The 2am Phone Call

The 2 am Phone Call Has Its Regrets

The 2 am Phone Call Has Its Regrets.

Life as we know it. Can be mysterious and painful, straightforward and pleasant

I met Erin in 11th grade; I remember her walking into the classroom with platinum hair color making her stand out and unique. I instantly knew I wanted to become her friend.

Fun fact about me, I always get what I want, so Erin and I became BFFs.

We had many mutual feelings especially when it came to our school and classmates. We both hated our high school as it had terrible and stinky bathrooms, ugly classrooms, and sometimes a mean staff. In my schools perception being mean is best for students as it puts students in their places. Which is utter B.S as my school was a mess at all times and all it cared about was its reputation. Also, Erin and I disliked some of our classmates, as they were narrow-minded and shallow.

During 11th grade, Erin and I became close friends with Bella whose been going to our school since the age of 4, therefore, unlike us, Bella loved our school and was emotionally attached to it.

By the end of the our senior year, our school organised a field trip to a place our class had visited the year before, which was not very exciting. It was also a very lame move from our school and as Erin and I disliked accompanying our classmates, we decided not to go. However, Bella wanted to go and even tried talking us out of our "ridiculous decision".

Days passed by and our school trip was the next day, or actually it was that same day except at 9 am. At 2 am that morning, Erin called

"Hey Hailey, I have been thinking about this field trip", she said letting out a sigh, "And as it happens to be our senior year, I think we should go"

"But, we went there last year and we did not have fun" I replied.

"I really think that we will regret not going. ITS OUR SENIOR YEAR IT HAPPENS ONLY ONCE IN A LIFETIME. It'll be me, you, and Bella. We'll ignore the others". She tried convincing me.

Another fact about me is that I hate regretting things, so I agreed on going. Little did we know that this 2 am phone call was going to take things downhill.

We were on the bus, Erin sat near the bus door as she felt claustrophobic and Bella and I sat behind her by a couple of seats. On our way to our destination, our supervisor 1.0 noticed that the bus driver, Kamil was speeding so she asked him to slow down. However, Kmail did not slow down and nearly hit another car which earned him a yell from the student body and supervisor 1.0. He got pissed and used some harsh words (which you would not use) towards a supervisor who her son Tyler happened to be on the bus.

Tyler grew angry at the driver's behaviour and wanted to attack him, but the student body did not allow that to happen. Afterwards, Kamil humiliated my classmate; her name was Mia. Mia is a short girl around 1.5m and she was standing in the bus like the rest of the student body singing to the songs that were being played. She was leaning on the window, and it seemed to the driver, through his mirrors, that she was sitting at edge of the windows. He yelled at her saying, "Get your ass off my window, right now!". That, as well, earned him a shout from everybody. Even after explaining to him that he was wrong he did not apologise for his rudeness.

I was no longer in the mood for the trip and even regretted coming. But I did place a smile on my face just like everyone else, trying our best to make the best of this trip as it will be our last.

As we reached our destination, we all hopped off the bus and entered the village resort which has multiple activities such as a zip line and some tree-surfing adventures. Let me clarify as to why I said that this place is boring. I have been here before, and in the past, I have done more exciting adventures that would knock your adrenaline levels over the edge.

During our stay there, Erin informed her that she was fighting with her boyfriend. I tried my best to cheer her up and take her mind off things. Little did we know that this would be the least of our problems.

Later, on our way back, Kamil decided to drive faster. Unbelievable, right?! He was going fast on roads he shouldn't. I was sitting next to Bella and Erins boyfriend trying to calm him down as well. Later the bus drops off Bella, and I decided to listen to some music and to rest my eyes.

I felt a thud on the bus. Kamil kept going and even accelerated, but then my classmates shouted at him to stop the bus. I took my earphones out trying to understand what has happened. The moment he stopped many got off the bus and rushed towards a car way behind the bus. It turns out that Kamil hit a car and attempted a hit-and-run!

What I gathered later is the following:

-The car we hit was trying to escape a police chase as the driver possessed illegal drugs, cocaine. Some claimed that he was high while driving.

-The druggies car happened to crash into a car behind us that had three female passengers which they eventually lost control over their vehicle and hit a tree.

Many students rushed to help those girls. Broken glass was spread all over the road, alongside with fuel that has leaked out of the car's broken fuel tank. The airbags were burst open. All the girls were stuck in the car, and even one of them was in a critical condition.

Meanwhile, I got off to find Erin walking to the other side of the bus to observe the impact. However, I rushed towards Erin knowing the fact that she was standing in the middle of the road, shocked, and shaking. I grabbed her by the arm and pulled her gently towards the side of the road.

As I pulled her aside, she got dizzy and collapsed to the ground. I quickly grabbed her by the torso and pulled her to the pathway. Her breath shortened as she started shaking vigorously. I figured she was having a panic attack. I instantly made sure her soundings were safe and began to talk gently to her while massaging her hand and sometimes her shoulders. I was trying to comfort her while taking her mind off things, and it worked! Erin calmed down; her breathing pattern was back to regular UNTIL, supervisor 2.0 came shouting at us??!!

While I politely explained to her Erin's situation, she would still yell at me saying it is not my job to help Erin.

I lost my shit but calmly said, "If you knew how to help, you would not be shouting around her as that makes her nervous and increases her chances of getting another panic attack". She then left us alone as she had to deal with other students. I knew yelling and shouting would make her situation worse. And it did; Erin got another panic attack which was way worse than the one before.

I quickly called the ambulance. I stayed with her as the bus took the rest of the students back to the school so their parents could pick them up. I refused to go and leave Erin behind with supervisor 2.0 who was being absurd at the time. As a result, supervisor 2.0 and I stayed with Erin along with her boyfriend who I, later on, informed him about her condition. As to why I did not notify him from the very beginning is because he was helping the other girls and I knew as it is his girlfriend he would not handle the situation as calmly. The first aid emergency team was unable to treat Erin on the spot as her conditioned worsened; so they took her to the hospital.

I stayed in touch with her brother to make sure she got a 100% better. And she did get well. However, do you remember the other three girls who were stuck in the car? One of them did not make it that night, and that tore my heart apart.

"I hate my high school" is an understatement.

My high school did not fire Kamil; however, they covered up for his behaviour and ripped off the school's logo off the damaged bus so that the schools reputation won't get ruined. The school also entirely blamed the druggie as they refused to acknowledge the part where Kamil was driving the school bus like a maniac the entire day.

A beautiful soul was lost that night. That girl was torn from her family and loved ones because of two reckless drivers. Because of a dumbass school who would hire a dumbass driver that is reckless, impatient, and rude. Because the Lebanese government sucks at protecting its citizen's safety and capturing druggies.

P.s: The drug addict, who had stashes of cocaine, had been known to the authorities for years and was kept out of prison by corrupted and powerful people.