Strange and Unusual Events

Strange and Unusual Events

by Canora Hepburn

I woke up to the sound of Mr. Baldwin’s loud voice bouncing off the walls of the classroom. I don’t know how I even managed to fall asleep in such a loud environment in the first place. I guess staying up all night can do that to you. “About time you woke up,” my friend Erica said to me. She sits right next to me in social studies.

“I was up all night studying for the test this week,” I said to her as I adjusted myself in my seat.

“You are like the smartest person I know, Dina. You shouldn’t be worrying like this.”

Erica just so happens to be my best friend and the girl I’ve known since 6th grade. She always knows the right thing to say. “I know, I know, but you’re just saying that because I’m your best friend and you know I suck at anything academic,” I say in a sour tone.

“C’mon, lighten up, you shouldn’t be worrying about a test right now. Anais is throwing like the biggest party tonight!” Anais Barnes is the nicest girl in school. Good grades, popular friends, helps out at charities. She’s, like, your all-American girl. Her throwing a party is to be expected.

“You know who is going to be there,” Erica says with a smile on her face.

I roll my eyes with a scowl on my face as I know exactly who she is talking about, Jasper Stilinski. He isn’t your typical run-of-the-mill hot guy jock. Think of more of a quiet but very humorous guy who nobody really bats an eye at. This whole crush I have on him started in the 7th grade, gym class to be specific. Me and him were last to be picked in a game of dodgeball and ended up on the same team. A very uneventful way to be introduced to a crush. Now here we are in 9th grade and we’ve been friends ever since. Erica, Jasper and I are the “Dream Team,” as Erica likes to call us. I’m not very fond of the name but she likes it and Jasper doesn’t mind it so I don’t say anything about it.

The bell rings as students march through the halls scrambling to the next class. Erica and I meet up with Jasper so we can all walk to

the lunchroom together.

“Hey guys, what’s up?” says Jasper with a smile on his face.

“Nothing. I was just telling Dina how she shouldn’t be so bummed right now about grades when there is a huge party going on tonight.” I give Erica a look that implies that I don’t want to get into this conversation again.

“Oh yea, Anais’s house has, like, everything. I don’t see how you aren’t more excited,” Jasper says in an encouraging way.

“Thanks guys, but I don’t want to talk about this anymore.”

“Okay fine,” says Erica. We walked through the lunchroom doors and the first thing I smell was the pizza that they always serve on Fridays.

“Yay, pizza again,” Jasper says in a sarcastic tone. We sit down at the table in the far left of the cafeteria. We start talking about what time we would meet at my house to get to the party when I suddenly see a vision of one of our teachers, Ms. Gregg, tripping over a student’s book bag.

“Ms. Gregg is about to fall,” I say in a hurried voice to Jasper and Anais.

“How do you know?” Jasper asks confusingly. Just as he finishes that statement, Ms. Gregg trips and falls face-first on the cafeteria floor. The whole cafeteria goes quiet. Some of the other teachers and students quickly run over to Ms. Gregg to help her up. They perch her up into one of the seats. Mr. Callaway ushers us students out of the cafeteria. While we are walking out of the cafeteria, I see paramedics walking through the front door.

“I can’t believe that actually happened,” Jasper says quietly.

“Yeah, one minute she was walking around, the next she was being wheeled off by the paramedics. Wait a minute, Dina, how’d you know she was going to fall? We were all the way on the other side of the cafe?” Erica asked me.

“I-I don’t know. I literally just had a feeling. It was like I saw it happening before it actually did,” I say in a confused tone. Jasper and Erica look at me like I’m crazy.

“That doesn’t make any sense, are you sure?” Jasper asks me.

“Yes I’m sure! I wouldn’t just make something like that up,” I blurt out.

“Okay, okay chill, don’t take it too serious. It was probably just a coincidence. It’s not like you have super powers . . . or do you?” Erica

laughs and playfully punches me on my arm. “I guess it probably was a coincidence but I mean it would be pretty cool to have powers, you know how much cool stuff I can do with that!?”

We all laugh as we split up to go to our next class. While I’m sitting in geometry I think about what had happened in the cafeteria and question if I really do have powers. The loudspeakers crackle as Mr. Philips, the principal, murmurs, “I can’t believe that happened. Do you know what could happen to our reputation if this gets out?!” Principal Philips says as he probably doesn’t know that the speaker is on.

Moments later he comes back on the speaker and frantically tries to explain what he just said. “Good afternoon, students and staff, you probably heard what I just said and I am here to assure you that you have nothing to worry about,” he awkwardly chuckles. “Many have probably heard about what happened to Ms. Gregg today in the lunchroom. Sadly she did fracture her ankle in the fall but is expected to make a full recovery. It would be best if you don’t share this little accident with the public on the school’s behalf, thank you and have a wonderful afternoon.”

Mrs. Thomas, our math teacher, continues talking to the class about the assignment while I take notes in my notebook. Forty-five minutes later the final bell rings which signals that it is the end of the day. I make my way to the front of the school to wait for Jasper and Erica so we can go to Paula’s Diner (aka Erica’s mom’s diner). We love going there mostly for the free food from time to time given to us by her mother.

The place is always filled with truckers and construction men taking their afternoon break. We sit down and reflect on the events that happened today.