Morrison High -Megan

At Morrison High School there are 75 excited freshmen. We are excited because tomorrow we will be leaving for the Snow Cap Ski Resort. I, and all of the other freshmen, have been waiting the whole year for this trip. It’s not educational and I get to be away from my little brother, Nick, for 6 days. What’s not to love? Plus, I am rooming with my best friend Sarah, and my other best friend Jeremy is right across the hall from us. He doesn’t know whom he is rooming with yet though. I can’t wait, but I guess I should be listening to what Ms. Tay is saying.

* * * * *

After math class was lunch, the best class of the day. I always sat with Sarah and Jeremy. Jeremy was never late for lunch except for some rare occasions. However, they are called rare for a reason.
“Why do they always serve fish sticks on Thursdays? They are so disgusting!”
“I don’t know, I guess they like making us throw up.” Sarah always had something funny to say. You could mention anything and she could make a joke out of it.
“I wonder where Jeremy is, he usually isn’t late for lunch.”
“Yeah, he’s probably trying to figure out whom he is rooming with. That’s been bugging him all week.”
“It will probably be some dork that we’ve never heard of.”
“It wouldn’t surprise me,” I figured. There he was, running to our table with his food. He never missed lunch and always hated to be late for it.
“Where were you?”
“I was talking to the principal and trying to figure out who I’m rooming with.”
“What did he say?”
“He said I’m rooming with some guy named Alex Bailey, whoever that is.” Alex Bailey? How could he not know who Alex Bailey is? He’s the quarterback in football, and he’s the point guard on the basketball team. He is cute, funny, and pretty smart. How could you not like him?
“Alex Bailey is the quarterback and he’s point guard. He’s pretty popular.” If I told Jeremy that I liked him, he would say something to him at the resort and I didn’t want to take any chances. RRRRIIIIINNNNNNGGGGGGG!
“Got to go. See ya!”
“Yeah, bye guys!”

* * * * *

After school I always walked home. I only live two blocks away from the school. It would be stupid to ride the bus. Anyway, as soon as I get home I always do my homework, but today none of the teachers gave us homework because of the field trip. So I’ll have to find something else to do. I can’t pack my bags because I already did that, and I have to stay in my room to stay away from Nick. I know I can get out the book that I’ve been trying to finish.

As he thought, he realized that what he did was wrong. He shouldn’t tell the girl that is in love with him that he doesn’t like her. He only told her that because he didn’t think she was popular. So he decided that he had to make things right.

I loved reading stories like this. I think I like them because I wish that things like that would happen to me, but they never do. Wow, I’m tired I guess I better get some rest. I just can’t wait ‘til tomorrow.
“Bethany, wake up! You don’t want to miss the bus to the ski resort!” Yes! The day I’ve been waiting for all year is finally here!
“I’m coming!” I got out of bed, ran to the bathroom, and took a shower, and finally got dressed. I ran back to my room and thought about what to do with my hair. If Alex was going to be on my bus, it had to look good. Decidedly, I put my hair half up and half down. Grabbing my bags, I bolted into the kitchen, wanting to get out of here before Nick woke up.
“AAAHHHHH!” Too late, Nick came running into the kitchen with a plastic golf club.
“Go away, I just want to eat breakfast and get out of here!” I had to hurry up because Sarah was coming here in 15 minutes and we were going to walk to the school together. When we got there, we were supposed to look for Jeremy. If he were smart, he would have Alex with him. To my disappointment, he isn’t that smart.

* * * * *

“Sarah, I can’t wait for this trip, especially because Alex will have to hang out with Jeremy, and Jeremy will be hanging out with us! What could go wrong?”
“I don’t know, but Jeremy always finds a way to mess things up.”
“That may be true, but I am not going to let him mess this up.”
Alex came over, saying, “Hey guys! This is my roommate, Jeremy.”
“Hey Jeremy. Hi Alex. So, do you guys have to hang out with each other this whole trip?” It’s so hard to keep cool when Alex is around.
“Yeah, I’m supposed to hang out with Jeremy because we’re in the same room. So I guess I’ll be seeing a lot of you two, then.”
“Yeah, I guess you will.” Yes! Alex will be hanging out with us the whole trip! I just hope that I don’t do anything stupid when he’s around. Then, Mr. Young stepped into view.
“If you are assigned to bus one please say your goodbyes and get into the seat of your choice.”
“Okay. We can sit in the very back seat, and Sarah and Bethany can sit across from us.” He knows my name and he wants us to sit by him! Now I know for sure that this trip couldn’t get any better.

* * * * *

Good thing I had my I-pod. Right after we pulled onto the highway, almost everyone fell asleep. I was the only one in the back half of the bus awake. I sat in the isle while Sarah sat up against the window. Jeremy was in the same position across from us and let Alex have the isle seat.
Suddenly, I felt a tap on my shoulder. I paused the song and pulled out my headphones. Looking over, I saw that it was Alex who tapped me.
“Hey. Just wondering if you were awake. I thought I was the only one up, but I guess I’m not. You can go back to your I-pod.” That was weird. He acted like he wanted to say more but changed his mind. I guess it doesn’t matter. After all, if it were something important he would have said it. Then I drifted off to sleep.

* * * * *

A while later, I felt another tap. I turned off my I-pod and put it away.
“Its 11:30. We‘re stopping for lunch. Wake Sarah up, me and Jeremy will meet you inside.” Alex sounded so cute when he talked....
“Okay. We’ll save you a seat.”
After we ate, we started back up and got on the highway. Pretty much everyone was awake now, and it was loud. Sarah and I were playing cards on top of one of our books while Jeremy and Alex were just talking and playing some kind of punching game. Suddenly, the bus driver began to talk through the speakers.
“Hey, kids, you might want to look outside because we are starting to drive up a mountain. We are just getting into the Rockies.”
I like nature and the outdoors, but I never liked driving up mountains. I was always afraid of falling down a cliff or something. I know that won’t happen, though. The odds are too slim.
Everyone resumed his or her activities, and the bus was loud once more. After a while, however, the bus became quiet though nobody was really asleep. I was playing games on my I-pod and wasn’t paying any attention to what was going on around me. The bus stopped on the side of the road for no apparent reason. I put away my I-pod. As I did so, there was a ping and a puff of smoke came hurdling out of the engine. The bus driver got out and opened the hood. More smoke came out and I could hear him coughing. He got out his cell phone and dialed a number. As he did this, everyone on the bus began to talk once more. Nobody knew what was going on or what they were supposed to do. The bus driver hopped back into the bus soon afterwards and made an announcement.
“Everyone, please stay seated. We are having engine problems. I have informed the other busses and there is help on the way. Sorry, kids, you are going to be a little late getting to the resort.” As he said that a huge wave of moans swept the bus. Everyone was upset, but there was nothing that we could do about it. After a while, help arrived. A man in a tow truck looked at the engine and was talking to the bus driver. The man got some tools out of his truck and began to work on the bus. After about fifteen minutes, he nodded to the bus driver and drove away. The bus driver got back into the bus and we were on the road again. Everyone seemed excited, but after a while everyone did his or her own thing. I was pretty tired and decided to take a nap.

* * * * *

After a while, I woke up to the sound of screeching tires and screaming. I opened my eyes and saw that we were flying down a mountain. It looked like the bus driver couldn’t control the steering wheel and was slamming his foot on the brakes in vain. We ran over a bump and I fell into the isle. I saw Sarah lying on the floor under the seat in front of us. I looked up and Alex saw that Sarah and I were on the floor. Then, he and Jeremy slid onto the floor as well. It must have looked safer on there. Then, I heard a loud bang of metal followed by tearing grass and plants. We had gone off the road. I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth together. Then, I heard a bang over the screams followed by a big thud, then silence.

* * * * *
I opened my eyes, not sure of what I would see. Looking around, I saw I was in the back of the bus, but somehow I had slid to the middle. The front of the bus was smashed into a tree. I couldn’t even see the driver’s seat or the door. All it looked like was smashed metal. I crawled to the back where my seat was. I looked under our seat and saw Sarah. She was lying there with her eyes closed and her fists clenched, but she was alive. I tapped her and she opened her eyes. We were both too afraid to talk, but we could tell what the other was thinking. She sat up and pointed behind me. I realized that I had forgotten about Jeremy and Alex. I shook them both and they sat up. Alex signaled for us to follow as he opened the back door. We all jumped out and ran to what was left of the front of the bus. It looked like and accordion glued to a tree. I just noticed that Sarah had a pretty bad cut on her head.
“Are you okay, Sarah?”
“Yeah, I just don’t feel too good. I can’t even remember how I hit my head.”
“Jeremy, make sure Sarah is okay and Bethany and I will look around the inside of the bus. Is that okay with you, Beth?” Alex asked.
“Yeah, that’s fine.” I wanted to help and make sure that everyone is ok, but I didn’t really want to search the bus. Just being near there gave me a feeling of death and despair. I guess it would be okay as long as I wasn’t in there alone.
We hopped back into the bus through the back. Alex repeatedly said, “Hello? Come on guys. Please wake up! Everyone get up! The bus isn’t safe.” We went seat by seat; making sure everyone was okay and telling them to get out using the back door. By the time we reached the teachers, there were still a few people who hadn’t gotten up yet. The teachers said that they would see to them. What really scared me was that nobody could find the bus driver. We thought ominously that he was dead somewhere in the accordion metal.
After everyone able had gotten off the bus, the teachers separated us into groups and took care of all of the injured people. The teachers instructed everyone to stay in their group. Sarah, Jeremy and Alex were in my group with some others. The teachers told us that there were a few people missing. We assumed that those were the students on the bus that wouldn’t get up. It scared me to think that I had touched dead people. I was scared along with everyone else. I could tell that even the teachers were scared: Why shouldn’t they be? We had just experienced a life-changing event. We could have all died.... I feel incredibly lucky right now.
The teachers tried to call for help with their cell phones but they couldn’t get any service. We got what bags we could get out of the bus and used different clothes to keep warm. It was cold, and we all had to stay close together and hide behind trees to keep away from the wind. It was almost dark and I was really scared. I didn’t know what kind of animals could be out there and I didn’t want to find out. All I knew was that the only reason that we were just sitting there was because the teachers didn’t think it was safe to walk around at night. All I could do was lie there and go to sleep.

* * * * *

When I woke up, it was light out and freezing cold. Shivering to a point where I couldn’t stop, I sat up, others joining me. I guess some people just didn’t want to be the only ones awake. As I saw the teachers trying to wake everyone up, I turned to Sarah.
“Wake up, Sarah. Wake up! I think we're going to leave. Wake up!”
“Okay, okay, I’m up, I’m up! Wow, it's cold! I hope we get home soon. I don’t know how long I can take it out here....”
“Don’t worry, we’ll be home soon. It will be alright." After the teachers had everyone else awake, we got into our groups and waited. The teachers didn’t know if we should walk up or down. After a while, they decided to walk up the mountain instead of going down because we came that way and know that there is a road that way. As we walked up the mountain we all grew tired. You would continually hear kids moaning, "I’m cold," "I’m tired," and "I’m hungry." I began to think that it would never stop.
After a couple of hours, we reached a steep cliff. The only way to get past it was to climb up it. There was one problem: There were a few students who were too hurt to climb up the cliff. Of the four teachers with us, one decided to stay with the ones who couldn’t make it and a few other students who volunteered to help. As for the rest of us, we kept on climbing.
It was some time between two and four o’clock. I was tired and hungry. Alex had to help me up a ton of small cliffs and hills. We would have probably been to the road by now, but we were all so tired and hungry that we were going three times slower that what we could have been. It was almost dark so the teachers had us stop for the night. We had to huddle together and try to go to sleep. Before I fell asleep I looked out into the mountain range. It seemed impossible to me that I couldn’t see any signs of civilization. It scared me, not knowing what would happen or how long it would take to get help. However, I did know that I had to get some sleep, and that is what I did.

* * * * *

The next day, Alex woke me up. He looked a little depressed but I didn’t take any note of it. Everyone looked at this point. I looked around and saw that it had snowed last night. There was at least four inches everywhere; making it so cold I could barely move. As the teachers tried to awaken the others, I realized that not everyone was going to get up. Some died in the middle of the night.... I guess some just couldn’t handle the cold, the hunger, or maybe even the thought of never making it off this mountain.... If we didn’t get out of here soon, I would lose it. I couldn’t stand the feeling of death all around me. It was unbearable. Suddenly, I began to cry. I couldn’t help it: Everything was just getting to me. Alex came up to me and gave me a hug.
Now that everyone had seen that their peers, their friends, were dying it pushed everyone over the edge. So many people just started to cry. Then we heard a very loud bang. Everyone turned around to see smoke and yellow pieces of metal flying through the air. This was a sign that there was no turning back.
Just by looking at everyone’s faces, I could tell that they all knew that the explosion was our bus. It was a scary thought, knowing that you only had one way to go. That one way still might not keep you alive. I was surprised that no one had gone insane yet....
We began to walk again. The higher we got without seeing the road the more I worried. What if this was the wrong way and we were just getting ourselves even more lost? As I kept walking and thinking I realized that I couldn’t see Sarah. I didn’t know where she was. I stopped and tried to find Alex and Jeremy. I saw them a little ways behind me. I walked back to them and I still couldn’t see Sarah.
“Have you guys seen Sarah?”
“No, we thought that she was up there with you,” they replied ominously. By now, we had stopped and stepped to the side of the long line of weary students.
“We have to find her. She isn’t in this line. She must have fallen behind....”
“Are you sure that she even . . .?“
“Yes, I’m sure that she got up this morning. She was with me not too long ago.”
“Okay, let’s go find her.” We turned around and began to walk the other way. We were walking away from the way home, but finding Sarah was worth it.
“She has to be somewhere around here. We have only been walking for an hour and a half.”
“Yeah, and she was with Bethany for the first half hour. So if we walk for an hour and don’t find her we have to turn back.” I felt like my head was going to explode. What if we didn’t find her, I couldn’t just leave her here. We couldn’t leave her behind. I wouldn't let them leave her behind. After a while, we came up to a large bank of snow. We all looked at each other and began to dig. Finally, we reached a body. ...It was Sarah. We pulled her out of the snow. Alex checked her for a pulse.
“She’s still breathing, but just barely. We have to keep her warm and we won’t be able to catch up to everyone else. At least not until tomorrow.” For the rest of the day we sat there with her. We were cold and hungry. That would explain why we didn’t say much. But by dark, we were all asleep, hoping that tomorrow would be a better day.
By now, we all figured that someone should have been looking for us. I knew if we weren’t saved today that none of us would see tomorrow. Sarah still wasn’t well enough to walk and we weren’t strong enough to carry her. We all had to stay together so one of us just couldn’t look for help. So all we could do was wait. We were stuck. After a while, we grew weak and fell asleep.
After a while Alex said, “Maybe I should go look for some help. We all know that we can’t just sit here. It’s not doing us any good.
“We can’t split up. That is just saying we should die. All we can do is wait and that is what we are going to do.” After that I tried to stay awake. If I fell asleep who knows what Alex might have done. I used all of my strength, but it was no use. After a while, I just had to sleep.

* * * * *
After a few hours, we all woke up at the same time for the same reason. We all heard the same loud noise. We all stood up, except for Sarah, and began to yell and scream. There was a helicopter flying above us. It kept flying: We thought it was going to keep on going when suddenly it turned around. We all started shouting for joy. There isn’t a word that could describe how happy we felt. We were all sore and in pain, but all of that went away. All we could think about was how we were going home. It found a place nearby to land and a couple of men came to get Sarah. We were going home and now there was no doubt in my mind. Nothing, and I mean nothing, was between home and us. Unless the helicopter crashed, but what are the odds of that happening?