The day was finally nearing an end for the students of Hickory High. It was last period, and two seniors, Laura and Jenn, were playing volleyball (very poorly) in gym class. Laura, who happened to be radioactive at the time, smelt something in the air. She thought to herself as she watched the volleyball soar over the net, "Hmmm...Did someone fart?" A few seconds later, Jenn smelled it too, and immediately knew it was some sort of a gas leak. She didn't think anything of it, though, because it's commonplace for a student of HHS to smell things they shouldn't smell, when they do. However, a few more seconds after that, the school's principal Mr. Trosh announced on the loudspeaker and announced the school must be evacuated! Jenn looked back at Laura, and Laura looked at Jenn. They embraced and spread their enthusiastic merriment to no one in particular. They were in their own glory, for it had been far too long since the school's last evacuation, and they both had given up hope for another this late in the year.
When the students were herded outside, they were told to wait in the parking lot. One underclassman was heard yelling, "We're gonna die! Somebody light a match, we're going to die!" All Laura and Jenn could do was smile. Then the underclassmen and upperclassmen, too, were herded to the customary place of evacuation, the stadium bleachers. Laura and Jenn smiled, despite the cold gushes of air filled with throat-burning propane.
As soon as the students were sat down on the cold steel bleachers, Mr. Trosh, and then the superintendent Mrs. Ionta, informed us there had been a gas leak (Duh.), but it wasn't the schools fault. (Don't think it silly of them to clarify this, the entire student body expected it to be, on account of the schools endless renovations and ongoing construction.) It turned out that the Route 18 construction crew was to blame. It was necessary, he went on, to evacuate because the noxious fumes were wafting into the school and had we stayed put, we all would have died horrible, choking and flaming deaths. (Well, he didn't say it in those *exact* words, but to the something like that.) So he then concluded with telling us we couldn't go back into the gas chamber, whether our car keys and house keys were in their or not. We had to find a ride, or ride the bus. In my case, I was fortunate to have already planned on my parental unit to pick me up...BUT some weren't so lucky. There were screams of "OH GOD, NO!!!" and "JESUS SAVES!!!" And there were the token swears and of course everyone's comments were dripping with delicious sarcasm, a Hickory High students best and most used attribute. Among the crazed reaction, Mrs. Ionta spoke to us before we were permitted to leave, saying that we handled this well, that we were a class act. Well, I sure hope we could do all this correctly, because you know what they say! Practice makes perfect.
The End.

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