Stringer 1
Madison Stringer
Mrs. Gleason
7th AH ELA
October 8, 2021
Hide and Seek
Students get in schoolyard fights all the time. There’s always someone out there who
feels like they need to show everyone around them how wrong they are, whether that’s through a
verbal argument, which is the most common, or a physical fight, which doesn’t happen as much,
but is more frowned upon than the former. A lot of the time, people wish that the bully would get
a taste of their own medicine, and that’s exactly what happened to Cara James, the most popular
yet cruelest 8th grader.
Cara always had the most expensive and trendy things, and saw anyone that was unable
to afford the luxuries she had as a pitiful waste of her time. Anyone who made her mad instantly
regretted it, and she wouldn’t let anyone steal her spotlight. She was the leader of the popular
clique in her grade, if not the entire middle school, at Green Pines High School. Three other girls
followed her around everywhere she went, copying everything she said and did, from how they
ate their sandwiches to making sure their outfits looked good together when they walked in the
hallway. The whole thing was ridiculous, but the students definitely didn’t think so, for some
reason.
One day, as Cara went to her locker to grab her books, a young 2nd grader, who was a
new student, tapped her on the shoulder. She turned around and asked the student, “What do
YOU want?”
Stringer 2
He said, “Why does everyone follow you? They’re always watching you like there’s
something important to be seen, but I haven’t seen it yet.”
Cara took great offense to the child’s innocent question, and replied, “I’M obviously the
most important thing there IS here. But that’s none of your concern. Why don’t you go play
kickball with your friends, hm?”
The second-grader responded with, “The only important people I’ve ever met are my
friends… I think you should be my friend…”
Of course, Cara thought the student was going out of his mind, so she sent him to the
nurse (trying to get away from him) and went to her first class. In the middle of that class, she
looked out the window and saw the kid again, writing a message with his finger on the frosty
window. He wrote, “Be my friend… or else.” Cara looked away, slightly concerned, and didn’t
look out the window for the rest of class.
At lunch, after she got her tray, she met the student yet again in the cafeteria. His eyes
had a slightly vacant look, as he said in a cheerful voice, “Come with me! Let’s play a game…”
Cara finally screamed, “WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME? I HAVEN’T DONE
ANYTHING TO YOU, AND I DON’T KNOW WHAT YOU WANT!” The whole cafeteria fell
silent.
The boy said, “I only wanna play a game… if you won’t play… I guess I’ll just…”
He hesitated, and then added, “I’ll just have to make you.”
Cara realized this boy was never going to shut up, so she told him, “Alright, ONE
GAME. Then, you never bother me again.
Stringer 3
The child looked outside. “We don’t need everyone else here… no witnesses.” And just
like that, everyone in the cafeteria seemed to flicker away. That’s when Cara realized this was
serious.
Then, the boy said, “We should play… hide and seek. If I win… well, let’s just wait and
see. I’ll close my eyes, count to ten, and then we’ll play.
The boy closed his eyes, and Cara ran for her life. She ran out of the cafeteria, down the
sidewalk, and toward the office. She was going to report this terrifying child to the office, and
maybe get him expelled. As soon as she ran in the office, she said in a loud voice, “There’s a
child in the cafeteria… he’s chasing me around the school, and I think he’s insane.”
The chair spun around, and the secretary said, “That’s ridiculous. A second grader can’t
hurt you, Cara. Go back to lunch.”
Cara instantly responded, “But that kid is crazy! He made everyone disappear from the
cafeteria, and-” That’s when she realized she had never told the secretary what grade the kid was
in… how did she know?
The secretary then stated, “I know… everything…” That’s when the boy walked in.
“Nice try, Cara James, but you can’t run from me…” The power went out, and the last thing
Cara heard was the sound of her own screams.
And then, Cara opened her eyes to see that she was in her own bed. She was relieved that
she had just been dreaming, and she got up, got dressed, and went to school.
When she got to school, she went to her locker to get her books, and she felt a tap on her
shoulder, she turned around to see the second grader. He said, “Why does everyone follow
you…”
Stringer 4
And Cara realized that she had been awake this whole time… but why was she still stuck
in December 6th?
