It was the weekend of spring break near the end of my high school sophomore year. In April 2019, there had been a food fight announced on social media from kids in our school and it was spreading like wildfire. Everyone that went to Westhill High School knew about it in two days. We all wanted to do something big as students, so we planned to go out with this before break started. The day that we had planned was on a Friday and it had arrived. Everyone at six in the morning on the bus talking about this big event that was happening. Kids were even bringing food from home to throw in this food fight. I didn't because I didn't have that fire in me. Once everyone was in their first period, they had done the regular morning announcements. We sang the national anthem, gave birthday shoutouts, and the school events that were to come. Once all was said and done, we heard our principal start to speak on the intercom. The way he had been talking to us, his tone had sounded very stern. Everyone in my classroom was sitting silently, so silent you could hear a drop. He then announced that he had heard about the food fight and that we were to not let it start. He even told us that there will be consequences if it were to even happen. The rest of the morning students were walking around and whispering about his announcement.
When lunch had come around it was my best friend and I sitting, eating, and talking just like we always do. Time had passed, and I noticed the cafeteria wasn’t as packed as usual, especially on a Friday. I asked my best friend and said “Hey, do you notice how empty it looks” she had responded and said “Yea, maybe people are just skipping.” I sat back and started to think how weird it was and then it hit me. I said to myself that they must be doing the food fight still. I then jumped up and said to my best friend how I think the event might still be going on When I told her I could see the disappointed reaction she had on her face. I begged her to come with me to look and see where it was taking place. My best friend is the quiet type and an "out the mix" type of person. I knew she'd feel some type of way but i still wanted her to experience. At least to just see for a short about of time because I knew she would probably regret missing a moment like this. I then rushed downstairs to the courtyard with my best friend behind me and saw the whole school gathered. Everyone was just gathered in a huge circle looking around and talking to each other. I started to move around so I could get a better look at what was going on. I then saw an egg fly from the air and landed in front of a student's foot. I quickly looked around to see where the egg had come from. I had seen an old friend of mine digging in his book bag and holding an egg in his hand. I ran to my best friend, pushing through the large crowd. I told her about the flying egg that came from a friend we knew. As I was describing to my best friend what I had seen, you could see the anxiety that had started to build based on her facial expressions.
As the riot carried on for a while longer, I looked in the distance from the courtyard and noticed three police cars sitting outside the front of the school. I was standing in the middle of the chaos lost, I was panicking and searching for my other friends or any familiar faces. As I picked up my phone to locate anyone, I turned to the right of me to see a classmate I had English with get tackled to the ground by three police officers. I stood there frozen and stuck, scared for my life. People were yelling at the officers to release her but obviously they were not listening. The animosity the students had towards the police was already there because of what was happening with police all over the country. Students started to get more riled up because they had shown up at the school. As I was walking away, a crowd rushed past me, I saw a school teacher fall and had got trampled by the crowd of students. Items were still being thrown around the courtyard, a split can have flown and hit our school police officer right on her head and had slit her forehead. At this point I did not know what to do. I was just standing there, feet rooted to the grass patch watching everything go down. I then got a phone call from my friend that I had lost, and we agreed to meet in front of the class she had. As I was walking to meet with her, I was stuck in my thoughts just could not process what had just happened. When I saw my friend, she asked if I had gotten any videos and we just stood there sharing the footage we got from this entire commotion. After that, we all went our separate ways and went to the rest of our classes. I had texted my best friend to make sure she was alright and had told her how escalated it got.
I was in my last class and students were whispering about the tragic incident. I was a little scared because I didn’t know what my mom would think. Knowing her, she would want me to mind my business and focus on school. Apart of me, I regret not listening to her because this is exactly what she was talking about. I just kept thinking, “What if that was me getting put in handcuffs?” My thoughts would just not stop running. The intercom had beeped, and all the students looked up. The principal announced all the terrible things that happened and how we lost some events for our consequences. I had gone home later that day and as I left the school on the bus, I saw a news reporter standing across from our school. I jumped up and wondered if the news would allow this situation to be broadcasted. When I got home and saw my mom, I told her what had happened. I was a little nervous because I didn’t know how she would react. She was a little upset but not as much because I feel like she understood, just because we were so young and got carried away. We were sitting in the living room watching the news to see if they would talk about it, which they did. I didn’t know if I should be feeling happy that we were on tv or upset that we were seen as the school with the “wild students.” The entire school board had a say in it as well. One of the people that worked for the school board had quit after the situation had happened. Students were contemplating if it was because of what happened or if it was just a coincidence. Now at this point, I really thought this was going to make us look bad. The students that drove staff away were something I didn’t want our school to have labeled.
Ten students were arrested that day, for assaulting someone or starting the actual food fight. I opened my phone and saw everyone from my school posting different
things that happened. People posting their reactions, videos from different angles, and information about the students that were taken. Some students thought it was funny, some were even mad because of the events that were taken from them. Never in a million years did I think something like this would happen to someone like me. This whole thing became an entire article meaning its marked in history for forever. Till this day, being a part of something like that is still crazy to me just because it's something that i would not expect to happen. If you were to hear the phrase “food fight” you would think of a typical movie from Disney or something. I think we were all excited because we thought it would be just like that. Students were defiantly spooked after experiencing something as crazy as that. This just shows how things aren't how they appear on TV.
