Lunch was over and students were filing into the classroom. As soon as we got inside the atmosphere felt really uncomfortable. I looked to the second row of desks and saw Katrina, a long-time friend, digging through her desk, Mrs. Nakigawa, our homeroom teacher, looking over her shoulder with concern.
“…but, it was here before P.E hour, I know it was. My mom reminded me to take it off before I left this morning!”
It had been a minute or so since everyone had realized something was genuinely wrong and Katrina’s voice confirmed any lingering doubts or questions about it. She was getting more and more emotional so Mrs. Nakigawa asked a teacher’s aide to escort her outside while we were instructed to sit at our desks. Everyone was on edge and…
She was leaving campus before the last hour of classes and all I could do was offer a weak smile as they left. After that I was back in front of the classroom mentally preparing myself to walk into our classroom. To my surprise, the hustle and bustle of the class and my classmates had more or less subsided and business seemed to resume as it normally would at the end of the day. Some students were itching for the day to be over; others were ready for the last class of the day, earth science with our teacher Mrs. Dortmund. She was a very pleasant woman with a serious love as rocks and minerals, as to be expected. She was also known for having very little patience for distractions, which I had no doubt influenced my classmates’ current behavior. This unspoken agreement to move on with the day as nothing had happened earlier in the afternoon meant we were able to follow up on our unit about volcanoes and earthquakes with ease. Despite the image of Katrina leaving campus crying still popping into my head, by the time class had ended I was feeling well...
