Extended Exhale

School ended on Thursday, which means I'm officially a senior now, and my summer has begun. I'm a bit ticked that exam grades aren't on Pinnacle (and they probably won't be), so I won't know the final verdict until report cards come out. I felt that I absolutely aced the AP Lang final, but who knows now...

So yeah, I don't think I've ever been at school after school on the last day (picked up last year, out with friends the year before) but this year was pretty crazy. It all started in APUSH (the last exam) when someone came back from the restroom saying that there were people lined up outside of the fence and police cars all over the place. Less than five minutes later, sirens are heard. Hmmm, what happened? A few more minutes pass and loud yelling sounds along with a rush towards the southwest direction is seen/heard. Confused about what is going on, the bell rings at 11:50am and everyone rushes out, DJ and I heading in the opposite direction towards McDonalds...it's an Early Release Day tradition.

It was a surprisingly clear walk, except for the mob of people spontaneously changing direction right outside of school. There were about a dozen police cars outside of the school and tons of traffic. McDonalds was absolutely empty when we walked in. Being that there was 40-50 minutes between the time that school ended when buses left, it was typical to see a ton of people there. Being that we were coming from a relatively far building from the exit, we'd typically not be first...but there was no one there. A few people showed up shortly after, but no where close to the crowd you'd even see on a regular weekday. So we leisurely walk back to school because we didn't have to rush since the typical 20 minute trip only took 10. It was extremely hot though. When we get back to school, there's a bit of a strange site; the gates for cars to enter/exit are both closed, but the pedestrian entry was open. MeanSecurityLady was physically blocking the pedestrian entry. She didn't speak to anyone else, but somehow picked out from the crowd that we were trying to get back to the bus loop. With relief, we scooted to the front of the crowd...to no use!

MeanSecurityLady: "Uh-uh y'all can't come in dis way...y'all gotta walk ALL the way around!"
Us: "ALL the way around?!"
MeanSecurityLady: "Yeah, where the buses come in"
::sigh::

For those of you that don't know the area, it's a pretty long walk. I've actually never walked on that side of the school before. The red line is the extremely long route (did I mention it was HOT!) we took on Thursday, the green line is the route that we typically take.

As we approach the bus entry gate, some other friends are walking back telling us it'll be impossible to get in and that security on that side mentioned that they had to walk around to the main entrance. HA...not going back again. We tried to tell them that they'd be rejected there, but they kept going, and so did we, determined to get back in the school somehow. Just as we're 20ft from the gate, a huge fight breaks out across the street and they begin closing the gates. We ninja our way in JUST as the gate is closing, and security yells at us from the inside "y'all lucky!". You would've had to have seen it to believe how smooth it was. The gate closed less than 4 inches behind me. They would've had to open the gates when the rest of the buses came in anyway...

After that ridiculous journey, you'd think that that was the end of the drama for the day. Nope! We got back to the bus loop around 12:15pm, so there was enough time to chit-chat, say goodbyes, and eat our deliciously fattening fries. A CBS4 helicopter suddenly appears out of nowhere. Now a helicopter is usually no big deal since I-95 is right next to the school and there are always accidents and runaway criminals and whatnot, but this time the copter was hovering directly over the bus loop and circling the perimeter of the school. People start waving and such, I snap a picture (didn't come out too well). No one knows whats going on, by the way. All of the "trouble" is outside of the school. The rest of us were just locked in.

Just when we thought it was over, 2 cops on motorcycles pull up to the bus loop. Why? I don't know. Then, I turn to the left and 2 guys with bullet proof vests just seem to appear out of nowhere. It was weird. A few more buses arrive and then they suddenly take off without any notice. I barely made it (along with everyone else).

Still don't know what happened, if anything happened at all. Just glad to be far away from there.