The End

Rylee

The cafeteria was filled with the buzz of gossip surrounding some English class. Rylee made her way towards the long line of students preparing to get their lunches. The line was slow moving and seemed to crawl at a snail's pace. Rylee groaned, throwing her head back. She slipped her phone out of her pocket and put her wireless earbuds in her ears. She tapped on some random playlist and closed her eyes listening to the music. A rough force shoved against her shoulder making Rylee stumble forward. She turned around with a glare on her face daring the intruder to make a move. She turned back around to face the line and moved the inch of progress the line had made forward. After what seemed an eternity, Rylee made her way up to the counter to pick what inedible objects the school calls food. She picked a soup that had some weird mystery meat and a shiny red apple that had a single brown bruise. She then grabbed a water bottle and walked over to pay for her items. Without paying attention she pulled out a twenty and paid the older lady with graying mousy brown hair and tired eyes. She quickly took her change and tried to find the asian girl from her homeroom. She scanned the cafeteria for the small girl but could not find her. She sighed and walked over to an empty seat. She played with her food in annoyance. She stirred her soup slowly through the thick sickly green broth. She almost gagged thinking about what went into that nasty concoction the school called food.Out of the corner of her eyes Rylee saw a tray plunk onto the table. Rylee looked up and was surprised to see the girl from her homeroom sitting across from her.

Rylee grinned, "I see you couldn't get enough of me!"

Jessica scoffed, "Of course not! You are a brat who stole my bag! Unfortunately, I'm big on keeping promises so here I am."

"Well it's not like you would have sat within anyone else," she smirked, "You haven't made any friends since your arrival in August. So I believe I was doing you a favor by being a brat or whatever."

Jessica's face grew red with anger.

"You are a bitch!"

"And you are an antisocial asshole!"

The two glared at each other waiting for one of them to look away first. Rylee stared straight in Jessica's dark brown eyes that almost looked black.

"I'm sorry," Jessica said sighing.

Rylee nodded, "I'm sorry too."

"So where did you move from?"

"San Francisco."

"Whew, that's a long way from here!" Rylee whistled.

"Yeah," she agreed glumly.

"What do you miss the most?" Rylee asked softly.

"The ocean. The mist and the smell of the sea. I used to walk along the beaches..." Jessica replied wistfully.

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault."

The power suddenly turned off and darkness filled the cafeteria. The once buzzing conversations dropped and silence ensued. Rylee looked at Jessica with a puzzled look.

"It must be the storm," Jessica reassured.

The dim lights of phones being taken out of pockets, backpacks and pursed fills the room with a soft light. Rylee takes out her own phone and looks at her home screen. State of Emergency flashed on to the young teens phone screen. She quickly unlocked her phone for details. Panic set into her heart and she wasn't the only one. Others throughout the room started to shift and conversations started up again but this time there was a tone of fear. The principal, Mrs. Dowel, walked into the room.

"Everyone settle down!" Mrs. Dowel yelled, "Sit down in your seats and listen carefully. I do not want to repeat myself!"

Students made their way back to their seats slowly and conversation began to die down again.

"Good," Mrs. Dowel cleared her throat, "A large storm has moved in making it impossible to travel. Roads are flooded, trees are and everyone across the city is in lockdown. The town has declared a state of emergency at the moment. Do not worry! We are trying to get as much information as we can. For now classes will proceed as scheduled! Afterwards, you will report to your home room teachers to receive further instruction. Please pay attention in your classes and behave! You are dismissed to your classes now!"

Rylee and Jessica looked at each other nervously before getting up and heading to their classes.