The Stampede

Gee...it's been almost a week since this school starts...but I only get to lay my hands on the laptop today.
Just consider this post published on 03.01.09 okie?


03.01.09

A large mob gathered impatiently in front of the gate.

Waiting.

Tick tock Tick tock...

Waiting.

Creak....

The gate swung open.

Roar...

Everyone rushed in. Stamping. Pushing. Shoving.

Give way little ones, lest you get trampled on.

Shrieks. Screams. Shouts.

Ah, what a jovial start of school days!


That was how I imagine the first day of school would be.
Turned out that my imagination wasn't anything random.
In fact, it's partially true....
except the noise pollution part.

It was still dark when I arrived at school around 6.00 am.
Dark...but not alone.
I could see clumps of silhouettes here and there.

Shyt. This is bad news.
With so many shadows wandering around, this could only mean one thing:

The building is still in lockdown.

-----------------

My intuition was right.
And news that the gate to the buildings will only be opened at 6.30 am is spreading fast among the students.

Gee...that would mean that the late birds will also get the early worms right?!
(in our school system, you have to fight for your own seat. Literally. Most of the time, there will not be any change of seat. Meaning, you are stuck at where you picked from the beginning of the year, till the end of the year)

I glanced at my watch.

It's only 6.13 am.

The time seemed to pass excruciating slow.
My senses got sharper and sharper by the seconds.
I could feel the muscles on my shoulder, straining against the heavy weight of my slimbag,
My legs feel sore and numb,
And I had to struggle to keep my eyes open.

----------------------------------------------------

After what felt like a century, the crowd started to get agitated.

There is a sound.....in the distance.....
A sound that seems like the push of the gate. Keys dangling. Locks unclamped.

As the sound registered into everyone's mind, their bodies were already on the move, in search of the open gate.
Some walked. Some jogged. And most ran.

Did I mention that a few did nothing at all?!
Well, I'm one of those few.

My motors were immobilized.
I find it appalling to run to the other side of the building, when in fact my classroom is situated right at the side of the building, where I am standing.

Gee....all those rush for the sake of a seat?!
Now, I figure that the school system is pretty ridiculous.

Anyway, when I finally got into my classroom,
there isn't much people around yet. So I figure that I still have a wide choice.

Wrong to think so.
When I was about to put my bottle on top of a table situated in the middle row, a friend of mine said, "No, barleyfreak. YOu can't seat there....it's XXX's place. See?"

Huh? I took a closer look at the desk.
'XXX' was scrawnily scribbled with a chalk.
It wasn't the only table with a specific name on it.
The WHOLE @#$% row had names on it!

WHAT THE HELL?!
Some sort of 'booking'?!

Fine.
Let this XXX have XXX's way then.
Wouldn't like to stir up any trouble on the first day.
Had enough in my mind already.

So.
Minus those seats with names on them,
only those back rows are left vacant.
I picked one and try to make my place as cosy as possile.

Then, I looked around.
What I saw really made me went from -.- to >:(
My friend was seating on that damn place that she said belonged to XXX.

So. What happened eh?
Temporary memory loss?!

I'm enough pissed off by the cunningness of some people....
But what really broke the straw was the incident of my 'friend'.

*sigh* school really brings out the best in you I guess.....