(A/N: This isn't really for a grade but it pertains to school so I figured I' d add it here.)

I sit in class, unable to focus, unable to work, unable to even listen to what's going on. There is but one thought on my mind, and that is, "Why didn't I check out early today?" I scold myself for being so needlessly stupid and unprepared. Alas, there is nothing I can do. I sit in dreadful anticipation of the coming events, knowing what will come next. The intercom crackles and buzzes to life; a voice emits from it, seeping into everyone's ears, and tells us all that our hall may now proceed to the gymnasium.

There is a general all around scuffling of people as we all exit the classroom and start to make our way to the gym. For most, it is an exciting event; class is being let out early. But for me, it is a death march. Once in the gym, I scan the bleachers for familiar faces. I eventually find some friends and sit next to them, still panicky at the thought of the rally about to start. I think of leaving and hiding in a bathroom. But before I can so much as stand up, the music begins, so loud I can feel it vibrating in my chest.The cheerleaders are smiling their giant expressionless smiles like some sort of joker, all the while tumbling and somersaulting all over one another. Simply watching this spectacle is a bit overwhelming, all the motion becomes one large blur and I can no longer see clearly.

However, that's not what makes the pep rally so unbearable. It's an assault on not just my vision, but all my senses. The smell of 800+ people all crammed into the same structure is suffocating, and the feeling of the vibrating bleachers leaves me terrified that they will collapse at any second. At this point I've stopped paying attention, but I still notice that all of a sudden, everyone stands up. They start stomping on the very bleachers I am gripping onto for dear life. I can feel the movements of the bleachers and hear the groaning of the wood and the metal support structures hidden below. Apparently there is a contest to which grade who can scream the loudest.

I attempt to plug my ears with my fingers, but to no avail. The sound tears at my eardrums and penetrates my skull, rattling around in my brain like a bird trying to escape a locked cage that I've lost the key to. In my mind, the screaming turns to screeching, and the screeching turns to physical pain. I clamp my teeth together and squeeze my eyes shut, but the feeling of the sound is making my brain pulse. It's uncomfortable, to say the least. My heart is beating so fast I can feel my blood being pumped all around my body. I don't know how much time passes until I finally open my eyes, but when I do, I see that it's nowhere near over. The football players run out one by one. Everyone seems to have lost their minds, screeching and clapping wildly like a pack of feral monkeys. I sit in the absolute hell otherwise referred to as a high school pep rally, all the while hating myself for not being to enjoy it like just about everyone else is doing.

But, like all events, it eventually comes to an end. In a daze, hardly able to comprehend what is going on around me, I stumble back to class. A teacher asks, "How'd you like the pep rally?" I lie when I reply, "It-It was pretty good I guess."