MEATDINNER

Hey hey friend how are you feeling today?

Hey, if Wattpad somehow summoned you to my page to read what I just published, well I need to let you know that this trashy app wouldn’t let me upload it all in one announcement so I had to break it up into parts, so scroll down to the very bottom and read your way up.
          
          Enjoy my trauma✨

*Part 7*
          
          Anyways, now onto the second question that you are probably thinking.
          
          How the fuck do you accidentally intiate a lockdown?!
          
          Well, buckle up cuz boi Imma make you wanna punch the screen right now.
          
          Apparently, the front office hired some lady to be the new secretary. 
          
          That was her first day.
          
          And instead of pressing the button that rings the bell to announce that 3rd lunch was over…
          
          Well, she pressed the lockdown button.
          
          Amazing first impressions, am I right?
          
          In all seriousness though, I took some time to think about what happened.
          
          It could very well be real.
          
          In the world we live in today, there is no reason it would not happen.
          
          Living in the USA, students and teachers have to train on how to act in case this situation becomes a reality.
          
          Just the fact we have to train, the fact that it is normal for us to train, is unbearably sad.
          
          We are just kids, so I don’t see why we have to always be prepared to die at any given moment.
          
          *All of this actually happened to me on Monday, Oct 10th, 2022. This is all very real.*
          

*Part 6*
          
          And now in case you were wondering why the heck there were so many screams downstairs if nobody was shot; well it’s because people in the cafeteria did not hear the lockdown announcement, but rather saw flashing lights instead and were probably the last people to finally get what was going on.
          
          And as they realized they were in the most open space in the school, they were thrown into a fit of panic and started screaming and running around, not knowing where to go since all the classrooms were already locked by teachers.
          
          And even though the lunch ladies were kind enough to get some of the students to hide in the kitchen, most of the cafeteria kids had nowhere to go. 
          
          If there was an actual shooter in there, these kids would have all been dead.
          
          Thankfully, my sister got a bit lucky. She was already heading upstairs after she finished her lunch, and when the lockdown was initiated, a random teacher ordered her to get in her class and she was safely hidden in there.
          
          Well, as safely as you could be, locked in a classroom.

*Part 5*
          
          “All is clear. All is clear.” The robotic voice interrupted my thoughts.
          
          We all looked at each other with utter confusion.
          
          Huh?
          
          That’s it?
          
          Even though some of us looked relieved, none of us dared to move an inch.
          
          We all probably suspected that the shooter was trying to trick us to come out.
          
          That he had somehow sneaked into the front office and had cleared the lockdown.
          
          Well, that is until another announcement followed.
          
          One whose voice I immediately recognized as one of the assistant principals.
          
          “Ladies and gentlemen, we apologize for the interruption. The lockdown that was initiated earlier was a false alarm. I repeat, the lockdown that was initiated earlier was a false alarm. We sincerely apologize for the disruption, but we assure you that everything is fine and that we are safe. Thank you so much and again we are so sorry.” 
          
          For the second time, we stared at each other with utter disbelief.
          
          Son of a-
          
          I slowly got up from my crouched position and texted my sister.
          
          “We are okay.”
          
          “Yeah.” She replied.
          
          And just then I allowed myself to cry.
          
          I was so scared. We were all so scared.
          
          But we are fine now, I kept telling myself, this was all a false alarm, there was no shooter in the school.
          
          But no matter how many times I kept telling myself that over and over again, I could not stop shaking until 2 hours later, after my 7th period.
          
          And yes, we were still expected to finish the school day after that.

*Part 4*
          
          Just then we started hearing screams coming from downstairs.
          
          Downstairs where my little sister was having lunch.
          
          I immediately fumbled through my pocket to find my phone, felt my breath growing more and more shallow.
          
          “Are you okay?” I texted her, and every second that went by without her seeing the message felt like I was drowning.
          
          I kept on praying “I beg you please be fine,” “Oh God please don’t take my sister away,” “Oh God let the shooter walk my way but not hers,” “I promise I’ll be a better human being, I’ll be a better sister, just give me a chance.”
          
          “Yeah, I’m fine” She finally replied back after what seemed like an eternity but was actually about 30 seconds later, nonetheless I was somewhat relieved.
          
          I looked at the ceiling and closed my eyes as I listened to the screams that were still coming from downstairs.
          
          They seemed to be non-stop.
          
          I hoped that it was just another stupid nightmare.
          
          Certainly wouldn’t be the first time I had a nightmare about a school shooter.
          
          Certainly wouldn’t be the last.
          
          “All is clear. All is clear.” The robotic voice interrupted my thoughts.

*This is part 3*
          
          I got up from my seat, my heart already starting to beat faster, and ordered the two other students in the room to hide in the corner.
          
          “Is this a drill?” One of them asked.
          
          “I don’t think so, now go!” I repeated as the two of us started frantically running to the corner but I turned my head when I noticed the second student was still frozen in her seat.
          
          Right next to the still open door.
          
          She was sitting there, looking around in disbelief, almost as if she was still trying to comprehend the situation.
          
          I cussed under my breath and walked towards the door once more and started dragging her by the arm to go hide in the corner as the students from the lab started filling the room.
          
          Some students were crying, others were shaking with wide eyes, some even covered their mouths in an attempt to muffle their whimpering. 
          
          We all sat in the corner and watched the teacher turn off the lights, lock the door, cover the glass, add the door stopper.
          
          As the room grew darker, we realized that there was yet one light that was not turned off.
          
          The light stand that is in the very corner of the room we are hiding at.
          
          The light stand that had its light switch right under me.
          
          “Shit!” I muttered while trying to move around to get that damned light switch.
          
          Everyone was whisper-yelling at me to get it, but we were so packed that I could not even reach beneath me.
          
          So, I decided to simply pull the plug behind me.
          
          Just then we started hearing screams coming from downstairs.
          
          Downstairs where my little sister was having lunch.

*This is part 2*
          
          “Lockdown! Lock, lights, out of sight!” A robotic male voice echoed throughout the hallways.
          
          We all knew exactly what that meant, we all heard it before.
          
          We would hear it about once a month, actually.
          
          It was not unusual for us to be told to get up from our seats and go sit in the corner farthest from the door and bring our knees to our chests.
          
          It was not unusual for us to watch the teacher turn off the lights and lock the door.
          
          It was not unusual for us to watch the teacher cover the glass of the door with some sort of magnetic cardboard and add a door stopper.
          
          It was not unusual for us to watch in silence as the door knob turned with the door being attempted to be opened from the outside.
          
          But here is the thing, we always knew it was a drill.
          
          We always knew that the person trying to “break in” the room was probably some security officer trying to check that we were actually doing the drill.
          
          We always knew that the robotic voice would eventually come back on the PA system and declare that “all is clear” and that we can go on with whatever boring assignment we were doing in class.
          
          We always knew that it was not real, that we were safe.
          
          But today, as I watched my teacher’s eyes fill with fear, as I watched her frantically get up from her desk and run to the anatomy laboratory next door upon hearing that a lockdown is initiated, as I watched her yell at the kids in there and any students that happen to be in the hallways to get inside the classroom, I knew.
          
          I knew that this was not a drill.

*This is part 1* 
          
          I thought I might die today.
          
          For about 10 minutes, I believed with my entire being that I might not be able to go home tonight. 
          
          That I might not see my family ever again.
          
          That I might not see my little sister ever again. 
          
          For about 10 minutes, I believed with my entire being that my face might end up on the news.
          
          That I might become another one of those poor students that lost their lives to yet one more terrible tragedy.
          
          That I might become a painful memory for my family.
          
          For about 10 minutes, I believed with my entire being that I might die today.
          
          A few hours ago I was sitting in my fifth period—Student Council, sending emails to teachers, making flyers for upcoming events, posting about our teacher of the month, planning what to give to our Principal for National Principal Appreciation Month, y’know the regular duties of a StuCo body officer.
          
          But as I worked quietly in the semi-empty classroom, nothing could have prepared me for the announcement that brought my school to entire chaos in less than ten seconds.
          
          “Lockdown! Lock, lights, out of sight!” A robotic male voice echoed throughout the hallways.