kept sealed for too long.
I didn't feel alone. And that was enough.