I hated my high school so you can probably guess my reaction when I got invited to our 10-year class reunion. I wouldn't have gone if it hadn't been for Yuri, the only person I had bothered to keep in contact with. I can't even remember my class' name, let alone my classmates'.
She insisted on me wearing decent clothes, instead of my trademark hoodie and joggers. What a pain. I distinctly remember declaring, 'I'd rather the world come to an end than go to some reunion where we determine who's winning in life.' Honestly, to this day, I still don't regret saying that.
I've always had a vendetta against my school for being so remote. It was an impressively large building which stood firm at the top of a steep hill with a singular path joining it to the rest of the world. There were no car parks; everyone used the school buses- the bus garage was massive. The school was cut off from the outside world; apparently, it improved our focus and school work. As a student who slaved in there for 3 years, I have to say, it didn't.
It was 9 pm, and I was ready to go home. I expressed my thoughts to Yuri, the sole person I had talked to during the whole 'get together'. 'It's only been an hour!' she remarked.
'I know. A WHOLE hour.' I muttered. (Not because I was scared of Yuri or anything..)
Just then, my phone vibrated, and I was glad to be given an excuse to turn away from the real world. It was a notification from my phone gallery. That was rare.
A photo I wasn't familiar with, popped up. <10th May 9:30pm>
It was a picture of a building set aflame. A familiar building. I tapped Yuri who was busy socialising and making MORE new friends (How was that even possible? She already knew everyone in our year!) 'What's this a picture of?' she asked. Then her eyes widened.
'It's... isn't that our school? Where did you get this photo from?' I just shrugged, but I guess she already knew how I'd respond. She was already up on the stage and had aggressively snatched the mic from the guest singer (he was terrible).
'ATTENTION EVERYONE. WE NEED TO EVACUATE THIS BUILDING RIGHT NOW.'
Now, usually, people would have questioned her or laughed it off as a prank, but this was Yuri. Everyone knew Yuri, even the people who didn't, did. People grabbed a few more snacks and were making their way out quite sensibly; you wouldn't have thought they were the rowdy kids who shrieked their heads off during a fire drill 10 years ago. It was going all smoothly when suddenly, with a deafening boom, the school office a few corridors away exploded.