American history class was going about as expected, as Mrs. Carlyle ran through her slide deck of meticulously crafted presentations.
"The election of 1860 saw four candidates get electoral votes," she explained in front of a multicolored map of the United States. "You see, the Democrats were badly split coming into the election and had two candidates. Aside from the Republicans, there was also a third party, the Constitutional Union"”"
SCREEH SCREEH SCREE-uh. The fire alarm. There were periodic fire drills, but they'd already had one in second period this semester, and it was apparent that something was amiss.
""”We'll get back to that. Leave your things here," Mrs. Carlyle commanded as the class vacated their desks and began to proceed through the brick corridors of Victor Hills out to the athletic practice fields, designated as an evacuation venue. The students of American history were joined by the others in their classes as the school emptied itself of people.
She noticed she was behind a girl she did not recognize before, who must have gotten mixed in from another class. She was short, with a skin tone deep like Keisha's.
"Are you new here? I don't think I've seen you before," Keisha ventured to say to the unfamiliar girl.
"Well...not really. My name's Tami Sparks. What's yours?" Upon hearing Tami, she wondered if this was the reinvented Thomas Parks, and suddenly, the last name confirmed it. Her eyes lit up and she broke into a smile.
"I'm Keisha. Keisha Jones. And you look gorgeous, by the way."
"Aww thanks, Keisha. You look cute too."
"Hey, would you mind finding me at lunch? I'll be back on the far side of the wall."
"Sounds good to me, girl."
