„Damned By the Bell“
There is no escape. There, I said it.
It’s the last Friday in April and I have to pack my bag to school. Most of the things are as usual – my pencil
case, school books and my phone. With mixed feelings I add to the list – loose fitting clothing I am about to
throw away, make-up remover, hand sanitizer gel and a towel. The Last Bell is upon us.
This tradition is held at every high school in our country. Basically, just before the A-levels season, our soon-
to-be graduates need to invite every one of their favourite teachers to their graduation parties. And the
whole school descends to chaos.
Don’t let their faces fool you. They are ruthless.
Every graduation class has a different theme – pirates, farmers, tribes; you name it, it already has been
done. And they are all armed with markers, water-based or permanent. In your face, literally. Some of the
people that were friendly with them in the past years are now regretting it direly, as the layers of markers
on their faces thicken, not all of the pictures and signs being tasteful. Not even test sheets are spared of
their wrath.
That is the whole lot of it, if you are NOT in the year just below them, like me. We have to endure the
Initiation Ceremony. That’s where the ready-to-throw-away clothing comes in the play.
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