My last post about my pen-pal started with the sentence,
"Something I never thought would happen to me is happening in my life."
Well, another something I never thought would happen to me happened in my life today.
A bomb threat at my high school.
Here's my story; I was sitting in seminary and student council had been in there passing out forms to fill out our votes for next year's council. Brother Williams walked in and said the school was in Code Red, and therefore we wouldn't be able to leave at the normal time. No big deal right? Just another drill in the life of Rigby. So we sat there, finished the lesson, and we were just talking and waiting to be released. Some kids were gathered at the window looking out, but I didn't think anything of it. Well, when Brother Williams came back the second time, we figured we could go. However, he announced that the school was still in code red, and all the seminary kids were to go out the back doors and wait there so we could head to the busses.
This is the part where all the kids turn to look at him and say "IT'S REAL?" And he calmly announces there is a bomb threat and we are supposed to go out the back doors. So we do, and we stand there waiting. Luckily for me, I had a good friend in that class with me. We went out the back doors and were standing out there, when my friend realizes that a cop is waving us over. So the two of us start walking to the busses, with the rest of the seminary building following.
Then the man with the big gun tells us to hustle.
And so we run to the bus.
From here, it's pretty uneventful. You can't get much more eventful than that anyway. The busses took us to the junior high, where we waited in them for an hour hearing rumors about shootings and hostages and houses around the high school being evacuated and so on. Finally, we were allowed to go inside the gym and wait for further instruction. The junior high was still in Code Yellow at this point. One of the thoughts that had been running through my head this whole time was, "what is happening with my brothers???" I knew I couldn't do anything about Matthew at Jefferson, I had already texted my parents about it and they were in Idaho Falls, (apparently I was 40 minutes faster at getting the message to them than the school was), but I did know that I could probably do something about Michael seeing as I was at his school.
So I set off, trying to find a way to get to him. I found out for sure that they were in Code Yellow, so I knew that he couldn't go anywhere. Then, they made the announcement that kids who normally walk home could go ahead and leave at 3:35. I knew right then and there that he would try to walk to my dad's office at Community Care. I needed to find him fast if I wanted to at all. And I did. However, the main office totally ignored me. I left the office and stood outside, telling that same good friend that they wouldn't listen to me. Almost at that same time, my friend is looking over at the doors. I glance that way, and see Michael walking by. So I hurry over to him, and when he sees me he gives me a big hug.
I don't blame him. I hugged back.
After this, we walked to my good friend's house, where his mom took Michael and I back to the high school so I could grab my car. I dropped Michael off at home, made sure Matthew was fine, and headed off to my first day back at work. So. I'm not traumatized. I was scared, but I'm pretty proud of the fact that I didn't panic. I texted both my parents, I kept tabs on my siblings, and I had a good friend to keep me company and keep me calm through it. I'm not scarred for life. In fact, I'm smiling as I type this. Oh, and the bomb? Turns out the threat was a fake, the caller was a fraud, and the school was not going to explode at all. What I have to say is this; in the words of Betty Meeks,
"All in all, it's been a real unusual day for here."
