Out with Reason

The familiar voice of our principal interrupted my regularly scheduled second period English class. I desperately tried to catch my notes up to my teacher's lecture in the meantime. Mrs. Brookes spoke way faster than I could scribble.

I already struggled to understand how a poem about a rose was actually about Communism without her speaking a mile a minute about it.

"Good morning Bobcats," the principal began.

This seemed like a weird time to start the morning announcements—usually they would have been done five minutes past the final bell, but it hadn't ever come. Plus, it was usually a student that read them.

"At this time, we will be holding a mandatory assembly. I apologize for interrupting your classes, but it is paramount that everyone attends. Once again, we are going to be holding a mandatory assembly. Please make your way to the gymnasium promptly. Thank you."

My classroom was awash with the sounds of scraping chairs and annoyed groans about halfway through the speech, then came in full force once the intercom went dead. I set down my pencil and stood with the rest, glad that I could put a pause in this stupid lesson.

/A rose is a rose, not a political statement./

I filed out of the room with the rest of my class and kept my eyes peeled for my friends as we entered the gym.

In the mass confusion of several hundred students all filing through the thing halls, I noticed a few people slip out the doors to ditch.

Should I be so bold.

Though I didn't find any of my friends out in the hall, I did spot Michelle when I first entered the gym. She had since changed into P.E. clothes and was waiting at the top of the bleachers, her chin resting in her hands.

I bounded up the steps to sit next to her and she scooted over for me.

"What do you think this is about?" I asked.

She shrugged and smoothed out her pony tail. "No clue, but whatever gets me out of playing volleyball is fine with me."

"Oh, we're doing volleyball this month? That's cool."

"Please." She rolled her eyes and crossed her arms over her chest. "Give me a game where I can smack something real hard with a bludgeon."

I chuckled. "That's a violent way to think about baseball."

"Got a lotta aggression to work out," she teased, flexing her non-existent arm muscles.

"What's the difference between smacking something with a bat or racket and slapping a ball with your hands?" I reasoned while scanning the crowd for Jess.

"Um, everything? Smacking that thing hurts my hands and wrists and I ALWAYS get hit in the head at some point or another. It's the worst. I don't know how you can stand in the goal box during a soccer game, knowing you could be kicked or take a ball to the face at any time," she huffed.

"I'm used to it by now." I shrugged.

Students continued to pour into the gymnasium. Jess trailed in with the third wave, and I stood up to get her attention. She smiled when she saw me and climbed the steps.

"Hey," she greeted us.

Michelle and I returned her sentiment, though Michelle wasn't giving us her full attention. That was dedicated to finding her boyfriend.

Jake and his friends joined us soon enough, and we were all atwitter about the events of the past night. When the principal appeared and called for silence, it took a few minutes for the crowd to simmer down long enough for her to get a word in edgewise.

"Good morning, Bobcats. How is everyone doing today?" Our principal, Mrs. Larsen, spoke into the microphone perched on its stand.

A few of the die-hard patriots muttered a response, but no one else bothered.

Mrs. Larsen ignored our apathy and clapped her hands together. "Good, good. I'm sure you're all wondering why we've called this emergency assembly, and we'll try to keep this short."

"Is it about the thing that crashed?" someone from the senior side of the bleachers shouted.

Mrs. Larsen lifted her hand to shush him, then indicated toward a man in army fatigues. He stood at the back of the gym and nodded to her.

"We have a guest speaker today who would like to address everyone about the events that took place last night," she said. "Please give a warm Bobcats welcome to Lieutenant Anderson and /be polite/."

A few more than ten people clapped for our guest speaker, and the lieutenant stepped up to the microphone. He adjusted the stand, then looked up at us all to speak.

"Hello students. My name is Lieutenant Anderson and I'm with the United States Armed Forces. Thank you for having me today and gathering so quickly." The soldier cleared his throat and scanned the stands. "I'm sure most of you are aware by now that something crashed in the nearby woods late last night, hours before dawn."

Murmurs broke out until Lieutenant Anderson waved his hands and everyone settled. "Your principal has agreed to print out a newsletter to give you all. Please take it home and show it to your parents immediately."

"What was it?" the same senior from before shouted.

"I'm afraid that's classified at the moment," came his sharp response. "However, due to several disappearances that have happened over the past eight hours, the national park will be closed until we can clean up the mess and track down the missing persons."

Immediately, the entire school erupted into anxious chatter. A few people took out their phones and started making phone calls.

Lieutenant Anderson tried desperately to regain our attention, but the damage was done.

I turned to my friends and asked, "People have disappeared? Tourists or something?" loud enough to be heard over everyone else.

Though Michelle and Jess looked clueless, Jake's friend had lost all the color in his face.

Jake glanced between everyone, then put his hand on Tyler's shoulder and addressed us. "Tyler said his dad didn't come home last night and he hasn't called."

"That could mean anything," Jess said.

Nodding, I added, "Maybe he's just helping the military look for everyone. If he's up there, you know how bad service is."

"Bobcats please!" Mrs. Larsen interjected, her voice booming over the microphone as she shouted into it. Feedback echoed through the gym and everyone let out collective gasps.

Many students, including me, squeezed their hands over their ears.

"There is no need for you to worry!" Mrs. Larsen insisted once the feedback faded. "The lieutenant and the rest of the Army will take care of everything. Settle down and let our guest finish."

Tyler cleared his throat and I glanced at him. His hands were fists against his legs. I said, "I'm sure it's fine, Tyler. People go missing a lot. Your dad knows the woods."

"Yeah, for sure," Jake muttered, shaking his friend gently.

After another stern command from Mrs. Larsen, any remaining chatter petered out into nothing.

"We're asking everyone to STAY OUT of the woods until further notice," Lieutenant Anderson continued. "We'll be setting up a perimeter around the park and anyone found encroaching will be turned away. If anyone is found on the other side of that boundary or in the woods without permission, they WILL be arrested and detained for 24 hours."

Next to us, Jake scoffed and crossed his arms. Michelle brushed against his shoulder and shushed him, but he had a devious smile on his face.

I tore my gaze from them to listen to the Lieutenant. "We will not tolerate anyone bothering the rest of my soldiers, either. We expect everyone to take this seriously, and if you do not, you will be dealt with swiftly and severely. Thank you."

A few of the more rebellious students demanded answers and forced the Lieutenant to step back up. "Once we have more information, we will hold a press conference."

When he stepped away from the microphone, the principal replaced him. "Lieutenant Anderson is right, students. Anyone they catch will also be facing suspension or even expulsion. This is very serious. Expect those newsletters before the end of the day. Now, please return to your classes in a timely manner."

A clamor settled over the stands as everyone spoke at once all over again. Jake leaned over on top of Michelle and grinned at us all.

"I think we should find out what's out there in the forest."

We stared at him in disbelief.

"What? No way!" Michelle squeaked, slapping his shoulder. "That's crazy. You're crazy!"

Our group remained seated while the rest of the students filed out of the gym.

Jake wrapped his arms around Michelle's center and set his chin on top of her head. "I'm totally serious, guys. We're gonna figure out that secret."

"And how do you suppose we do that, babe?"

"You mean like . . ." I paused to glance around and make sure there were no teachers listening in. "Go out into the woods and look for what crashed?"

He nodded to me and smirked. "Yeah, see. Nichole totally gets it."

"That's not a good idea," Jess warned. "What if someone gets hurt or we end up arrested and in jail like the guy said?"

Michelle, suddenly on board, snickered and said, "When has anything exciting like this ever happened? The only problems we have here are people getting gored by elk or lost in the woods. This could be something that puts us on the map for this dumb town!"

"We already ARE on the map," I argued. "People are always visiting! There's like, a ton of people here already to see the stupid leaves turning colors. They're probably all the people that are missing. No one here in town would be stupid enough to get lost like that, mysterious object or no."

"Whatever you say. I'm with Jake, though."

His friends chimed in as well, even Tyler, who was still tight-fisted next to Jake. He declared, "I'll go. Maybe I'll be able to find my dad."

My heart went out to him, but he seemed more angry than worried. I could have been mistaken.

"What's the plan, babe?" Michelle asked, her expression smug. She and her boyfriend parted when a teacher gave them the stink-eye.

That same teacher huffed and beckoned toward us. "Go back to your classes. This isn't social hour," he grunted.

Jake waved at him, feigning obedience, and then lowered his voice further to whisper, "We'll talk about it more at lunch. Make plans."

Eyes rolling, I stood up and motioned for Jess to leave—she was blocking my path to the steps. "Have fun playing volleyball, Michelle," I teased, ambling down the bleachers with everyone else filing after me or down the other side.

Michelle glanced down at Coach Jenner, who was setting the nets back up, and grimaced. "Dammit, why couldn't this stupid assembly have gone on just a little longer? Ugh . . . Well, guess I'll catch you guys at lunch," she grumbled.

Michelle kissed Jake at the bottom of the bleachers and joined the rest of the students in her course. Though we parted from Jake and his friends, Jess trailed after me.

"Are you going to go with them?" she asked me. "The principal said that anyone caught by the woods would be suspended and stuff. And that soldier said they'd be ARESSTED."

I shrugged. "I don't know. Maybe. I guess I'll have to hear Jake's 'plan' first. But I guess it could be kinda fun. We'd just have to not get caught. And if playing Manhunt is any indication of our prowess, I'm sure we'll be fine."

"Yeah but," she said in exasperation, "we play that against each other, not trained soldiers. And we were always in the cul-de-sac, not out in the woods!"

"Just means more places to hide," I ribbed, pushing her shoulder. She scowled at me and took a pace to distance herself.

My expression softened and I added, "It'll be alright. No one's going to go through with it. It's all talk."

Jess scowled and stopped in front of her classroom. "Whatever, sure. I guess I'll see you at lunch."

"You betcha. I never miss pizza day." I smiled and she managed to return the gesture despite her obvious trepidation. "Coming up with stupid plans will be fun, even if we don't follow through. You'll see."

As she disappeared into her class, I turned and headed toward my own and wondered what kind of bright ideas Jake had in store for us this time.

During lunch, the planning phase was pretty simple: sneak out after midnight, go to the park, hike past the entrance and any authorities, and find the crash site. Anything else was to be improvised.

If we got caught, we were reminded that snitches get stitches.

After the last class ended, Jess and I met at our lockers again.

"Hey, Nichole," Jess said, tapping me on the back.

I glanced at her and tipped my head in greeting.

"What's your plan after school today?" she asked. "Any soccer practice or anything like that?"

/You mean besides breaking the law?/ I thought. She was purposefully ignoring all the "detailed" planning we'd done during lunch time.

I played along for a little bit, not wanting to make her any more nervous than she was.

Besides, it was a bad idea to talk about it out in the open. It was loud enough no one would know, but it was better safe than sorry.

"There's no practice until spring, around March. It's the off-season now. If we had an indoor arena we'd maybe do one practice a week, but . . . no such luck."

"So who's driving you home? Michelle or your parents?"

"Oh." I found a place for my forgotten notebook in my backpack and zipped it shut. "My mom's gonna be picking me up, she called earlier and told me she was off work early."

"Ah, ok. Mine, too. Probably has something to do with the crash. Any plans for the weekend?"

We rejoined the wave of students heading toward the exit and I said, "Dunno yet. Have to see whether or not I'll be spending it in jail or something."

Though I meant it as a joke, Jess didn't seem to find it funny and shot me a glare.

I rolled my eyes and walked into her on purpose. "Oh come on, I'm kidding. Besides, you don't have to come if you don't want to."

"You already convinced me to go. I don't want to be left out if it's really happening."

"You don't have to come if you don't want to," I repeated, stressing the fact. "But if we do wind up in jail, you can just tell us you told us so. We'll tell them we kidnapped you or something, so they'll let you go."

She shook her head and forced a smile I saw right through. "Nah, it's fine . . . your best friend is the one sitting next to you in the cell and saying 'we had one hell of a night', right?"

I wasn't sure if she was trying to convince me or herself.

Giggling, I nodded in encouragement. "Damn right."

After saying our good-byes, we parted and I hurried into the parking lot. I pulled my jacket tight around my frame and looked for my mom's car.

The tall, red Jeep stood out to me and I hopped into the passenger's side, surprised to see it empty.

"Where's Kristie?" I asked, my buckle snapping into place.

Mom backed the car up and joined the queue to leave. "She's staying over at her friend's house tonight, so they're taking her home."

Shotgun was all mine.

"How was school?" she asked. Something in her pointed tone told me she was asking a much different question.

"Fine. Pretty standard. Some guy from the military came and told everyone to stay out of the forest until they clean up what crashed, though."

I dug around in my backpack until I found the sheet of paper I was looking for. "Everyone in school got this sorta newsletter thing about it."

Though she took it from me, she set it on her lap after a short glance. "Okay, I'll read it when we get home. Though I'm sure I already know what it's about."

"How?"

"They closed down the park. Can't sell parking passes if no one can get in. So, looks like I'll be home until the park opens again," she sighed.

Frowning, I asked, "Will you still get paid?"

She shook her head. "I can use my vacation time if I want, but otherwise no. They might compensate us, but I don't know. They were really cryptic about it."

"Well that's rude."

"That's business." Her voice was patronizing and she reached out to stroke my head. I ducked out of the way.

Mom scoffed and reached farther over without taking her eyes off the road. "You let your mother touch you!" she chided, raking her fingers through strands of my hair.

"Mo-o-m!" I whined, batting her hand away.

She relented and slouched in her chair with a fake pout. "Fine."

Rolling my eyes, I turned to the window and stared at the road.

It was going to be harder to leave the house unnoticed if Mom didn't work: she would stay up later than normal. The weekends were her busiest days at the park.

At least the plan was set for midnight. It was difficult, but doable. Mom wouldn't stay up that late, but she wouldn't be sound asleep like I'd been banking on, either.

Dad always went to bed early so I wasn't worried about him.

I would have to make an extensive plan to sneak out unnoticed. That is, if I didn't receive any texts that people had chickened out and it wasn't happening.

If I didn't chicken out and cancel.