Short Story

Aibohphobia Lunch Challenge

Ella

9 Everest

     As I walked over to my usual table in the cafeteria, I noticed that something was amiss. The cafeteria was very... quiet. Too quiet. Usually, the cafeteria, filled with over 350 secondary students, would be so noisy that you can barely hear yourself think. Everyone yells at each other over the noise, and the radio at the corner of the room blares on and on, even though no one listens to it. Today, no one spoke a word. But the strangest thing of all, was actually the water balloons that I saw everywhere. Under the tables, on the food counters, by the food stalls, next to the radio, near the trash cans. They were everywhere.

     I sat on the bench next to my friends, Myra, Devi, Bella, and Tata. I casually waved to them. They usually say “Hi” to me, but today, they just smiled nervously at me. But I shrugged it off and started unpacking my lunch box. I took out my spicy chicken sandwhich and started to bite into it. The feeling of chilli sauce running down my throat made me feel like sticking out my tongue like a puppy, but at the same time, I wanted more. I was about to have another bite, when out of nowhere, Devi yelled, “Was it a bat I saw?” making me bite my tongue instead. Ouch! That stings. “Huh?” I asked her. “Was it Eliot’s toilet I saw? Wassamassaw!” she yelled once more. “What in the world are you talking about?” PLOP. I felt something hit my head. But I ignored it. It was probably just my imagination. At least, that’s what I thought until I felt something running down my hair, my cheeks, my chin, and... Plop! Onto my chicken sandwhich. It was some kind of liquid. Some kind of icky, gooey, red liquid. “Eww! Is this blood?” I shrieked. Then it happened once more. But this time, I saw it coming. It was a small, green water balloon, heading towards me at full speed. And I couldn’t get out of the way. SPLAT. Just my luck.

     As if that wasn’t weird enough, Bella suddenly screamed, “Did Hannah see bees? Hannah did.” I tried asking her, “Are you okay?” which just got me – you guessed it – another goo balloon to the head! And Myra just responded with a “Did I draw Della too tall, Edward? I did?” even though she wasn’t even drawing, which just made me feel even more confused. I jumped off my chair and screamed in frustration. Tata moved forward, like she was about to pull me down. SPLAT. Too late. I sucked in my breath. Okay, that’s enough. I packed my lunch box and climbed the endless stairs back to my homeroom class. I stayed quiet for the rest of the day, not wanting to ‘decorate’ my hair further. That day, all the colors of the rainbow decorated my hair, making me look very bright against the sea of dark haired people. I stomped past the small cafes, convenience stores, banks, and pharmacies, not caring if my steps made a lot of noise. People gave me strange looks. They even covered their childrens’ eyes, and I could hear those children asking their mothers if I was an insane person.

     The next day, I tiptoed my way in, occasionally looking over my shoulder to check if someone’s silently following me, but everything seemed to be back to normal. People chattered endlessly, there were no goo balloons, and lunch time was no different from all my other lunch breaks. It made me think that yesterday might have been a dream. I shook my head. The painful feeling of scraping all that goo off my hair was SO not a dream. So the paint on my head couldn’t have been a dream, either. “What happened yesterday?” I asked Myra once I arrived at my class. She just smiled and dragged me to the door. On the door, there was an announcement that had apparently been there since Monday.

Aibophobia Lunch Challenge

Is it I? It is I! Our school’s literary month is almost here! In order to celebrate it, on Thursday, we challenge you to only say palindromes during lunch time! If you say non-palindrome phrases, you will have a goo balloon thrown at you! The person who can come up with the most palindrome phrases wins a special prize!

Cheers,

The Student Council Members.    

   “Oh..."

- The End -