My first year of high school was a mix of emotions. I was excited to be out of middle school and finally in high school, I’d be able to do ‘big kid’ things and yada yada. Unfortunately my last few weeks of middle school I had become aware of a certain celebration called Freshman Friday. Now Freshman Friday was celebrated on the first Friday after school began by the upperclassmen waiting for us.
Freshman Friday, as it was explained to me, was a free for all where the upperclassmen could basically do anything to us and get away with it; simply because they had survived it themselves. Apparently anything goes, you could get stuffed in a locker, head stuck in a toilet, beat up, you’ll get wrong directions so you’re late for class, your food gets stolen, backpack, you name it.
By now you should know, this wasn’t going to cut it for me. I had considered running away from home (at least for a day) to avoid this catastrophe but running away seemed like such an effort on my part. And considering I was involved, something worse might happen in the process of running away; I could get kidnapped or find myself on the other side of the world. I don’t know. By the time I had entertained the thought of running away, my head was spinning so bad I decided getting stuck in a locker was better than the latter.
Well just so you know Freshman Friday really isn’t a thing. It was something the upperclassmen made up to scare us. If I had thought about it I might have figured it out but for goodness sakes it’s me, I tend to assume the worst and go with it… have you read any of my blogs? I’d also like to note that I wasn’t the only one afraid; other people bought into it. Probably not to the extent I did but I wasn’t alone. It was a shame I didn’t find out Freshman Friday wasn’t real until after the fact.
Needless to say, that Friday I was on edge like never before. Every turn, every corner, I was ready. Would I get jumped now? Would they drag me off to where the teachers couldn’t hear me scream? I was trying to stay focused on where I was going, it was easy to get turned around, you didn’t want to be late for class because you got lost. I will say there were some nice people that gave me some good directions, it’s a shame I didn’t follow them; I’m still thinking they’re purposefully leading me wrong.
I was about halfway through the day when one of my friends called me out on it. She told me to calm down (I apparently had a look of panic the entire day) and that would get me got quicker than anything. It was then she told me she didn’t think Freshman Friday was a real thing, it was then I thought she’d be the first to go. We were standing in the hall during break, I remember thinking all the people around us were really tall. Well that’s because they were all seniors. We were on the senior hall. When I realized this, I started taking them in; it was probably the first time I had looked up from the ground all day. My thought process was, if you didn’t make eye contact, they couldn’t get you. Ah youth.
These scary seniors and other upperclassmen lined the halls, standing in front of lockers, laughing and talking. They watched as other students walked by but quickly turned back to their conversations. I realized they weren’t paying us any attention at all, they didn’t care if we were there. They also didn’t seem like they’d be the type to shove me in a locker. Well, maybe a few of them did. What was I so afraid of this whole time? All these kids I thought were diabolically scheming behind my back didn’t even know I existed. I thought there might be some hope for me, I might just get through this day unscathed.
I watched as a taller boy entered the hall, they were all so tall I couldn’t for the life of me tell what grade they were all in. This particular boy walked up to another boy (who was much taller) that was leaning up against a locker and nonchalantly pulled back and slugged the taller one right across the face.
Oh dear.
The whole hall fell silent. I felt my jaw drop. Did this kid want to die? I’ll give the taller boy props; he rubbed his jaw while glaring at this kid and then turned to walk away. Shorty however wasn’t having any of that, he slugging him again from behind.
We should move, crossed my mind. Too late. The taller boy turned around and shoved this kid so hard that the kid fell to the floor and skidded a little ways.
“You need to back off.” The taller one told him.
I agreed. He wasn’t even yelling but the way he said it and as calmly as he said it, he had my vote. Shorty however had something to prove, he jumped back up and started swinging. Now I had seen some fights at school before, you know, they’re swinging but they can’t really land anything or they’re swinging and then the teacher steps in. It never really lasted long. This was a whole new level. No one was backing down and they were mad! Where the teachers were, I have no idea; but if they had any sense they’d stay there.
These two continued to slug each other in the face for a while, moving down the hall. The taller one always seemed to be able to back the smaller one off but the smaller one always came back at him. They shoved each other into the lockers a few times (glad it wasn’t me) and slugged each other in the face multiple times. They acted like they didn’t even feel it, I felt it. I got the sense that the taller one, as mad as he was, wasn’t putting his all into it. Several times the taller one told the other to back off, you need to quit, just walk away. The short one wasn’t listening. Maybe he had been hit in the head too many times. I was beginning to think they’re were both going to end up with brain damage when the taller one knocked the smaller down on the ground for the final time.
“Just stop.” He told him.
Of course, Shorty jumped up to swing again. That’s when the taller one had had enough. He turned slightly and reared back with his foot, kicking this kid in the stomach so hard he flew through a closed door. A. Closed. Door.
There’s the teachers! They seemed to come out of every hole in the school, swarming the smaller kid (who was not getting back up) and stepping in front of the bigger one; who at this point had stopped and was just standing there. The teachers were throwing their hands up at him like he was going to charge. He just stood there, annoyed at the whole situation. I felt for him, he tried to walk away. The teachers took both kids away and I took my first breath since the fight had started.
Yeah, Freshman Friday isn't a thing.
Freshman Friday, as it was explained to me, was a free for all where the upperclassmen could basically do anything to us and get away with it; simply because they had survived it themselves. Apparently anything goes, you could get stuffed in a locker, head stuck in a toilet, beat up, you’ll get wrong directions so you’re late for class, your food gets stolen, backpack, you name it.
By now you should know, this wasn’t going to cut it for me. I had considered running away from home (at least for a day) to avoid this catastrophe but running away seemed like such an effort on my part. And considering I was involved, something worse might happen in the process of running away; I could get kidnapped or find myself on the other side of the world. I don’t know. By the time I had entertained the thought of running away, my head was spinning so bad I decided getting stuck in a locker was better than the latter.
Well just so you know Freshman Friday really isn’t a thing. It was something the upperclassmen made up to scare us. If I had thought about it I might have figured it out but for goodness sakes it’s me, I tend to assume the worst and go with it… have you read any of my blogs? I’d also like to note that I wasn’t the only one afraid; other people bought into it. Probably not to the extent I did but I wasn’t alone. It was a shame I didn’t find out Freshman Friday wasn’t real until after the fact.
Needless to say, that Friday I was on edge like never before. Every turn, every corner, I was ready. Would I get jumped now? Would they drag me off to where the teachers couldn’t hear me scream? I was trying to stay focused on where I was going, it was easy to get turned around, you didn’t want to be late for class because you got lost. I will say there were some nice people that gave me some good directions, it’s a shame I didn’t follow them; I’m still thinking they’re purposefully leading me wrong.
I was about halfway through the day when one of my friends called me out on it. She told me to calm down (I apparently had a look of panic the entire day) and that would get me got quicker than anything. It was then she told me she didn’t think Freshman Friday was a real thing, it was then I thought she’d be the first to go. We were standing in the hall during break, I remember thinking all the people around us were really tall. Well that’s because they were all seniors. We were on the senior hall. When I realized this, I started taking them in; it was probably the first time I had looked up from the ground all day. My thought process was, if you didn’t make eye contact, they couldn’t get you. Ah youth.
These scary seniors and other upperclassmen lined the halls, standing in front of lockers, laughing and talking. They watched as other students walked by but quickly turned back to their conversations. I realized they weren’t paying us any attention at all, they didn’t care if we were there. They also didn’t seem like they’d be the type to shove me in a locker. Well, maybe a few of them did. What was I so afraid of this whole time? All these kids I thought were diabolically scheming behind my back didn’t even know I existed. I thought there might be some hope for me, I might just get through this day unscathed.
I watched as a taller boy entered the hall, they were all so tall I couldn’t for the life of me tell what grade they were all in. This particular boy walked up to another boy (who was much taller) that was leaning up against a locker and nonchalantly pulled back and slugged the taller one right across the face.
Oh dear.
The whole hall fell silent. I felt my jaw drop. Did this kid want to die? I’ll give the taller boy props; he rubbed his jaw while glaring at this kid and then turned to walk away. Shorty however wasn’t having any of that, he slugging him again from behind.
We should move, crossed my mind. Too late. The taller boy turned around and shoved this kid so hard that the kid fell to the floor and skidded a little ways.
“You need to back off.” The taller one told him.
I agreed. He wasn’t even yelling but the way he said it and as calmly as he said it, he had my vote. Shorty however had something to prove, he jumped back up and started swinging. Now I had seen some fights at school before, you know, they’re swinging but they can’t really land anything or they’re swinging and then the teacher steps in. It never really lasted long. This was a whole new level. No one was backing down and they were mad! Where the teachers were, I have no idea; but if they had any sense they’d stay there.
These two continued to slug each other in the face for a while, moving down the hall. The taller one always seemed to be able to back the smaller one off but the smaller one always came back at him. They shoved each other into the lockers a few times (glad it wasn’t me) and slugged each other in the face multiple times. They acted like they didn’t even feel it, I felt it. I got the sense that the taller one, as mad as he was, wasn’t putting his all into it. Several times the taller one told the other to back off, you need to quit, just walk away. The short one wasn’t listening. Maybe he had been hit in the head too many times. I was beginning to think they’re were both going to end up with brain damage when the taller one knocked the smaller down on the ground for the final time.
“Just stop.” He told him.
Of course, Shorty jumped up to swing again. That’s when the taller one had had enough. He turned slightly and reared back with his foot, kicking this kid in the stomach so hard he flew through a closed door. A. Closed. Door.
There’s the teachers! They seemed to come out of every hole in the school, swarming the smaller kid (who was not getting back up) and stepping in front of the bigger one; who at this point had stopped and was just standing there. The teachers were throwing their hands up at him like he was going to charge. He just stood there, annoyed at the whole situation. I felt for him, he tried to walk away. The teachers took both kids away and I took my first breath since the fight had started.
Yeah, Freshman Friday isn't a thing.
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