It all began on a regular school day, but one of the best days of my life. I skipped and ran to my school looking at the beauty of my poster of firefighters. My school was gloomy, boring, loud, and normal. As you walk in, your nose cringes because of the bitter smell of acorns. You might expect the classrooms to be the same. But it is not. It is very colorful, friendly like wallpaper, and a lot of pillows for Independent Reading Time. But, it smells like socks inside because of the terrible air conditioning. So overall, my school was a terrible place to be, and did not have the features as my poster. My poster was a combination of cool, awesome, and fun. It even smelled like artificial fruits! My group was going to love it.

“Class.” began my teacher, right after the bell rang, “I will like to introduce you to a new classmate. This is Emily.”
Emily came in shaking with fear and was sweating as the room goes dead silent and all eyes goes up on Emily. She was wearing a pink skirt with a polo shirt. She had long black hair with pale skin. She looked nothing like me. I had short, brown hair with sports pants and sports shirt, and I was tanned from the California sun.
“She made it just in time for the play we are going to have. She will be joining the firefighter group.” continued my teacher, “Be nice to her.”
“Yay!” exclaimed everyone in the firefighter group. I was part of the firefighter group in the “Friendly Neighborhood Helper” play. The play was about the many people that helps out the neighborhood such as vets, police officers, firefighters, etc.
“Can I do the lead role?” asked Emily. “ I am very good at acting and singing.”
“Sorry. Sara is already doing the lead role. You should see her. She is very good at singing and acting.” exclaimed Betty.
“No thanks” said Emily sadly, “Then what do I do?”
“You are singing along with her and play the people in the back. Just like us.” Replied Ryan who is going to be playing the role of the chief.
“Actually, I wouldn’t mind switching roles. I don’t want to be in the front.” I said quietly looking down at the ground. [The terrible memory from about a week ago popped up in my brain. I had a dance performance and I had a solo. I was about to do a backhandspring when all of the sudden I forgot how to do one. Instead of doing a backhandspring, I  kicked one of my legs up really hard and high making me land on my butt. There were many eyes upon me.]
“Sara. SARA!” argued Noah, “The day is in 3 days. Not possible”
“Oh. Sorry.” I apologized. “I gazed off”
“Yeah. No kiddin’” he answered. Noah had a big mouth. He was rude sometimes, but he was also my friend. I don’t know how we became friends, but I guess it was all thanks to the other Japanese people. In kindergarten, I moved to California from Japan. I only understood Japanese, so I made friends with japanese people only. One of them was Noah. There was also another boy named Taishi. He was very popular, and was very smart.  Everyone in the school knew his name! Even the 5th graders. Sadly, he had to move back to Japan. Because I hung around him all the time, I became popular too. To tell you the truth, it sucks being popular. I hated it. There had to be people around you all the time! All I wanted to do was rip their heads off! This is why I never understood why people want to stand out.

Emily played with me and my other friends everyday. By other friends, I mean most of the school. She forgot all about the lead role thing. Instead, she helped me work on the posters at home everyday until we feel my eyelids close. I would dump a bucket of cold water on my head and continue working on the script and help Emily memorize her lines. She was a great friend. At least that was what I thought...

The day of the play came. 30 minutes before I have to go on stage and sing. I looked around backstage. I could see that everyone except for me had butterflies in their stomachs because of nervousness and excitement. The girls were jumping up and down, and the boys were not able to sit still and do their usual video games. But I was frowning looking sick. What if I mess up, again? Everyone will be looking at me because I have the lead role, again! I don’t want to go up on stage. My group came over to me to do dress rehearsal with our cool fire fighter costume. It was baggy and heavy. What if I trip on the costume and fall? I don’t want to do the lead role! As I stood there thinking of all the terrible things that could get me attention, Emily stopped singing at her small solo part in the very beginning.
“Why did you stop?” asked Saloni who was playing the role of the second chief.
“Can I talk to Sara in private?” asked Emily.
“We can’t stop now. Show is starting soon and we aren’t perfect at this song yet!” argued Betty.
“Guys, it is okay. It will probably only take a few minutes.” I said calmly. But I knew that Betty was right. We were not that great at the theme song.
“It better.”said Ryan.

Emily took me to the new and remodeled bathroom. It smelled like lavender and the stalls got higher that I couldn’t reach it anymore.
“Get in the stall.”
“Why?”
“Just do it”
I went in knowing there was no other choice. Emily shut the door and pulled so I will not be able to get out. I pulled too. I climbed on top of the toilet looking for security cameras. There were a few.
“Creepy” I muttered
“Huh?” She asked curiously.
“Nothing”
My friend was locking me in the bathroom, and there were cameras watching us. I began to sweat. What do I do?

“Ugggh”. I said pulling my hair. My group was waiting for me and we worked so hard on it together. I did not want that to go to waste. I looked around for anything dangerous Emily might get hurt with if I pulled. Emily might hit her head hard on the wall or the pointy box for the toilet paper and might crack her head open. I did not want that to happen. At least before the play. So I decided to talk things out.
“Emily, Why did you lock the door?”
“I dunno”
“Why?”
“Because I don’t want to”
“Huh.” I sighed, “Is it about the lead role thing?”
“NO” she answered with a wobbly voice. She sniffed her nose. I guess it is about the lead role thing.
“Are you jealous of something?”
“NO” she answered again the same way she answered before.
I stood there. She wouldn’t budge. I looked at the toilet. I climbed on top and jumped with all my might. My costume was too heavy. Why does is this happening to me now? As I was in the air, I moved my legs seeing if I could run to the top of the stall. I couldn’t reach. I guess I have to go underneath the stall, and crawl on the dirty floor. I looked underneath the stall hoping nobody is there. There was a bright purple shoe dangling from someone’s leg. Dang it
That is when I couldn’t take it anymore. I stepped on to the toilet, and I tried jumping over the stall again. This time closer than before. But my costume was still too heavy. If I take it off, I would disappoint my team. I stood there helplessly. My eyes began to water. The show was going to be on in a few minutes, and we were the first ones on.

o be on in a few minutes, and we were the first ones on.
“I will let you out after the bell rings.” she finally said.
“That is when the show starts!”
I sat on the toilet thinking about the group. They must be disappointed. Especially because we worked hard on it. Why do I care so much about the play anyways? I don’t like my role. I stood there thinking. I almost forgot that I was trapped in the bathroom for 5 minutes.
“The group is waiting for us. So let me out and and let’s go!” I yelled.
“No.”
“Why. You know how important this is for the other people in the group.”
The group. I was working hard on the play because I did not want to let the group down. Nothing could have stopped me from doing the play. I worked too hard on it that I could not give up. I looked around the stall again. That is when I saw it. My enemy, milk. I got the milk and threw it over landing right next to Emily, making the carton open and spilling milk everywhere. Emily’s firefighter shoes was ruined.
“Ahhh” she screamed on the top of her lungs. She quickly bent down to wipe the milk off of her shoes. I ran out of the stall into the GLC.
“Sara, where were you?” asked Betty in a rush.
“Emily, loc… I had to help Emily with her costume. She spilled milk on it by accident.” I lied.
“Oh.”
“Shows on in a few minutes. Hustle.” argued Noah.

I stood there in wonder in my long baggy suit sweating. I knew it was not my fault. I have always been nice to Emily and she was nice to me. I knew I could not be friends with her no matter how much we had in common. She locked me in the bathroom when it was not my fault, she did not trust me, and she also tried to stop me from doing what I worked hard on even though I did not want to do it. I could never forgive her. From that day on, there were many questions that I never got an answer on. Why did Emily lock me in the bathroom? Is it about the lead role thing? What was she jealous of?  And, why was there milk in the bathroom? Those questions will be a big mystery in my life but I learned some things through the experience of being trapped in the bathroom. Don’t let hard work go to waste especially if you do it with other people, milk in the bathroom comes out handy, don’t become popular ever again, and I hate Emily.