My Best Friend

by MK

WOW! Today is a wonderful day. Our school just got out for New Years break. Right now I’m so excited I really don’t know what to say. I can’t wait to get out to the open air so I can have so much fun. Everything is so exciting, I can’t even stop smiling.

The next day, I called my best friend and asked her if she wanted to hang out. She said she couldn’t wait. She’d been bored ever since she got home from school the day before. Darlisha asked me if I would like to go to the movies on Sunday. I replied by saying I’d have to ask my mom before I said yes. Sometimes she could be a little strict. So, later on that day Darlisha and I went to the store by my grandmother’s house. She bought herself a soda and some chips. I bought just a soda, because I ate before I saw her. After we left the store, I saw another friend that went to my school. Her name was Jasmine Williams. Everybody thought she was the most popular girl in the school, but she didn’t act like that when she was around us. She asked us where we were going. I told her we were just walking around. She asked us if she could come with us. I said it was cool with me, and Darlisha agreed. Later on that day, we got to Emeryville Theater. We were planning to see The Nightmare on Elm Street, but we changed our minds.

Next we looked at all the other movies that were playing. We saw the movies The Backup Plan, The Nightmare on Elm Street, Kickass, Just Wright, and Why Did I Get Married Too? We decided to go see Just Wright because it seemed like the perfect movie to watch at that time of night. So we watched the movie and it ended at 10:00, but we didn’t have to be at home till midnight. So we walked to Baskin Robbins to get some ice cream. I was really surprised that it was still open. We walked inside and we were the first people in line, because nobody else wanted to be getting ice cream at that time of night. We all ordered a large. I ordered Rainbow Sherbet, and it was so good. Jasmine ordered the same thing, because it is her favorite and mine too. Darlisha ordered the Wild n’ Berry because she just likes the flavor. We all walked out of the store eating the ice cream. When we got out, I called my mom to come and get us. She said that she was around the corner. Then we had a sleepover at my house. The next day we woke up and I asked them what they wanted to eat. I decided to cook for them that morning. So they told me that they wanted eggs and bacon with a side croissant.

So we all got dressed and discussed what we were going to do that day. We decided that we would just walk around town. So I went to get my money, when I realized that someone had stolen it. I was so sad I didn’t know what to do. I asked Jasmine if she took it, and she said no, she would never steal from me. Next I asked Darlisha if she took it. She just said no. So I told my mom what happened, and she said, “That’s so sad that someone would steal your money.”

So my friends and I continued with our day. We went to the store down the street from my house. The night before, after we had gotten the ice cream, Darlisha didn’t have any more money left. I knew that, because she had told me. But while Jasmine was buying some candy, Darlisha grabbed some candy, too. Jasmine told her that she didn’t have enough money to buy us anything, so she would share what she was buying. Jasmine and I walked out of the store, and then said to each other, “Where’s Darlisha?” Then we saw Darlisha walk outside with a Pepsi in her hand. We both asked her how she paid for that soda, because we thought she didn’t have any money left. She said she didn’t. I thought to myself, OMG!!! You stole my money. So I told my mom what happened and who stole my money. My mom said, “She’s not allowed over here anymore.” Jasmine went home, because she always cries when I get mad.

Two weeks after the incident, Darlisha was calling me all day long. I finally answered her call and she told me to come to the door. She gave me all my money back and apologized. I accepted her apology, but I told her she would have to earn my trust back. I never thought my best friend would steal from me.

First Place Award, Superior Band

by NK

Did you know that there are awards you can receive for your talents? One of the best awards that I received for one of my many talents was at Claremont Middle School with the Claremont Symphonic Band. The year 2009 was the best year for the band.

On April 23, 2009, the Claremont band was rehearsing three songs to participate in a bay area school-wide competition. The three songs that we were rehearsing were: “May River March,” “Serengeti Dreams,” and “Glen Canyon Overture.” I played second trumpet and I was fourth chair. After we finished rehearsing, the period ended. I wanted to talk with other students to see if they were excited, so when I left the band room I saw Jack. Jack is a trumpet player as well, but he is better than me. When I saw him walking to second period I beckoned for him to come over and I started a conversation. “Hey, Jack! Do you really care about this competition?” I asked. “No, not really,” he responded, “but I want to go to Great America.” “Well, I have to make it to second period, so I won’t have to deal with Ms. Martin,” I said. “All right then, Noah,” Jack said. “Bye.”

It was the day before the competition, and the class was feeling good about the songs we had rehearsed. We felt prepared to win the competition until Ms. Briggs screamed out loud in class, saying, “There are many schools from Oakland that are participating in the competition! So we need to be on top of our game!" Before class was over, I prayed to myself and asked God to help us through the competition. After I finished praying, class ended and we went our separate ways to finish school for the day.

It was the day of the competition, and we all had to meet at Claremont School to take the charter bus. Everyone was on time and prepared and we soon left the school for Deer High School in Antioch, California. When we made it to Deer High School I saw a lot of people walking around the school wearing their different band uniforms and we were all excited because we were wearing Claremont Band uniforms. After we ate lunch we went to the practice room to rehearse some more before we would go before the judges.

When we walked into the practice room I was prepared to play the three songs until… I realized I’d left my trumpet at the school! As soon as Ms. Briggs noticed that I left my trumpet, she was furious. “Noah, I can’t believe that you left your trumpet at school. I am very disappointed in you because we worked very hard to be prepared for the competition and out of all the people in the band, you decided to leave your trumpet!” She said. “Ms. Briggs, I am sorry for letting the band the down, but could you please do your best to help me find a trumpet to use?” After the conversation ended, Ms. Briggs asked one of the students to help me find a trumpet. When the student found me a trumpet, Ms. Briggs helped me tune up in time for rehearsal.

It was our turn to go into the auditorium to play before the three judges who were seated in the back row, and they were looking very bored. I assumed they were tired of listening to thousands of songs that had probably been played badly. When we played our songs the judges seemed to perk up and were amazed by the way we played them. Their reviews of us were very superior.

After we played for the judges it was time to board the chartered bus and leave Deer High to go to Great America to receive our awards. At Great America we were separated into groups of five. I rode the Demon, the Flight Zone, the Orbit, the Vortex and the Grizzly. Then we went to the theatre at Great America and we saw the other schools from Oakland: Edna Brewer, Roosevelt, Bret Harte and Castlemont High School. There was an announcer who gave away awards for the best bands at Deer High. The bands that won an award with a rating of "excellent" were Edna Brewer and Roosevelt. The band that won an award with a rating of “good” was Castlemont. The best band overall at Deer High School, with a rating of "superior" was Claremont Middle School! After the announcer gave away the awards, everyone who went to Claremont was surprised, happy and excited. Ever since winning the award, the Claremont Band has been unbeatable!

A Sixth-Grade Nothing

by AK

My sixth grade year was the worst year of my life so far, for so many reasons. I’ll relay it in chronological order, how it happened. On my first day at Beacon Day School, a school for rich kids with problems, I was introduced to all the rich kids and the stuck-up idiots. I already felt extremely out-of-place because all of the people there were prim and pompous. They were selfish and had no empathy to anyone they considered to be less than them on the social scale. I was an outcast from all of them, and was always like this. I was a loner. I groped for even the smallest amount of praise. I hated them.

I got in trouble for being loud and obnoxious, and a few days later I was sent out of class for the first of an infinite number of times. It was also the beginning of my reputation as a trouble doer. The school itself was weird for two reasons. One: we called our teachers by their first names. Two: we had year-round school, with a six- week break during summer. Both of these things, in my eyes, are complete bull. I sincerely hated this school and it was a waste of time.

After being sent out of class for the next few months on an average of twice a week, Christmas break came along. Unlike most sweet Christmases, it wasn’t sweet. My mom died during this Christmas break, January 2nd, 2008. I had turned eleven only two weeks before this. I was not really altered by the experience, it just made me sad. I acted the same at school and at home. I made it look like nothing was wrong, and it wasn’t that hard since I knew she was going to die from cancer. It still makes me wonder, to this day, why there is no cure to cancer. And every day I remember what people have to go through, while others remain uncaring.

Eventually, I ended my time at the school with B’s and C’s by getting expelled for fighting and making death threats and bomb threats. My dad was not sad, if truth be told. He said that I saved him some riches. I said that I saved him some stress. I finished the year’s work at home and then relocated to Oakland. I went to Claremont Middle School, and the rest, they say, is history.

Trip to Sack

by JJ

My middle school years started in 6th grade, but my experience started in 7th. In 6th grade I didn’t know as much as I know now. Even though back then, I thought I knew everything. In 7th grade I figured out who I really was. I started to dress way better and love myself and who I was.

Well, one day my auntie told me I was going to be going to this leadership class in Sacramento. At first I didn’t want to go, because I thought it would be boring sitting around listening to people tell you “not to do this”, and “not to do that,” but that all changed when I read the schedule. I learned that I wouldn’t be sitting in there all day, only for about two or three hours. I still wasn’t sure though, because none of my friends would be attending this trip with me except my friend Mikkalah.

When we got there, I immediately fell in love with the weather. It was hot, but not hot and sticky, and I love to show off my summer clothes so I was ecstatic about that. We were next to the State Capitol and also the mall. I observed the hotel we would be staying in; it was beautiful, and I was to be staying for four days and three nights. The best part about the trip was that we had our own rooms and room keys- I felt like I was in college! Our curfew was 11:00p.m. Lights out was at 12:oop.m. We also did a lot of various activities such as meet our legislator, go eat at a lot of different restaurants, watch movies, shop and take an old western photo.

One restaurant in particular named Chevy’s I’m going remember for a while. Okay, when we got there we all sat down and ordered what we would like. Everyone’s food had come and everyone was settled when I noticed a bunch of waiters coming up the stairs. I brushed it off thinking that they must have gotten a really big order the way they were rushing. The next thing I know they were placing something on my head and singing this birthday song while putting this brownie with fudge and caramel and ice cream with three candles on it in front of me (I had just turned 13 and it was my birthday week). I was surprised and wondered who told them, but I figured out my auntie was the culprit when I saw the mischievous smile on her face.

The day before we left, our guide (who was a police officer) won the Officer of the Year award. We were supposed to dress up, take a shower, and fix our hair. I wore a black dress with a white stripe going down the middle with some Kenneth Cole Reaction shoes. My officer did my hair in big curls and my bang was out. She did my makeup as well. The food at the awards ceremony was pleasantly proportioned. After the awards ceremony we took pictures and left to get ready for the dance that was after the awards ceremony. When I came back from the trip I felt like a new person. I felt more confident than I did before, and surprisingly, I learned more stuff about social skills. Being around a lot of kids my age also taught me to respect others way more than I had at first.

An Interesting Experience

Starting Middle school! Those were the horrible words that came from my parents. I didn’t know what was going to happen to me when they mentioned about middle school. Once I started it, I understood what they meant; I was growing up and was about to learn about some truths in the life that I will always have to accept. I went from being a scared 6th grader to a mature and musical 8th grader.

The first year of Middle school was weirdly unexpected. The first day was so complicated and frustrating, because I had to adjust to having multiple classes and not just two classes in one day. My first period was band, which was the class I loved the most. According to some people, I was a musical protégée as soon as I picked up any instrument. It also was the first time I had ever been in jazz band, which was so awesome. I enjoyed only one other class that year, which happens to be the only class I remember. My 2nd period class was science. When I was in 4th grade I knew I wanted to be an astrophysicist, so I did extra credit science work and experiments. Anyway, I loved 6th grade science, and I was in the science fair for the first time, working with Bruno and Keenan, and we won! I don’t remember 6th grade being exciting, although I do remember it going by very fast.

Seventh grade was AMAZING! This is the one year I recall very well. But I only remember the same two classes. My second period class was advanced band. It was the best year of band I have ever had in school. For the first time, I was able to conduct the band at Claremont. It was also the year that our school got the highest contest score in the bay area in Benicia. We also had jazz band again that year, and went to a jazz festival. My 5th period class was life science, which I thought was a very amazing thing. By this time I was considered a nerd. This was one thing that was hard to adjust to. I started to change in this grade. I began to strive for good grades and excel in academics, which was considered nerdy by some people, I must admit. Yes, it kind of is, but calling people names for their “smart” actions is unacceptable. Not everyone is meant to fit in with everyone else, because we have different personalities, and we shouldn’t be judged for our choices.

My wonderful 8th grade year, such an amazing time in my life. This is the year I won’t forget. I got the opportunity this year to teach band and orchestra a lot more than I was able to before. No jazz band, but a very good advanced band and orchestra, woohoo! This year I got the chance to study music at The University of California, Berkeley with the Young Musicians Program; it was an excellent program that I would recommend to any of my students. I was so happy to finally have Ms.Thaler, who is so fun and talented. There is no other teacher like her. She is amazing. But I was called many names still. Physical science was a blast for me. Except, the class I was in was very disruptive. Despite that, we did lots of experiments, which I enjoyed very much.
Sixth grade was confusing. Seventh grade was hectic. Eighth grade was a blast. I believe all these experiences helped to make me the person I am today. Claremont was crazy but I had many funny moments there.

LET’S GO CLAREMONT KNIGHTS!!!!!!

Yosemite

by MJ

I was in the 7th grade, and my science teacher was talking about going camping. I thought it would be fun to go out and be in ‘the wild,’ but when I asked my mom she thought I was joking. I told her more about it and she just said, “Okay Maya, if you want to go, then okay.” So I told my teacher, and it was okay for me to go on the trip. Two weeks later it was time for me to pack my bags and other things.

On the morning of the trip, I was excited, but nervous about leaving home. I was going to be with my friends for a week, so I was going to be okay I guess… Before I left, my mom gave me some money and a phone. She told me to call her if I needed something, but I wasn’t going to need her until I came back. When I got to the train station I saw Te’Raya, Ivy, Jack, Alex, Cookie, and others.

When we finally got on the train, it felt like for ever! I guess we were on the train for about four or five hours. When we got off, there was a big bus so everyone put their things on, and then we were off to Yosemite!!!

When we got there it was cool, dirty, and…I don’t know, but I was just happy to be there. Before we got to do anything else, we got into our groups. The people in my cabin were Te’Raya , Naomi, Miranda, and me. Two people, Te’Raya and Miranda, got the key to our “little house.” Later that day we played in the snow and had a snowball fight (it was so funny) and after that we got to meet our guide, whose name was Andy. Later we went to eat dinner. The food was okay if you ask me. Then it was time to go to sleep, and do you know what time we had to get up? 7:30!

In the morning, we walked and stopped to talk, and we had lunch, and then we when to a really big tree and we were trying to see how many people could fit in the tree. We fit maybe four or five people, and then we went to a lake. It was like an island in the middle, and we had to walk in the water. The water was so cold that some of us couldn’t feel our feet!

The other days, we just walked and talked about different things, and on the second to last day we hiked up to the Yosemite Falls, which was a long walk. When we came back, I was so tired I thought my legs were going to fall off. At dinner, two people were having an eating contest. It was so nasty! They had different things, and then someone put salt in someone’s else drink. It was funny and it wasn’t.

Friday was the last day at Yosemite. I was going to miss this place. Before we left, we went up to a rocky place and claimed all the way to the top. The view and really nice, and when we were walking back, it started to snow!!!

We went back and started to pack all our things and wait for everyone else. Then we were off to the train station, then on the train, and halfway home, and then the train stopped. No one knew what had happened, and then someone said a guy had gotten hit by the train, so we stayed there for three hours with nothing to do and no one to talk to at all. It was almost time to go, so I called my mother and told her what had happened. I told her we’d be there in an hour or something. When we made it back home my mom was at the train station with my cousin. We dropped Te’Raya off at home, and when I got home I went to sleep. When my sister woke me up the next morning, I couldn’t wait to tell her all about what had happened.

My First Track Meet

by TH

“Well, here we are. Laney College Track Field,” my dad said when he finished parking the car. We gazed at the oval-shaped track field swarming with kids warming up for the race. Tall adults were running all over the place and taking pictures of their children. It was so loud that, even with the car windows completely rolled up, I could still hear the different conversations as clearly as if the windows weren’t even rolled up. When I opened the door to get out, it was like pressing play on your iPod without knowing that the volume was accidentally set on full blast. I could feel the excitement that was floating in the air through everyone.

As I walked with my dad along the high fence surrounding, the place, and looked at the ridiculously large amount of competitors who were there, it made me feel a bit uneasy. Groups of kids were dressed in professional uniforms, and they all sounded so strong when they yelled out the number of stretches they were doing. Claremont was probably the only team there that didn’t have uniforms, and we looked so disorganized and spiritless compared to the other teams.

When we reached the entrance, we saw Mr. Lee in his bright orange pants. We greeted him, and Mr. Lee told me we had to wait for Abraham, Ivy and Megan to come. He and my dad talked for a few minutes while I zoned out. My chest was heaving up and down faster than normal. My hands started to heat up, and it felt like they were going to explode like a bag of popcorn left in a microwave way too long. I thought to myself that the other Claremont students could’ve forgotten about the track meet today, and were going to leave me here alone without any friend support! Then, I had second thoughts that they were probably just stuck in traffic. Or even worse, what if they were going to come late and miss out on everything?! My pulse was pumping wildly and crazily fast, like a mad cow.

My dad said bye to me, and wished me good luck, because he had to leave for some important work meeting. I was pretty disappointed that he couldn’t stay, but I got over it. Right after he left, Abraham showed up! I began to have hopes that everything was going to be all right and that I shouldn’t be so paranoid. We waited for about another five minutes, and then went inside because Mr. Lee had to fill out some paperwork to confirm what we were going to compete in. Meanwhile, Abraham and I went to the benches where everyone else was, and relaxed.

Mr. Lee came back with numbers and stickers to put on our shirts. I was number eleven and I was going to do the long jump, 800 meter run and the 1,600 meter (or mile) run. We never practiced the long jump at Claremont, and I had no idea what it was. He taught me how to do it right there on the field. He signed me up for it because he just wanted me to gain some experience. The goal of the long jump was to stand in one place and leap as far as you can. About thirty minutes later, Ivy and Megan finally arrived from their soccer game. I gave a huge sigh of relief, and all the icky feelings I had in the beginning flew out like coughing out mucus. I later found out that traffic kept them from coming on time, just as I had imagined.

I heard the intercom call my name, along with the names of other competitors, to walk onto the field for the long jump. I was really excited for this because it looked like fun. While waiting in the really long line for the tries, I made friends with a girl named Rebecca. She told me she was nervous, and it made me felt kind of better to know that I wasn’t the only one freaking out. We were allowed to jump two times; the first one was practice and the second was the real one. My turn came for the practice and I swung my arms back and forth for the jump, but I didn’t go far. I just shrugged my shoulders when I went back to the end of the line, because this was new to me. I was up next for the second try again when I heard Mr. Lee shout my name from the benches. I looked over, and he demonstrated for me how to do it.

I turned my head back to the sand box I was going to jump in and tried really hard to focus. I bent my knees a little and swung my arms harder than before. I flew in the air just a bit like a chicken and landed farther than I did before. Mr. Lee clapped his hands and smiled at me. That was the only time he ever stopped frowning at me, and it felt good to know he was proud of me. I went back to the bench and everyone gave me a high five. Fifteen minutes later, the intercom said, “For the girls’ long jump, the 1st place medal goes to… Tammy Huynh who jumped 5 feet and 5 inches!” I didn’t expect to win, but I did and it was awesome!

Then, I had to do the mile run, which was the most tiring race ever. By the time I did it, the sun was out and it was hot. I was sweating before I was even running. I started out at a very slow and steady pace in the first lap. I picked it up in the second. Mr. Lee and I had a miscommunication during the race, and it ruined my opportunity to win 1st. I don’t blame him that I lost. We just misunderstood each other with the pace when I headed onto my 3rd lap. I thought Mr. Lee said stop, when he really said good job. I was really confused, because I knew we had to run four laps. Then I heard everyone shouting at me to go, so I immediately continued running. The gap between me and my competitors grew smaller than before. On the last lap, I was really tired, but I still managed to stay in front of them. The sprint for first was on the last couple 50 or 100 meters. I got 2nd. This was a pretty disappointing race to me, because I knew I could’ve done better. This race bothered me a lot because of the silly mistake that had happened.

The 800 meter race was the best one. Megan, Ivy and I competed in this together. We played teamwork in this race, and it was fun. We blocked every other girl from coming in front of us. I thought it was pretty funny when they were getting frustrated. On the last lap, we stopped doing that and sprinted for the top three. Megan won 1st, I won 2nd and Ivy won 3rd. Claremont is the BEAST!

Regardless of whether I won or lost, I learned how to have fun when everything seemed so scary and new to me. I enjoyed going to my first track meet. Best of all, I’m glad that I ran track and field for Claremont!

Yosemite

by AH

In 7th grade, 30 students went to Yosemite to crawl through pitch black caves, hike up huge mountains, sleep in the wilderness, and endure freezing cold rivers. We went on March 30th and arrived back April 3rd. We went with Ms. Martin, Mr. Finch, and Mr. W. Luckily, I was in Ms. Martin's group, because we had the best experience out of any of the groups.

We left at the crack of dawn on March 30th. To get to Yosemite, first there was a six-hour train ride, then a two-hour bus ride. I like trains because you can move around and they're not quite as restricted as buses. That train ride was, as I expected, a whole lot better than the bus ride. We played cards, had snacks, messed around, and were carefree. Once on the bus, we had to stay in our seats, we couldn't have food or drink, and it was hard to play games. It's quite obvious why someone would like a train more than a bus.

Once we got to Yosemite, we had our first taste of snow! We had a snowball fight in a secluded patch of fluffy, white snow that was perfect! After we all got soaking wet from the snow melting, we headed out to find our cabins. It took us a little while to do that because our leader, Ms. Martin, hadn't stayed in those cabins before, so we didn't know which way they were. I liked all the people in my cabin, and we didn't have any problems figuring out our sleeping arrangements.

The next few days were all a blur. I'm not sure if it was the first or second day that we made a bridge, but that was definitely memorable. Our National Parks leader thought it would be a good idea for our group to take a different route from the other groups on our hike, which would lead us across a river! The water was freezing cold, easily below 30 degrees, but because it was moving fast and it was shallow, it wouldn't freeze. We found a huge log and tried to use it to construct a bridge across the river. It took us all morning, and we finally decided that it would be easiest if a few of us just carried everyone else across. I was one of the three people who were big enough to do it. By the time I retreated to the banks of the river, my feet were blood red.

The next memorable thing was the Spider Caves. This was a pitch black cavern that isn't on any maps, and you'll only learn about it through this program. This was fun for me because I was at the front, right behind the “expert,” so I got to guide everyone behind me. The whole thing took our group of about 15 more than 40 minutes. This astonished me because the cave was only about 30 feet long. We made it through the caves and played games for the rest of the day, which was our last day.

The way home was almost as fun as the ride there except for one major difference. On the train, about an hour out of our stop, we hit someone! This stalled us for nearly three hours, and could have delayed the train all night. That day was my birthday, but it was turning out to be a good one, since, as I mentioned before, train rides can be pretty fun. We finally got back at around 12:40 A.M on April 4th. When my dad said happy birthday, I told him that my birthday was yesterday.

All in all, the trip was great. My friendships grew and I even made a few new ones. It was worth all the fundraisers we had to do and the extra work we got over spring break. The only part I regret is not being able to go to the rifle range the next day with the Sea Cadets, but that's a whole other story. Yosemite will always stay in my mind as a great experience from middle school.

My Nephew's Story

by MH

My nephew is the first grandson of my father. Everyone in my family was expecting him anxiously. When my oldest sister was nine months and one week pregnant, her water broke. It was time for my nephew to be born.

My sister was in the hospital for four days. Then the doctors decided that they had to perform a surgical operation to deliver the baby. They used a lot of medication to soothe my sister's pain during the four days she was in labor. The result was that my nephew's heart became filled with liquids around it.

He was only ten minutes old when he had an operation on his heart to remove the liquids. The operation lasted two hours. Machines were rating his heart’s performance. He was in the hospital for fourteen days before he could come home.

When he did, we welcomed him with a lot of joy. He was given an appointment to return six months later to the hospital. They checked his heart with an ultrasound machine to check if all the liquids were gone. Fortunately, they were, and the doctors have not found any more of it. He is healthy now and has never been operated on again.

My nephew's name is Jayden Yandel Montoya, and he is now 18 months old. He is the craziest and strongest baby I know. Although he gets in a lot of trouble, he is very smart and everyone that meets him says that he is very handsome. I look forward to teaching him new things every day when I come home from school.

Getting Good Grades

by JH

It started when my parents saw my report card. They were furious; they said that I could do better than that. I had really low grades. The principal said I would go to summer school if I didn’t bring up my grades. I was getting low grades because I hated that school. I thought if I did badly, they would take me out of that school.

When my parents said that I wasn’t leaving that school I was mad. I didn’t talk to anybody. I was antisocial and didn’t go anywhere. I hated that school because it was stupid. We didn’t have P.E.; instead we had art. Also, their discipline and consequences were stupid. I was ready to go to a different school.

My dad and I had a talk. He told me a story about when he was in the same situation as I was. He said, “Just finish this year out, and you can go to a different school next year.” I said, “All right, I’ll do my best.” So during study hall I went to all my teachers’ classes to get makeup work. In science I had a low grade because I didn’t turn in my notebook. When I turned in my notebook I raised my grade to a B+. In math, I wasn’t doing bad; I had an A. In art I had an A, because art was easy. We didn’t have P.E.

I had a month left of school and I was failing only one class. That class was humanities. Humanities is two classes where they teach both history and English. Both classes were my worst.

They started sending stuff about summer school to people who had bad grades. You had to do more then getting a 2.0 to pass, you had to get a C or higher in every class to go to the next grade. My parents said that they were going to Texas over the summer to see our family. I wanted to go too, but I had to pass to the next grade if I was going to go- otherwise, I’d have to go to summer school instead.

All my grades were good. I just had to bring my English grade up. My English teacher told me to do a project. I did the project and raised my grade up to an A. I was happy I could go to Texas now. The teacher wrote me a letter so I could show the principal to let her know I don’t have to go summer school. My parents were happy I had a 3.56. Then I went to Texas to see my family. My hard work paid off in the end.

Jersey Girl Gone So Cali

by ZH

Cops? Why did that old lady on the street call the cops?! So I’m stuck here on the corner of Lakeshore Avenue and Grand Street in Clifton, New Jersey, crying my eyes out, to the point that they are extremely red. If you’re wondering why, it’s because I was frustrated. I was mad at my mother for ruining my life. At that point I thought I hated my mom, when deep down I knew I really loved her with all my heart.

That past week I was doing horribly in school. My grades dropped an entire level. And fights? Yup, getting into stupid meaningless fights over friendship. What was I thinking…? That’s how it all started.

Couple days after that, my mother told me that my father had come to town from Oakland, California. I hadn’t seen my father since I was in fourth grade, so my mother invited him to dinner. My mother was being very kind. She let me order anything I wanted. She even suggested that we all have dessert. It was strange because normally, she never orders dessert. She then went on talking about how I should have a big sleepover, go shopping, and do all these things she knows I love to do. It was really strange how all my mother’s suggestions were fun events; she was being so nice. From then on, I had a feeling that she was going to do or say something I did not want to know.

Finally, she broke the news. I was going to move in with my dad in Oakland, California! That same second, I couldn’t believe what my own ears just heard. I broke down into tears. My eyes were so red for the second time that week. Many memories and thoughts were going through my head. I was scared, mad, confused, and depressed.
I thought my life was going to change forever. I thought I was going to lose my mother and all my friends. I thought she would never be able to see me grow up and scared that she would not come to my graduations. I had no other choice but to go. I was sick of all of the dramas in New Jersey. I didn’t want to bring any more drama in the house by refusing to go.

A few months later …

Now I attend Claremont Middle School in Oakland. All I have to say is this isn’t the best school, but it’s almost over, so I can bear with it until then. There is so much drama here too. Looks like I really couldn’t escape all the drama after all.

Yet, on the other side, I am doing so much better. I have no distractions; no laptop, phone, and I’m just more focused. I am actually getting A+’s on my report cards. I can truly say I am a nerd now; pretty and educated. The funny thing now is that I am a person that my little brothers and sisters can look up to. Back in New Jersey, I was the baby in the house (I do have to admit I miss that feeling). I am planning on going to high school here in California. So I applied for some good ones.

“Yaaaaaaaay!” I yelled. I just had shuffled through the mail and I got accepted! I just got accepted to Bentley High and Oakland School for the Arts. I was so happy that I got accepted, because I know I didn’t want to go to Oakland Tech High. It’s actually my first time doing very well in school. I can now say that I am proud of myself for once. Things finally pulled together for me, and finally made me realize that California isn’t so bad after all.

Leaving

by NGW

My life is about to change drastically.
I think it began at the beginning of 7th grade, in November of 2008.
My family was eating dinner when my mother said conversationally, “We’re thinking of spending another year in Germany.”
The way she said those life-changing words in that casual tone shocked me so much that I almost choked. “What?!”
“We’re probably going to spend another year in Berlin,” she said, smiling.
“When?” I demanded.
“Don’t yell, sweetheart,” said my mother, her expression changing briefly to annoyed, and then back to pleasant as she continued. “The Wissenschaftskolleg invited us to study again in a year or two. We’ll be going for either your 8th or your 9th grade year. It’s going to be an adventure for all of us.”
My wide eyes darted between my parents’ beaming faces as I grew steadily more angry, until, in a burst of rage, my fierce thoughts came spilling out the moment the words formed in my mind.
“I – cannot – believe – you!” I yelled, and my parents’ faces fell. “We already spent 3rd grade there! And every summer after that! I already speak German! I’ve been there too much to enjoy it anymore. Now we have to go there again? For another year? I’m fed up with Berlin! What about my school? And my friends?! I hate Berlin!”
I stood up and took in my parents’ expressions. They were both frowning.
“Naomi,” said my dad, “you don’t hate Berlin. You love Berlin …”
“Loved,” I corrected him. “Now I’m just sick of it … I’m sick of the whole damn thing!”
“Don’t yell,” said my mother.
“Are you taking in anything I’m saying?!”
“Yes,” she responded automatically. “You don’t want to go to Berlin.”
“But you don’t care, do you?” I said, my voice cold. It wasn’t a question.
“We care!” said my father. “But this is a wonderful opportunity – we thought you’d be excited –“
I chuckled grimly at the hilarity of his statement.
“Oh, yes,” I said, my voice dripping with sarcasm. “Leave my friends and my school and go to a German school full of freaky German kids whose parents are Nazis? Sign me up!”
“Naomi!” my father said loudly, harshly. “That’s a huge generalization – you know that not all Germans are Nazis –“
I did know that, but I was determined to make my parents feel as guilty as possible.
“I’m not going.”

Obviously, my parents weren’t going to give in. For the next few months, we continued to argue about my rights as a member of the family and my own say in going to Germany. Eventually my parents were able to come up with a compromise: that I could decide which year – 8th or 9th grade – to leave for Berlin. I chose 9th – obviously – but I’m beginning to wish I’d chosen to go this year because it would be almost over at this point. Now it’s just beginning. I should have known then that I would have to face this sooner or later.

My parents and I still have loud, furious arguments about the matter; even this morning, my mother and I fought about going to Germany for the umpteenth time. My parents are convinced it will be a wonderful experience for me, whereas I cannot find anything positive in the entire situation.

I don’t want to go. I really, really, really don’t want to go. I don’t want to leave my friends and my house, and I don’t want to miss my first year of high school. But I guess I’m just going to have to do it anyway, and I’ll try to live with that. It could be amazing, after all.

My Drinker Days

One morning in sixth grade, I decided to bring liquor, wine, juice, and strawberry margarita mix to school. It all started with me talking on the phone with my cousin. She was telling me about how fun it was to drink and get drunk. So, being dumb, I decided to take a sip or a gulp of alcohol.

The next day I brought a water bottle filled with alcohol to school, but I didn’t tell anyone or let anyone have any. The day after that I thought I was all cool, and I grabbed some liquor and margarita mix off my mom's liquor counter. Then I mixed it with juice and some other stuff; I thought I was being slick to cover up the margarita mix I took, so I put water in it and shook it up so you couldn’t tell I took any.

So I brought it to school, two bottles of it, and I was drinking it and my friends asked me to have some. I was like, “There is alcohol in here.” My friend Ximora was like, “Ooh, give me some,” so I gave her, Alihah, Gabby, Bri, and Ryan some. We drank the whole first bottle, and ten minutes later we started drinking the second bottle a little bit. My friend Nyerin was like, “Watch, y'all are going to get caught, and Jasmin, you’re going to fall over those steps.” Then the morning bell rang and we were walking to class when the security guard stopped us and said, “Do you have alcohol in that bottle?” I lied and said no and kept it moving. When I went into class I washed the first bottle out and put water in it, but kept the second one (stupid, right?).

A good 15 minutes went by, and the same security guard lady came to my class and made me come out with her. I knew what was happening, and I asked her if she was going to tell my mom. She responded with, “So you knew you were doing wrong?” We kept walking and she pulled out a couple of other girls who were drinking, and we walked to the office. Then she told me to tell her who else was with me. She said, “Don't lie, because I saw other people with you.” I wasn't going to tell until she said that (‘cause I ain't no snitch), but once I knew she knew I had to say something. They got all five of us in there. We all wrote our stories and, after the principal and vice principal got done yelling at me, they called my parents. Next they brought all six of us in to meet and told us what was going to happen Three girls were crying because they were scared of what their parents might do to them, but three of us weren't. I was one of the ones who wasn’t crying. That day we got sent home; the five of them for two days each, and me for a whole two weeks.

Two weeks passed. I was failing classes because I hadn't been to school, and the teachers weren’t very understanding when I got back. The other students were happy to see me. Even though I thought they were going to be pissed at me, they weren't. I was embarrassed when I learned that everyone had found out what happened to me. People kept asking me why I was drinking, and why I would bring it to school. They also told me how dumb I was for doing that, which didn’t made me feel a whole lot better about what happened. I was actually mad at myself because I had ruined the reps of other people, so I couldn't understand why they weren't mad at me. On the other hand, I didn't force them to take the drink, they took it upon themselves to drink it. The punishment I received (other than the two-week suspension) was not being allowed to drink anything outside of the cafeteria, and I also got detention for two weeks straight.

What happened in sixth grade is something that my friends and I have to live with and carry the burden of forever. One good outcome was that now, every time I think about drinking, I think about that and maybe even going to jail next time. Now, instead of doing what I did then, I just draw or write. The consequences aren’t worth it.

Misunderstood Middle Schooler

by MGR

My 6th grade year wasn’t much different from now, besides the teachers. At that time I was going to KIPP in West Oakland. I was living in East Oakland on East 14th street and International. When I first started school, my first emotion was excitement: where are my friends? My 6th grade classes were all right, but overall they sucked. My best friends through that year were two guys named Mekhi and William. In that year the only embarrassing thing that happened was me getting rejected. Most of the time I was mad at the teachers. My favorite place to go was home. We had to wear a green polo shirt with khaki pants. In this year the most memorable thing was getting a phone and a girl.

Yo, I’m back! Still in this wack a#% school though, you know, KIPP? Have a flashback if you didn’t really pay attention the first time, but anyway, back to the point. In 7th grade my main problem was talking, so I pretty much always got in trouble for it. My friends hadn’t changed at all: still William and Mehki. To be honest those are only two people I trusted besides this other boy called Mesoli. My style didn’t change much besides the color of my shirt; I wore red in 7th grade. I think the biggest thing I celebrated in that year was getting a C in math class. The worst thing that happened to me was getting a referral.

Whoo! I made it- now I’m in the 8th. A lot has changed since the 6th grade. For instance, my amount of girlfriends. I’ve changed a lot since then as well. For example, I’ve gotten more mature. The worst part of the year was me getting a referral. I now get the privilege to walk to my classes now that I’m in 8th. During this year I mainly hung out with Julian Kremer. I hung out with him because he was trustworthy. There was all type of drama this year like fights, roasting, and gang problems. I’m usually the most happy when I’m at home. My nickname is Ghost, or Ghost of Trinidad. I gave myself that name. I haven’t had any major losses in middle school. In the past week I went to a BBQ at my grandmas. Last but not least I’ve learned math since the 6th. So that’s my story and I hope you enjoy it!

Grades

by DE

My grades at Claremont were up and down. In 6th grade, I had a 1.25, 1.75, and 2.25. They were probably very low in 6th grade because I was still getting used to having GPAs. I never got suspended in 6th grade, but I had a lot of referrals. I wasn’t really worried because I knew I had time to make up for it.

In 7th, that’s when my grades started to improve. I got 3.0s in the first semester of 7th grade. I was proud of myself for having good grades. My Mom and Dad gave me 50 dollars each for my good grades. Then I started to regress back to my old ways. I got a 1.75. I was disappointed, because I wondered how my good grades had gone away. I thought since I had good grades, I didn’t have to do anything. Then, since I had some Fs and then next I had better grades the next marking period, it averaged to a 2.33. I was cool with it because it was passing and it was better than my last grade.

In 8th grade, my grades were up and down. At the beginning of the year, I got a 1.92. I was disappointed because I expected better. When my dad saw my report card, I got in trouble. Then I got serious and got a 3.3. I was juiced. I got 50 dollars for my good grades from my Mom and Dad. I used that money to buy a phone. Then I got another set of bad grades. I started to think that the friends I hang out with influence my grades because when I hang with them, I have bad grades, but when I don’t, I have a 3.0. I thought one day, some days I will hang out with them, and some days I won’t. I can’t ditch them completely, because they’re my homies. Now we hang out every Friday. I won’t hang out with them on weekdays like I would usually do, so my grades aren’t affected.

Finally, it was the 6th marking period of 8th grade, and I had bad grades. It was my last chance to get my grades up. I went to every class to get make-up work. I got at least 20 pages of work to do. I was so mad that I could punch a hole in the wall. It was my fault because if I had done the work on time, I wouldn’t have to do it all at once. Then I started the work. Some of the work was hard. So I got help from kids with better GPAs than me. They helped me with everything.

Now, there are just a couple of weeks left. Graduation is almost here. Now, I have to work extra hard. I got a signature for my math and history teacher, to turn in late work. When I turn in my work, my grades will go up. I just have to do my English work now. I have a 6-page packet to turn in to my English teacher. Oh, I forgot about science. So I stay in an hour after school, and do all of my science work. So now, I did all of my work for science and now, I’m caught up with all of my grades. I’m proud of myself. I can graduate now. I will never forget this moment. In high school, I’m not ever letting my grades go down.

Flowers Don't Lie, Only People Do

by TD

Though she did me dirty, there’s a girl that I still love. But that’s not the point. The point is that she dumped me and I saw it coming… kinda.

It all started during the summer of 2009. We went to the AMC Movie Theater in Emeryville to hang out and drink smoothies. It was Brandon, her, her cousin Bianca, and me. Everybody knows about Bianca. I ended up going out with Bianca. A week went by. She (the girl that dumped me) and I were texting each other. I told her that I wanted to go out with her. She told me she felt real sparkly inside.

We never ended up going out. We stayed friends. We were as close as two hair follicles. She ended up going out with my friend. But that didn’t stop me from trying. Sorry, Lo.

Then it was May 1, 2010. I was walking her home. We were having a conversation about clothes and fashion. She told me that next year she’s going to step her game up, and I was going to want to go out with her. I told her it was too late, but she didn’t hear me. She gamed me. She told me if I told her, she would tell me a secret. So I told her. She ended up writing me this two-page letter about how I was the guy she always wanted to be with. BULL!

Later that week she and my friend ended up breaking up because Bianca was at his house. That same night she and I were texting each other. She told me that I made her happier than he did. I told her we shouldn’t go out, ‘cause she and my friend just broke up, and that’s hella fake. She told me okay. But then she told me that she didn’t feel like waiting anymore.

As you may already know, I sent her a text saying, “You wanna be my gf?”
She replied, “Hell yea!” So we started going out. We were talking and texting all the time.

Then it was a Thursday. We were supposed to hang out while the teachers were on strike. She didn’t come but I wasn’t really tripping. Then Friday came and my friend told me that she didn’t want to see me and she hated me! So when she walked into school I walked up to her and she dumped me. She said, “Tyrone, it’s over.” There it was. I was single again. All the crap that she me told me was false. Some say that it was a lie. I think so too.

Frenemies to Friends

by LC

6th grade was when everything started: the drama, fights, arguments, rumors, and the trouble.

It all began the second week of school. I was in Spanish class when this girl named Iyanna asked me for a Spanish book. I gave it to her, then she smacked it out of my hand and said it was messed up and got mad and walked away. So I got up, walked up to her, and start yelling at her. We began arguing and we were about to start fighting when my friend and hers held us back.

After that incident I promised myself not to get angry so fast. So one day, during lunch, I was sitting down eating when this girl Oshanae asked me if I liked this other girl, Kianna. I said, “Yes, she cool with me.” Then Oshanae asked one of my best friends, Brianna, if she liked Kianna. Being herself and trying to be down, Brianna said no. Kianna overheard the conversation and said to Brianna, “What you got a problem with me for?” Brianna stood up and got in her face, and they started arguing.

In an instant Kianna had pushed Brianna into the barred lunchroom window, then punches were flying everywhere. I remember trying to break it up but then getting hit in the face because so many people had jumped in. Brianna was crying but had no scratches or marks on her, but Kianna had scratches all over her face and a busted lip.

After all that I decided to stay out of mess and began hanging with my cousin Kai and my other friends. But it seemed wherever I went, mess followed. Two weeks after that fight happened, I was sitting in history when Iyanna asked me a question. I ignored her and kept writing, then all of a sudden she was up in my face. I pushed her and she ran up on me, then the teacher grabbed her before she could grab hold of me. Everyone was staring at us, but it was like I was in my own world. I spaced out and saw everything in slow motion, and when I snapped out of it, I realized I was being told to go to the office.

As I walked down the hallway I remember my heart was beating fast and I knew that my anger was building up. I had to control myself! I started crying because I was so angry that I was on my way to the office even though I hadn’t done anything, but then I realized that was a good thing, and I went to the office. As it turned out, I didn’t get suspended- instead I went to conflict management. Iyanna and I worked things out. I was finally happy! We started talking a lot and became really close, and soon I was going to her house frequently.

Toward the end of the year everyone started running wild, but I was cool with everybody. Then a tragedy happened: my best friend started smoking and not coming to school. It hurt me a lot because I knew she was a good student and I wanted to help her but didn’t know what to do I tried to talk to her but there was no point. She wouldn’t admit it.

Almost Going to Jail

by JC

It was a Friday night around 12am. I was nine years old. I was waiting till my parents fell asleep. Every Friday night I used to always sneak out at night with my friends and go “hitting up” aka tagging (doing graffiti). We used to always have a lot of spray paint, caps, markers, and a lot more graffiti supplies.

I still remember when we used to go to the train tracks and cross out the toys. Toys were the weak tags done by taggers that didn't have any skills. They looked like scribbles. For my friends and me, it was cool doing graffiti, because we all had skills. This was when we all created our own tagging cliques so we could get known in the streets. My clique name was wgb, which stands for “we got bars.” Bars means tagging skills. Everyone that was a tagger and was in a graffiti crew had funk with other graffiti crews that didn’t get along.

Crews used to always cross each other out so they could earn more respect and get more known in the streets. Well that night, my parents finally fell asleep, and I climbed out my window. I was scared of getting caught by my parents, but I had done this before and always gotten away with it. My two best friends were waiting for me outside my house. We went to the train tracks and started hitting up, and then we saw another different crew hitting up. We had never encountered anyone else there before, and when we saw them and they saw us we knew there was going to be a battle.

A battle is when two different tagging crews see each other and they do graffiti at the same time and whoever is weak, the other crew crosses their graffiti out. My friends and me had been practicing. We had crisp outlines and good shading, and we won the battle. The other crew gave us all of their Montana spray paint. We felt victorious, like when I won my first soccer game.

Then we left to a different spot so we could go hit up more. We were walking through East Oakland, and a lot of police were passing, but they didn’t stop us because we didn’t look that hot. Hot means when you are bringing a lot of attention to yourself. If you didn’t want to get caught doing graffiti, you had to be cool and walk normally. If you were a tagger you would have to be smart and think before you did something.

Finally, my friends and I arrived to the place we wanted to tag at: the freeway. The freeway was a mission for all of us because we could have gotten run over by a car or something, but if you were a real graffiti writer you wouldn’t be scared of doing it, and you would hit up where other taggers wouldn’t dare. My friends did it, but I stayed off to the side. I didn’t want to get run over. We were so juiced that we had accomplished our mission. We were barely leaving the freeway when we got stopped by the police. They put us all in cuffs, which hurt my wrists. The cops told us, “You all are going to jail.” We had to sit in the back of the cop car while they looked up our records. I was a little bit mad, but mostly scared about going to jail.

Finally, the police came to talk to us. They said that since none of us had a police record, they would give us a chance and let us go. They took us all home and our parents grounded us and I thought that was going to be all of my consequences. Then they called me and told me I had to do 49 hours of community service. That turned out to be cool, because I got to volunteer at the library, and just use the computer all the time.

Even though my consequences weren’t too bad, I realized that doing graffiti could put me in jail. That’s how I stopped doing graffiti.

My Choir at Disneyland!

by MC

The weekend I had been waiting for had finally arrived! It was my choir’s tour in April of 2008. We were going to compete in this competition called Heritage Festival at Disneyland. We spent three days in four different places. Oakland, Manteca, Fullerton, and Anaheim CA.

When we left, it was around nine in the morning. Our first trip on our tour was to a school named Manteca High in Manteca, CA. There we met their school choir. We sang to them and they sang to us. They told us they had been to the Festival many times. After that they gave us a tour of their school. Their school has so much artwork everywhere. Lastly we did a little dance to a song that we both sang called “You Can’t Stop the Beat,” from the movie and musical called “Hairspray.” They have big bull statue in their courtyard, because it’s their mascot. We all took a big picture in front of their bull. Next was straight to Disneyland!!

We got to Anaheim around 6:00. We weren’t going to make it there on time because our bus broke down as we were going through the mountains. On our way there we saw the Hollywood sign and Magic Mountain. When we finally got there, we went to this seafood restaurant named “Bubba Gump’s.” It is down the street from Disneyland. It was named from the Oscar Winning movie “Forest Gump.” They had a lot of stuff from the movie. We got to play games there after we ate. They had this funny thing we would say to order our food or to get their attention. The food was good and the people there were nice. I bought this cool light-up cup there. After we left there, we went to our hotel where we wood be staying for the next three days. On our way there we acted so crazy!
The hotel that we stayed at is located in Fullerton, CA. After we unpacked, our music teacher said we could go swimming in the pool, but we had to be quiet because it was kind of late and people were going to sleep. I got so mad, my hair got so curly. When I took off my swim cap, my hair looked like Don King hair!!!! My roommate’s mom had to do my hair. It took mostly all night, because I wanted to look nice for the competition the next day.

At our competition, we sang three songs. We were competing in our region. One other group sang one of our songs, but we sang it better. We made our chaperones cry because we were so great! We took pictures outside and in the front of the building. Next we went to Disneyland!!!!!

At Disneyland I got on so many rides. My favorite ride was Space Mountain. It is fast and dark inside. When we were waiting in line for Space Mountain, it took almost an hour to get on the ride. It was worth it, though. Some of us went on this scary ride. It was called “The Haunted Mansion,” from that Disney movie. When we were getting off the ride, we were so creeped out. We started to run, and as we were running out a man was standing right there and scared us. My friend got so scared she fell really hard. Her ankle got twisted. For the rest of the trip there, she had to spend her time in a wheelchair.

Later on that night we saw a fireworks show. People said it was just for us choirs there. After the firework show, we walked to the awards ceremony. The Disney characters did a little performance for all the choirs. When we heard that we won first place, we got up and started screaming and jumping up and down. We got first place out of our region. We got a plaque saying that we came in first place. The next day we were still so happy! We were supposed to go to a church and sing for them, but it was too late. So we just went straight on home. That was the best time I had in my life so far.

There Was a Fire?!?!: The Epic Story of Wednesday

by BCK

Wednesday was, for lack of a better term, ridiculous. We- meaning the students at my school, not me- started a fire in the dumpster.


The fire started during lunch. I was hanging out by the pull-up bars with my friends and a few annoying people that wouldn’t go away. There was a basketball game to the right, but there were only weak people playing. So I decided to play some soccer with the little sixth and seventh graders away to my left. Eighth graders have a reputation of cheating, mostly because we don’t know how to play, and of being racist, which was Stephen’s fault. So when I went over to talk to them, they yelled in their little kid, high-pitched voices for me to go away. As always, I promised I wouldn’t cheat, and as always, they didn’t buy it. I had just turned away, and was walking back to my friends to tell them to help me steal the soccer ball, when somebody cried, “There’s a fire in the dumpster!”

Everyone that could hear turned around, and amazingly, there were huge flames jumping out of the recycling bin, quickly burning those many papers and other things. Everyone crowded around in a state of frenzied excitement. I looked away to see if the security guard, Mr. Weekes, had noticed. He hadn’t. I looked around and saw people who had heard the news rushing up in waves to the yard. Others continued against the crowd to inform the ignorant of the event. I found Jack and Stephen.
“This is crazy!!” I yelled over the noise
“Whaaaoooah!” yelled Jack back.
“Stephen, what do you think?!!” I screamed
“About what?!” he screamed back.
“THE FIRE!”
“THERE WAS A FIRE?!!?!?!” he exclaimed. This cracked me and Jack up. And we were still laughing when somebody yelled, “It’s gonna blow up!!” Everything went deadly quiet as we pondered the possibility. Then, as a huge crowd, with Jack and me leading, the whole school fled to a safe distance, approximately ten yards away.

“Somebody pull the fire alarm!” someone yelled. At once, several people raced across the yard to the different locations of the fire alarms. We know where they are, given that they get pulled a few times a week. I saw Alex go to the fire alarm in the boys’ locker room, and other people pull the others. Soon the blaring sound of the fire alarm added to the tumult.

By then Mr. Weekes had come over to see what the deal was. He took one look at the fire, and radioed to the principal, Ms. Crockett. She didn’t feel like dealing with it, so Mr. Taylor, the vice principal, arrived. Now, Mr. Taylor is intimidating. He’s about 6’5”, used to play on the NBA, and constantly scowls at potential troublemakers. But he’s a pretty chill guy.

As soon as his head appeared, the cry went around, “Mr. Taylor’s here!” Everyone ran for cover. Mr. Taylor took one look, and radioed the whole staff, and soon everyone working at the school was pushing back the line of students, snatching phones and cameras taking pictures, and interrogating the possible suspects. Eventually they herded us down into the lower part of the yard, where everyone wandered around excitedly, coming up with all sorts of crazy ideas about what was happening, who did it, and whether school would let out early. We commonly have fire drills, where everyone lines up and stays good so you don’t have to listen to Ms. Crockett drone on and on about paying attention. But in that situation, all those fire drills were easily forgotten. People were running around screaming, making jokes, socializing, and being crazy. We were completely unprepared for the blaze that had been ignited in the dumpster.

“Wait! Did anyone here get this on video?!” I exclaimed to Jack and Stephen.
“F*#@&%$!!!” exlaimed Jack.
“Get what on video?” asked Stephen.
“The fire!” Jack and I shouted.
“THERE WAS A FIRE??!?!” yelled Stephen. This cracked us up again.
For the rest of the day, Stephen was constantly yelling, “THERE WAS A FIRE?!?!”

At the end of the day, the joke still hadn’t worn off. It was a great day.

No-No

by CC

The first game I pitched that day was a humiliating experience; the final score was 14 to 4. But game two was a whole different story. Game two I came confident and strong, full of revenge and ready to strike. I wasn’t ready to be humiliated two times in a row. I was pumped, full of adrenaline. It is a rare feeling that I get, so I knew this game would be a special one. I didn’t mess around in the first inning; three up, three down. The first kid I faced was easy, three fastballs in a row. Next batter I also struck out, but this time I finished his at bat with a nice Uncle Charlie (curveball). Next batter was their third hitter; he ended up grounding out to first.

My team came up to bat, and fortunately, we had good luck. We started off with a walk. Then the next batter hit a blooper to short right. Then I came up to bat. This pitcher was throwing about 80 miles per hour, and it was a bit intimating, but I wasn't scared at all. My coach gave me the bunt sign, and I was willing to do anything for a run. The first two pitches, he came real close to hitting me, which shook me up a bit. Then the next pitch was a hard fastball, right at my butt. I went limping all the way to first base. As I got to first base, my coach put in a pinch runner to run for me. Then one of our smallest hitters on the team came up to bat, and he came through in the clutch. By the end of that inning the score was one to nothing.

As the game went on, I wasn’t really paying attention to what I had done. In my eyes, I was just pitching a good game, and I was determined to keep doing the same thing. Usually I only pitch about three innings a game, so I won’t throw my arm out, but that Sunday, I went the distance. For some reason, I didn’t feel any pain in my arm, like I usually do, so for a long time I was just cruising through the game. It seemed as if I wouldn’t have any problems.

Then in the sixth inning, I got into a small problem, but I knew it would be an easy fix. The first batter I faced, I walked him on four straight fastballs. Then I threw a wild pitch, and the runner took second with ease. I wasn't going to let that run score. The next pitch, the kid hit a high fly ball, and it seemed as if it was going over the fence, but when I turned around, the ball was in the center fielder’s glove. The next play, I twirled around, acted as if I was going to pitch, and got the runner out at third base.

When my team came up to bat in the sixth inning, we scored again. Our fifth hitter came up to bat, and he made good contact, which ended up being a double. Our next hitter hit a line drive to left center, which made the score two to one.

After that I was pulled out of the game, and I went to talk to a longtime friend who had come to see me play. I was telling him how well I pitched, and then the team Mom told me that I threw a no-hitter. At first I really didn't pay much attention to it, but then I realized what she had said: I threw a no hitter! It was the greatest feeling in the world to know that not only had I done that, but that it was to the number three ranking team in the nation! There is no doubt in my mind that that game will go down as one of the best games I’ve ever played in my life.

Learning to Fight

by TB

On my first day of middle school I was scared of people who were better fighters than me. I thought if I made friends with them, I would be safe from their physical harm to me. I tried to be friends with them, but they kept being mean to me. I was devastated at the fact that they wouldn’t accept me as a friend. I went home and asked my grandmother if I could start training. I took jui-jitsu, Muay Thai, and regular kung-fu. The more I trained, the more I felt powerful enough to fight my foes. I tried to be just like Bruce Lee, but that would take intense training.

One day, I met up with my old friend James and his friends. And if they're his friends, they're mine, too. They told me a lot about my favorite anime show, Naruto. They knew more than I did, and I had thought I was a master at that, but life isn’t all that easy. I realized that I should look into things more to be better than I was. When school was over, I went to my martial arts class to train all the way. I was tired of people thinking they could fight me, even though they didn’t know what I was capable of. I started running 15 laps around my house almost every day. I think all the training paid off when I fought my older cousin.

I fought my cousin at the dojo in Concord. At first, I didn’t know what to do, but when he first hit me my rage overpowered me. He kicked me, then I raised my fist in the air with full force to the jaw. He dodged it and came up with the same uppercut I did, but he was slow with his attack. I kicked him in the shin, then kneed him in the jaw with a powerful force. He was pretty unconscious when I hit him. Lucky it was a practice brawl, or he would have been on his way to the hospital. After that fight I asked for another fight, but no one wanted to fight. Some people were tired from training, so I just left the gym.

I felt like the greatest fighter, but it was my rage that gave me the edge I needed to defeat my opponents. I was so strong that I could fight an army of fighters, but I could not control my power. I could have killed my cousin from that knee to the jaw. I shouldn’t have let my anger get to me. I tried to calm down but it was too much. That day was victorious but frightening.

I won so many times that I could have been an assassin. That day was the best day I could ask for.

There Was A Fire?!?

by SB

Wednesday was a very exciting day. Bruno, Jack and I were just hanging out at the usual place, preparing to play soccer. Suddenly, the air felt warm. I looked toward the band room and saw that the recycling bin was burning a crimson blaze. Who had done this? We did not know, but we did know that this was the best day of our life. Bruno and I quickly evacuated everyone in the vicinity. Jack took his spare water hose from his life jacket and began to douse the fire. Then a student closed the lid on the bin and Jack, red-faced, fled the scene faster than a Ninjask (the fastest Pokemon ever)! Bruno and I were forced by Mr.Weekes to stop our lifesaving and evacuate ourselves. Alex sprinted to the fire alarm faster than Wilma Rudoph in the 1960 Olympics.

The wicked being who created this fire fled the scene, but within minutes, the fighters of fire had arrived. Mr. Smith claimed he saw the flames reach 15 feet high. The seventh graders scrambled faster than gravy-covered cats in a barn full of bloodhounds. The teachers attempted to keep the children in order but they refused! They repeatedly ran around the yard with their shirts off, screaming “Anarchy!” and “Fire!” and “This is not a drill!” Eventually, Ms.Crockett just started sending people home. The huge meeting in the gym after the fire was really exciting; Ms.Crockett was as angry as an Agron (a Pokemon that gets angry really easily)!

Whoever did this was expelled, she claimed, but no one believed her, for she was soft-hearted. Then, suddenly, we heard a huge explosion, and all the windows shattered. We ran outside screaming. Jack, Bruno and I helped evacuate everybody. Then we ran outside the building, which was now on fire. The explosion was caused by a car driving into the blazing dumpster, causing the sulfuric acid from the car battery to explode.

Ms. Crockett fled faster than a Frosslass (a Pokemon with fast feet)! It was up to the students to put out all the fires. The firefighters had fled, Jack’s life jacket hose had been depleted, and the gym was becoming more and more engulfed in flames! Bruno hopped the fence to the fire department and took a fire hose and began to douse the fire. The day was saved thanks to the Three Musketeers! Ms.Thaler, Mr. Smith and Mr. Finch rewarded us with a great chicken pancake breakfast, a feast fit for a Wailord (the largest Pokemon known to man) and we lived happily ever after. I learned that day that the teachers had no way of saving us during a serious event, and after that I promised myself to never trust a teacher again, because they fled the fire.

The Walking Dead

by EB

The summer of 2009 was possibly the best summer ever. I found myself shooting zombies, hiding out, and reading lines off a piece of paper. I was the star of a movie my friend Meghan and I made based on our favorite comic book, The Walking Dead. Here’s how it all began.

First, Meghan got me addicted to all the comics she ever read. One day she threw a pile of randomly selected comics on the table, from The Green Lantern to Iron Man to Ghost Rider. I didn’t know which one to read first! Finally I chose one called The Walking Dead: Volume 4.

“Read the first one… it’s best if you start at the beginning.” She scrambled through the books. A horrible cover of zombies and gore caught my eye, blood and rotting flesh everywhere. I was overcome with enjoyment; I couldn’t wait to read it and experience the gore for myself.

I opened it up and read the first page. A police officer named Rick was shooting at some zombies. I couldn’t stop reading. After I got done with the first, I continued… and before I knew it, I was finished with the whole series.

“Meghan, we have to make this into a movie. It’s too good to not be as famous as Iron Man. This is crazy!”
For the next few months, we planned and bought props and wigs and wrote out a script. We came to a bump, though.
“Uh…Erin, do you own a video camera?” Meghan asked.
“No, I assumed you had one.” We quickly looked at each other and called everyone we knew to see if they had a camera. None did.
“What are we going to do now? We can’t just give up!”
“We might have to,” she said to me. Then I realized her mom worked at a camera store, and we could borrow a camera from there.

Now that we had resolved that issue, we could get back to shooting zombies and resolving other problems on set. It took two months to prepare and one month to film. It wasn’t an easy process.

Finally, our movie was complete and ready to burn onto a CD. We went out and bought new CD cases and printed out a paper describing who everyone was. We sold 38 copies for 10 dollars each. You do the math. The day after we sold the 38th copy, we saw a devastating commercial. They are making a Walking Dead TV show in the summer of 2010. We did all that work for nothing! We did so much work, and took up our whole summer, and someone ripped us off. I was so mad. I wanted to break all of the extra CDs over my knee and forget everything that happened.

But then I realized it wasn’t just about that. I’d still created something amazing and had the best summer ever, and that’s the most important thing.

$$$ I've Got Some $$$

by KB

It was 7:00 in the morning, and I was walking to school with my brother and my two sisters. There was a guy that was walking with this older lady who dropped some money: 173 dollars, to be exact. I ran to it and picked it up, and when I turned around he was just about to turn the corner. So I ran to meet back up with my older sister and my little sister.

“Look, I’ve found some money!”
“Oooowwww! Let me get some!” My older sister said.
“Girl, no, I’m walking back home to tell mama.”
“I’ll walk with you, Kort-Kort,” my little brother said.
“Okay, come on.” We started to walk back home even though we were only two blocks away from school.
“Kortney can I get some money?” my little brother asked.
“Yup, but when we get home.”
“Okay.”

30 minutes later…

Booom, Booom, Boom!!
“Mama, open the door”
“Who is it?”
“UUUUSSS! Your kids? Rob & Kort!”
“What are ya’ll doing back here?”
“I’ve found 500 dollars.” (I was in second grade, I didn’t know how to count. YET!!)
“What, Let me see!

Later that day…

We were at Southland mall, and my mom took me shopping for shoes and outfits. Before we started shopping we went to this massage stand by Macy’s (just before you walked in). We were there for about 30 minutes, and after we were done we were just about to head to the stores when a HUGE altercation ensued. There was a lady and her husband who ran into me because he was trying to fight his wife. I didn’t know what to do because I was inside of a fight, and my mom is crazy over her kids! So my mom jumped in and was pushing the lady and the man. They’ve got mad and started to argue with my mom; apologized, then started to argue where it started again. Finally, we went shopping. I was so happy that I found that money.

The Riot of the Year

by RB

It started in the 7th grade. We were all doing fine until the last few days of school. Everybody that I didn’t like didn’t like me either. So we all planned to fight on the last day of school. When the day finally came, we all arrived on the baseball field at lunch with bats and chairs.

The next hour went by, then all my patnas jumped in. Mostly all of the student got involved, and then even some of the teachers were in the riot. The principal was hiding in classrooms. They called the police on most of students.

I regret having that riot at school. We shouldn’t have fought. It was kind of stupid to get into such a huge fight over one racist comment. In the end, we all had to do community service for 48 hours.

My life has been crazy since that day. Four days after the riot, my brother Reese died in a car accident. He was in the riot with me, and four days later, he died. When he got into the car accident they let him burn up in the car.

That riot was the first and last riot I will ever be in. I will never be in a riot because that was last thing I did with my brother. I don’t even really like fighting anymore, because it reminds me of him.

Drama

by AB

In my eighth grade year, everything was great and cool. I would be hanging out with my friends and we would just act stupid and play fight most of the time. It was all great… until some mess started.

One day, at 4th period, it was time for us to get dressed for P.E. One of my friends was just walking around when this other girl, the cousin of another girl at our school, came over trying to smash on her like she’s somebody, even though she’s really not. She went up to her saying, “Is you trying to smash on my cousin, saying that you the real wife of this boy? If I wanted to fight you, I would’ve just said it!” And some other stuff.

So my friend smashed back on her, saying, “Yes I did!” And then we all came over trying to see what the situation was, because it really wasn’t that serious. They were about to fight over a boy. So my friend said, “Well, your cousin need to come over and defend for herself, because it’s between me and her.” The other girl said she didn’t care, and then some other people started coming over to see what was happening. Finally, the other girl walked off, saying, “Oh well, just keep my cousin’s name out your mouth.”

Then her best friend jumped in, and said, “That’s not what she said! All she said is I want to drop the mess!” I tried to calm her best friend down, but then her best friend started smashing, saying, “Oh well, I don’t care. It’s between them two. Let them two handle it, didn’t nobody say you had to jump in it.” After that it was all over.
I was glad it didn’t turn into a fight, because like I said, it really wasn’t that serious. I think if a fight had started, someone would have gotten seriously hurt or killed, and it’s just not worth it for some boy.

My Life

by RA

My life has a lot going on in it. I get stressed out because I want to be something. It’s hard- I have to work hard in school and get good grades. That’s a lot of hard work to do. I also have my aunt on my back, so I work even harder in school to get good grades, because she is always on me. I am trying for a 3.0 to see if that will get her off my back.

There is a lot I have to go though, because I have lost so many family and friends in the last three years of my life. Writing about it helps me deal with it.
I always think about how much I miss seeing everyone. I also think about how much I miss my sister, who still lives in Seattle, because she is the only one I got left of my mom, brother, sister and me. School is very stressful because I want to do well. I want my family to be proud of me. I want them to know I can get good grades, and that I will make it in life.

I hate to read, and when my teachers try to make me read, I get mad. I think I am not a good reader. And I don’t want anyone talking about me. I can’t read.
I use writing to overcome the bad things that happened to me in my life. The challenges I faced in my life are hard to overcome. When I talk to my sister, she tells me to calm down and just do my best. I try to do what she says, and it helps me. Sometimes I go for a walk so I can get over what’s going on in my head. That’s why I love talking to my sister.

That’s also why I love English this year. I use the writing we do in class to get out my feelings. English helps me write about what’s going on in my life, and helps me clear my head of everything that is happening. That way, I don’t do bad things and get in trouble. I have too much to lose to mess up now. I have to walk the stage. This is my life and what I go through.

What a Surprise!

by I A-C


It started off like any other Thursday. I had to go to school, then come home and do some homework. By, “some,” I mean “as much as I could finish until I had to go to soccer practice.” The whole week had been so exciting to me, because it was going to be my birthday that Saturday. Usually I hate going to soccer practice, but this time was ok; I was really looking forward to telling people about what I had planned for my birthday. Which was going to be a silly string game, pizza and cake, and Blades of Glory.

I finished my homework, then put on my shorts, shin guards, and cleats. My mom’s friend came through the door just as I was leaving. She had come to help my mom clean the house for her other friend, Mary, who was supposed to come over to have dinner that night. I was happy to get out of the house so I wouldn’t have to help clean. Also, I was eager to do something to get my energy out.

When I got to practice, I had to help my coach carry goals, pinnies, and balls to the field. When we finished, we emptied out the balls and started the practice off with shooting on the goal. That practice, my dad was there to help my coach. When my dad is there I always have so much more fun than when he’s not. Having my dad there is great because he can focus on what I need to fix so I can do my best at my games.

When soccer practice was over I was very sweaty, so I knew that it had been a good practice. When we reached home and went into the building, I got really cold. I was about ten feet away from the door, which was already open. Then my little sister, Chloe, ran out and started to yell, “They’re here, they’re here!” She stopped and ran back into the house. When I got to the doorway I could hear my mom and Mary talking. And then the phone started ringing, so I ran to answer it. Right as I said hello, everyone jumped out from hiding behind a curtain and yelled, “SURPRISE!” I was very confused. The phone call was another one of the ladies wanting to be buzzed in to the building. It was like I was being pulled in four different directions.

The ladies, who have been friends of my family for years, were invited on the premise of sharing their wisdom and wisecracks. All of these ladies have known me and supported me for years, some even before I was born. My mom invited them to celebrate my 14th birthday. It was my mom’s way of celebrating my passage into womanhood. And I must say I was completely surprised.

While I was sitting there listening to the advice they were giving me, I saw my mom start to cry like a faucet that had a permanent leak. Then Chloe’s soccer coach, Beth, said, “I want to be just like Ivy.” Seeing what these awesome ladies thought of me made me realize how lucky I am to have the love and support that’s in my life. When Beth said that, I started to cry along with my mom. No one had ever told me they wanted to be like me before, especially someone who was older.

This party was the best thing that ever happened to me so far. It was amazing to celebrate my birthday with these women. I couldn’t wait to tell everybody about it at school the next day. Thanks to my mom, I’ll have this memory that I will cherish for the rest of my life.

My Eyes

by SA

A school filled with violence and can't-do attitude. What can I do? I imagine being one of the fortunate people who don't have to come to a school like this, who go to a school that can afford many things we can't, but no. It's just a fantasy. The things that happen in school, especially with the teachers, are unavoidable. Most of the teachers in this school are always on your case and don't leave you alone until they see a dramatic change.

This marking period I have been a bit off, and I know teachers expect more from me because, according to them, “You’re smart, and you used to be an angel and respect the teachers.” All that changed this year, either because I started to hang with the wrong crowd, or the teachers started to expect too much from me, and dealing with my home issues on top of all that was just too much for me to take in at once.

For example, one of the teachers I had a serious problem with was Mr. Smith. Every day, I would purposely try to annoy him by saying rude comments, so he would get mad and frustrated. It worked; he would constantly send me out, and I wouldn't even get mad, I would actually be happy because I would be able to get out of class and go somewhere.

All of my actions changed when one of my summer school directors came to my school and started to insist that I do better in every class. Never in my lifetime had I thought that I had people like this, in school, who cared for me and were willing to take time out of their own busy schedules to help me. Not only academically, but emotionally as well.

I started to slack off and everything started to just go bad and ever since then I'd been going downhill. Only one person—actually, two people I know-- will be there for me when I am down or have any issues.