The Haunted Homecoming Part 2

"I'm not surprised though. You know, after what happened." Susie continued looking me in the eye. "What happened?" I asked. "This high school wasn't always this way. It was fully functioning back in the 1980's. They had a homecoming just like the one we had. Some of the popular seniors were outside smoking and one of the boys forgot to put out one cigarette. The cigarette caught fire quickly and it started to burn down a part of the school. The fire killed like 10 students and some of the teachers who tried to put it out. The school got rebuilt after and the workers say that they heard girls screaming and footsteps from nowhere." Susie said. "Wow." I said. "Are you saying that it's haunted?" I said. "Of course." Susie said, matter-of-factly. I gulped.

When I was done interviewing Susie, I met up with Jack and Riley. Jack didn't have much information from the teacher because the teacher was in a hurry to grade papers and Riley said that she was too busy confronting the DJ to get information. When I told Susie's story, Jack and Riley's eyes widen. "Wow, an actual haunting!" Jack said. "Are you sure she's telling the truth? I mean, it's Susie." Riley said. "I don't know. It could be a myth."I said. "There's only one way to find out." Jack said with a smile.

"Hey, I found something!" Jack said when we got home from the dance. Riley's dad was a historian so he let us search through his old newspaper articles for the story that Susie told me. "Fire Blazes Through Local High School. 10 are Killed." I read aloud. "What the date?" Riley asked. "October 31, 1986." I said. "It seems that Susie told the truth!" Jack said. I read through the article and it told the same information that Susie had told me. "Who was the writer?" "Patricia Peters." I said. Riley looked at me and said, "Do you think that there's a connection between her and Susie?" "I don't know." Jack said. 

The Haunted Homecoming

Homecoming. Another excuse for girls to wear expensive dresses and guys to show how "cool" they are. It's just another school dance for me and the rest of the self-proclaimed "nerds." "I can't believe you're not going to homecoming this year!" my best friend, Riley, said. "It's just another dance, Riley." I kept on saying. "It's going to be special this year! It's going to be on Halloween! Your favorite holiday!" Riley kept on saying. "You're not going to quit, are you?" I finally asked her. "Nope." Riley said with a smile. I rolled my eyes and said "Fine." Riley squealed and hugged me tightly. "You're not going to regret it, Sam!" I sure hope not.

The homecoming dance was held in this old abandoned high school that was open for school events. My school went all out for this one dance which didn't surprise me at all. "I love this song!" Riley squealed the minute that we walked in the door. I cringed, anything on the Top 40 made me cringe. I mostly listened to 70's and 80's music. "Sam!" I heard. Oh, great, Jack is here. Jack has had a crush on me ever since we shared a peanut butter and banana sandwich when we were five. He claims that he can win my heart anytime but his shyness always failed him. "Do you want to dance?" He said, talking a huge breath. "Sure." I said, realizing that it was better than just sitting around seeing Riley dance with the whole entire football team. We danced to a couple of songs and then the lights went out. Everybody started to scream and I suddenly felt myself hold Jack's hand. When the lights went on again, people started to murmur. "AHHH!" I heard a girl screamed. "It's Riley! Come on!" I yelled to Jack. When Jack and I got to her, nothing was there. "I saw a ghost! I swear!" Riley kept on insisting. 

I assumed that everybody had left the dance because we got back to the dance floor, it was pretty much deserted. All I saw was the obviously frightened DJ, a school news reporter, and a teacher. We all decided to split up and have me interview the reporter, Jack interview the teacher, and Riley interview the DJ. "Oh hey, Sam." The reporter said. I rolled my eyes, knowing immediately who it was. The reporter was Susie Peters. Susie was a freshman who always tried to hang out with the juniors and seniors. She believes that being the school reporter automatically makes you "in" with the popular kids. She totally needs a clue. "It was pretty scary what happened!" I said, trying to make Susie talk. "Yeah, I guess so. It's a shame that everybody left. They missed the best part! The aftermath!" Susie said, getting really excited. 

Words Hurt

"She's such a loser." "Nobody likes her." "She's so ugly and stupid." filled the hallway at Ronald Regan High School. The words were said by the meanest girl in school Lindsay. Lindsay was so evil that little kids cringed when she came in the room and puppies cowered. Her victim? Me. Ever since we were eight, Lindsay have been constantly picking on me. My dad left us when I was born and my mom had a hard time raising me because she was a young single mom just barely out of high school. When I was 11, my mom eventually ran away with her boyfriend and I was left alone to raise myself. Lindsay found this out and teased me about it constantly. She said that I was unloved and the real reason my mom left me because I was so ugly that she cried everyday when she was with me. I cried my eyes out when she said that but my teachers never said anything. When I was 13, I was diagnosed with depression. I was miserable and Lindsay just made it all worse. I came home one day and started to cut myself with a razor I found in the drawer and as I saw the blood dripping down, I felt powerless and out of control. I am 16 years old and today I won't be crying in the bathroom, dodging Lindsay's comments, and hiding from people. I won't even be at school. I won't be around in my neighborhood, my hair flapping as I ride my bike. I won't be around at all because today, I took my own life.