Murder at DuPoint High

Period 2
Anabel Genao

“You’re all staying after school again today!” Mr. Thompson shouted to his remedial English class. He was never taken seriously because of his old age. A plump seventy-five year old man with a comb over as his permanent hairstyle and Bill Cosby inspired sweaters wasn’t exactly a person the students could look up to. A number of them rolled their eyes and Mr. Thompson waved around his yardstick causing the flab of skin hanging from his arm to swing. Yolanda, a Hispanic girl with bright red hair and a fiery attitude, let the disgust show on her face and loudly made throw up noises to the rest of the class’s entertainment.

As Mr. Thompson raised his yardstick the sound of the bell for dismissal began ringing. Mr. Thompson placed himself in front of the door preventing any students from exiting. He cracked the door open with a vicious smile on his face and let out five students leaving four remaining, including Yolanda. Pedro, Yolanda’s brother, made a dive for the door but Mr. Thompson slammed it shut and turned on them with a victorious smile. “You all didn’t actually think I’d let my best students leave with out serving their detentions, did you?” He leaned in towards them with an innocent expression and the smell of his breath made Pedro step back towards Yolanda and the other two. Yolanda fanned the air trying to get the smell away. Mr. Thompson’s innocent smile turned into a vicious one in the blink of an eye and he let out a brunt remark, “Good, because you’re all staying here until eight o’clock!” Mr. Thompson let out an evil laugh similar to that of Woody Woodpecker. The students started to scream their protests until Mr. Thompson’s laugh got louder and louder…

Jude stopped painting and looked up at Jayden. “Did you hear that?” She let her prop lay against the side of the stage and stood all the way up to look around the big empty auditorium. She looked at Jayden. They had stayed behind after the rest of the drama club to finish painting props. She and Jayden had been going out for a year and spent practically all of their time together. She hadn’t really wanted to stay but Jayden acted like it was no big deal so she stayed.

Jayden continued painting and shrugged. “It’s probably just Mr. Thompson’s class. He has someone staying for detention every day.” Jude nodded her head in agreement and propped down to finish painting her prop. She just couldn’t shake the feeling that something bad was going to happen….

Yolanda tapped her pen loudly on her desk while Pedro wildly looked around for a way to escape near the windows. Hakim, the other boy in the class, didn’t say much of anything. He sat with his hands in his book bag probably texting somebody, he did that mostly everyday. He had caramel colored skin and long hair that was styled in braids, and he always wore designer clothes but never spoke much. He always scored the highest on everything so no one could understand why he was in remedial English.

Loren, the other girl, was pretty loud herself, much like Yolanda, but she and Yolanda hated each other. They could never get along and she was spending much of the detention just staring at her. Loren was a skinny Caucasian girl with a bad fake tan, hair extensions for her blonde hair, and fake designer clothes. Everything on her was either fake or plastic. She envied Yolanda for getting more attention from boys and she hated that Pedro would never go out with her. She sucked her teeth at Yolanda who was tapping her pen loudly.

Mr. Thompson looked up and then down in his coffee cup. He stood up from his chair slowly and looked out at the practically empty classroom. “I need to go get some more coffee.” He shook his cup towards them as he spoke and tilted his head to the side with squinted eyes. He had a very accusatory look on his face at them. “I could send one of you but I don’t trust any of you. Liars and cheats, that’s what you all are,” Pedro continued glancing for an exit while Yolanda sighed very heavily over Mr. Thompson’s last word.

“Hakim ain’t do nothing wrong. You can send him,” said Loren with a smug sound in her voice. Hakim looked up at the sound of his name. Loren sat one desk in front of him and she turned around placing her arm on the desk in back of her. She slid it down so her fingers were touching Hakim’s desk. “Or we could just go together.” She had a hint of lust in her voice and for the first time Hakim showed emotion. He gave her a disgusted look and quickly moved a desk back. Yolanda bust out laughing.

Mr. Thompson let out an amused laugh. “Ms. Spears, keep your hormones in check please. None of you failures are going to go get my coffee. I’m going myself.” Pedro looked up with a smile. It would be the perfect opportunity to escape. Mr. Thompson looked right in his direction. “I’m locking the door behind me so none of you will be able to leave. So don’t even try out.” He walked to the door laughing evilly and quickly slammed it behind him. Pedro ran to try and put something in the door to prevent it from locking all the way, but it was too late. Mr. Thompson had already locked it…

Jude packed up her paint. “Jayden, I’m all done painting mine. I want to go. A practically empty school is freaking me out.” She crossed her arms and shivered from the slight breeze she felt.

Jayden was kneeling on one knee working on his prop, he looked up at her. “Don’t be a nut. You act like I won’t protect you if anything happens.” He had a point there; she wasn’t exactly scared when she was with him. He was captain of the basketball team and a pretty tall fit guy. It was funny for her to see him painting a prop now. It wasn’t his thing but she didn’t want to join drama club alone.

“Yeah, I guess you…” Jude stopped speaking from a loud shout and shriek she heard. She looked at Jayden with horror in her eyes. He dropped his paint brush and looked at her in shock…

Pedro and Hakim had run to the door after hearing the noise. Something was happening to Mr. Thompson and there was no way out of the room. Yolanda was trying to work the windows while Loren yelled at the boys to work faster. Hakim and Pedro were kicking and slamming against the door trying to break it down. Pedro slammed into the door when he heard one last shriek and a loud thud. They all stopped moving and looked at each other in fear. Loren ran to the door and started banging on it. “MR. THOMPSON?!! ARE YOU ALRIGHT?!” Pedro grabbed her away from the door and covered her mouth.

“You idiot, there could be a psycho murderer out there! We got to get out of here!” Yolanda had exclaimed she could barely move from fear. She felt the hair on the back of her neck stand up.

Loren laid on the ground and peered under the bottom crack of the door. She jumped up screaming wildly. Pedro ran towards her again. “What is it now?!” He shook her slightly to try and calm her down.

“It….It’s Mr. Thompson!!! HE’S DEAD!! I saw….his….his…his dead eye looking at me!!!” She let out another deafening shriek and Pedro let go of her slowly. They were all terrified now. There was a murderer outside the door and they were locked in. Worst part was Mr. Thompson had the only key to the room. It was only minutes before the murderer could come in and finish them all off.

They heard an eerie extremely loud screeching noise and noticed it was coming from the door. It sounded as if the point of a knife was being scratched against it. Loren let out a small shriek and ran to the back of the classroom; she hid under a small desk. Pedro ran to Yolanda and they desperately started trying to open one of the rusted windows. Hakim walked to Mr. Thompson’s desk and ripped off the machete type cutter off the paper cutter. He stood a few feet from the door with his weapon in hand. Loren was letting out desperately loud shrieks now as the noise got louder…louder…and…The noise suddenly stopped and they heard loud talking coming from outside the room…

Jayden held tightly onto Jude’s hand as they walked down the hall towards Mr. Thompson’s classroom. When they heard the noises they ran to find a way out but all the doors had been chained and they didn’t know what to do. They were terrified and they knew they had to find Mr. Thompson to help. They made it closer and noticed someone lying there in a pool of blood. Jude let out a scream and Jayden ran to see if Mr. Thompson was alive. It was too late. He was brutally stabbed. Jude covered her mouth and eyes. Jayden looked around in shock.

They jumped at the sound of banging from inside the classroom. “Help! We’re locked in, get us out of here!” Jayden knew it was Loren who was yelling. “Mr. Thompson has the key! It’s in his pocket, get it and let us out!” Jayden searched Mr. Thompson’s pockets and found the key. He quickly unlocked the classroom. Loren came busting out and jumped on Jayden right over Mr. Thompson’s body. Jude hugged Yolanda and glared at Loren…

An hour had passed and they were still searching for a way out but they all felt safer that they were a larger group now. “I think we should split up,” said Loren confidently.

Pedro spoke up first, “Nah, of course you think that! You’re white and white people always be the last ones living in horror movies! If we split up you and Jude live and we all die.” Hakim and Yolanda laughed. Loren sucked her teeth. It had been over an hour and they couldn’t find a way out and all of the phones were dead. They weren’t even scared anymore because they found no murderer. They continued walking on until they found a door with what looked like a weak chain.

Hakim, Jayden, and Pedro were working on the chains of door. “I need to go the bathroom!” Loren crossed her legs and did a little dance she thought was cute. Yolanda rolled her eyes.

“Well, you going by yourself,” said Yolanda slightly annoyed. Jude was trying to get cell phone reception unsuccessfully. Loren shrugged and hurried down the hallway.

About fifteen minutes later Hakim had managed to get the door opened. They all started screaming in joy until they hear much louder screaming come from all the way at the end of the hallway; it was the sound of Loren. Yolanda continued to run out of the school. “If she’s dead it’s her own fault! Ain’t nobody make her go to the bathroom. I’m getting out of here!” Pedro looked at Yolanda and the rest of the group. Jayden and Hakim were already running towards the bathroom. He ran in after them. Yolanda let out an annoyed sigh and stayed near the doors to wait for Pedro. Jude stayed near Yolanda terrified.

Hakim ran into the bathroom first and found Loren stabbed, much like Mr. Thompson, in one of the stalls. Her hand was slightly in the toilet and her head rested against it. Jayden covered his mouth from the scene in horror and ran back out to the girls. Hakim was staring blankly in terror at Loren’s body. Pedro pulled on his arm and yanked him out. They all ran back to the girls and ran as much as their life depended on it…

The school janitor made his way out of the stall next to Loren’s, whistling. He picked up her cell phone out of the toilet and looked down at the text she never got to send:

“Hakim, I’ve had enough fun for one night. You can be the big hero and unlock the door. We need to get out of here. I ain’t paying Janitor Joe his money for killing Mr. Thompson. He…”

He stashed the phone in his pocket and walked out of the bathroom still whistling.