What’s the worst announcement your school ever made?

What's the worst announcement your

school ever made? I'm sitting in

chemistry, totally spacing out about the

test next period when Mrs. Rodriguez

suddenly stops mid-sentence about atomic

bonds or whatever. She's staring at her

phone with this look I've never seen

before. Pure horror. Then the intercom

crackles. Principal Martinez's voice

sounds weird, like he's been crying. All

students report to home room

immediately. Teachers, please check your

emergency email protocol now. Everyone's

looking around, confused. It's

Wednesday, second period. Nothing ever

happens on Wednesday. My friend Jake

whispers, "Bomb threat." But Mrs.

Rodriguez is already ushering us out. I

get to home room and Mr. Davis looks

like he's about to throw up. His hands

are shaking as he reads something on his

computer screen. He won't make eye

contact with any of us. Everyone pack

your belongings. School is dismissed for

the remainder of the day and tomorrow.

What? Why? Melissa asks. I can't just go

home. Your parents are being contacted.

Walking outside, I count eight police

cars in the parking lot. There's also

this big white van that says county

health department and people in hazmat

suits walking toward the building. I

immediately text my mom. School closed

early sending everyone home. And before

I can even put my phone away, she's

calling. Sweetie, where are you right

now? Walking home from school. What's

going on? Come straight here. Don't stop

anywhere. Don't talk to anyone. My mom

never sounds scared like this ever. I

practically run the rest of the way

home. She's pacing in our kitchen, still

in her work clothes, which is weird

because she never comes home before

5:00. Sit down. I need to tell you

something before you see it on the news

or social media. Mom, you're freaking me

out. They found something at your school

today in the cafeteria kitchen. What

kind of something? She takes this really

shaky breath. Rat poison mixed into the

food ingredients. Someone's been

deliberately poisoning students for the

past month. My stomach drops to the

floor. Are you serious? 15 kids are in

the hospital right now. That stomach flu

that's been going around, it wasn't the

flu. I feel like I'm going to pass out.

My friend Tyler was homesick for 4 days

last week. Sarah missed the entire week

and looked terrible when she came back.

Marcus threw up in second period on

Monday. Oh my god, who would do

something like that? Mom starts crying.

They arrested someone this morning right

before they closed the school. My phone

starts buzzing like crazy with texts.

Dude, check Instagram now. From Jake.

OMG, our school is on the news from

Emma. I open Instagram and the first

thing I see is our school building

surrounded by yellow police tape. The

caption reads, "Local cafeteria worker

arrested for systematically poisoning

high school students over 4-week

period." Wait, cafeteria worker? Mom,

who exactly did they arrest? She

hesitates, wiping her eyes. Mrs.

Patterson, my world stops spinning. Mrs.

Patterson has worked in our cafeteria

since I was in first grade. She knows

every single kid's name. Asks about our

sports games. Always gives me extra

bread sticks because she knows they're

my favorite. That's impossible. Mrs.

Patterson would never hurt anyone. They

found the rat poison in her personal

locker along with mom pauses struggling

along with a list of specific students.

What kind of list? Honor roll students,

student council members, kids who got

college scholarships. It hits me like a

freight train. Mrs. Patterson's son

Danny graduated 3 years ago. He never

made honor role. Never got into college.

works at the gas station now. I remember

her always talking about how smart kids

these days have so many advantages. My

phone buzzes again. Text from Tyler.

Bro, I literally almost died because

some lunch lady was jealous of smart

kids. I think about every lunch I ate

this month. The chicken sandwiches, the

pizza, the salad bar I hit every day. We

all ate that food every single day for

weeks. And she knew exactly who she was

targeting.