New Necessities (To Live and Let Go)

And so, on Jack's second day of school, first period started quite late. Like at least a couple hours late. And all the other classes were shortened as the end result.

It was because of a cow. There was a cow grazing grass clippings on the third floor of Ladenburg High.

This cow was a mystery to all the adults in the building. There wasn't any possible way for the cow to even get ON the third floor of the building.

The teachers and faculty were pushing back all the students who had to see the cow with their own two eyes while the principal and his select few scanned the situation without coming up with a solution.

This began ten minutes after tired teenagers started appearing in the hallways. It ended after forty minutes of adults pondering about an apathetic (to Ladenburg High School) farm animal.

Finally they decided that the cow had to go and that the cow was the only strange thing happening inside the school.

Zack was getting updates from from Sam every thirty seconds or so and translating his words to the big circle of people crowded around.

"So now they've got a megaphone with them and they're telling us all to go to class. No one's leaving..." Zack said aloud loudly so everyone could hear.

Jack was standing right next to Zack, looking at the actual texts Sam sent. To him it appeared as a foreign language, gibberish, and Jack had no idea how Zack could decipher any of those weird letters.

Zack's smartphone rang for a fraction of a fraction of a second before Zack jabbed the touch pad and read the text.
"They're trying to push the cow down the Blue stairway and the cow's not moving."

"Ol' Bessie just gave Mr. Marker a death glare."

"They keep trying to push the cow."

"HOLY SHIT IT KICKED MR. MARKER!"

The crowd around Zack guffawed, picturing their beloved principal being flown into the wall by the stick limb of a cow's back leg. For some reason, Jack kept seeing Mr. Marker being tapped by the cow's foot and then leaping away in a ballerina's clothes and landing safely a couple inches from the wall in a twirl.

"Uhhh...they're calling somebody now...they made sure Mr. Marker was alright...Sam says it sounds like they're talking to the police or something..."

The big group stood more quietly in the first floor green locker bay, anticipating more news. On the inside, the boys were all a little scared for Mr. Marker. It was either that, or they liked the adrenaline rush from cow news.

"Oh no, they were calling a FARM, not the police..."

"They CARRIED out Mr. Marker and we all clapped for him."

For the rest of 1st period's regular time, the kids waited for cow news, coming to them slowly and boringly and without much excitement.
Well, there was one text that went along the lines of:
"THEY TRIED TO TIP THE COW OVER BUT THEY WEREN'T STRONG ENOUGH!"

That got the whole group laughing again for a little.

As the warning bell for the next period rang, kids started quickly heading to the group's left, in the direction of the lobby.

Jack's entire head followed the random high schooler as they fast-walked or ran along left.
He gently tugged on Zack's sleeve.

Zack looked down to Jack with a brotherly expression.

Jack said mainly to his older brother, "I think there might be something going on over there," but everyone in the group heard it clearly.

"Maybe we should go follow everyone then, I wanna' see what it is..." Zack the Text Translator Extraordinaire replied.

So then, as usual, everyone followed Zack (Jack especially) who followed the stream of curious kids in a hurry to satisfy their curiosity.

"Holy shit..."
"What the fuck?!"
"..."
" 'The hell is happening?!"

Various vehicles lined up in front of the school. There were white vans, pickup trucks with trailers, tractors, a police car, a landscaper's van, and a few others.

"So they really must want that cow gone..." Jack figured.

"Well, the Farm Power Rangers all showed up so yeah," said a familiar looking kid.

A machine was out and moving around. It was a rusty, dirty, paint chipped, mustard yellow, and it was huge. Jack could actually not see the very top of it like all the trucks and cars outside (because of everyone's heads).

The crowd of adrenaline filled high schoolers started leaking to the giant yellow thing, following it as it went right. Zack's group poured out too, and Jack saw that the yellow thing was actually a construction machine. The one with the scoopy thing attached and it digs the ground and makes all those giant poles and hills of dirt and stuff.
Yeah, the kids were following one of those to the site of the cow. There was a loud hum of chatting kids over the shrill yells of teachers demanding the students go back inside right this instant or they'll give all the students detention or – 'even worse' – a phone call home.

The two Barakat boys followed anyway.

Suddenly the big yellow thing just stopped behind the middle of the school, waited for a couple moments or what seemed like ten, and then raised its big arm to the third floor window.
The way they were trying to get this cow out of the building was a little strange, considering the window was inside a classroom and the cow was in a hallway.

But somehow Jack managed to squint at a small sized black and white blob being pushed and bumped out into the arm's scoop from the window.

"There's cheers coming from a room, I think they got the cow out!" Zack read seconds later as the cow was slowly being lowered into a crowd of kids – also cheering.

"Clearly," said that friend of Zack who Jack thought was familiar.

Jack thought the crowd below was weird, acting like the cow was a hero. The smaller crowd above, full of faculty, thought the cow was now a diffused, disabled, and smashed-to-bits bomb.

Students flocked around the cow, still thinking it was a hero, trying to get pictures with it and touch it. It was still in the yellow machine's scoop and standing still as chill as a hippie.

Zack and Jack were being shoved around, unable to even stay in one standing place.
"Zack can we go back into the school?" suggested Jack, a bit annoyed by the mob just about on the verge of attacking the nonchalant cow.

Zack looked down at Jack with a very caring face. "Yeah, that's a good idea, bro."

So they poked their way through the riot of students with a handful of teachers spotting them and putting on impressed faces (because the kids were doing exactly what the teachers wanted) like a salute to the students. Zack and Jack ended up man gossiping with a few other kids that joined them in their efforts to get out of the mob, all Zack's tall friends. Sam even added himself to the smaller group eventually.

It was getting to the point where everywhere bug inside classrooms, the students of Ladenburg High School stood around and talked and did nothing to where some of them started heading home.

Out of nowhere making various students jump, Mr. Marker turned on the intercom and announced, "School will still be held today. The obstruction in the Blue hallway has been removed and taken care of. First period will begin in five minutes. If any student isn't where they are supposed to be the exception being if they have an EXCUSED absence, then that student WILL get detention. The shortened schedule has been sent out. Have a nice day." CLICK!

A loud mumbling groan roared through the school.

Zack was poking at his smart phone.
"People are saying that was the Sarcastic Movement...And the thing of the week," he said calmly. Like Jack knew what he was talking about.

Jack, saying nothing, looked his brother straight in the eye with a confused face, and then Zack explained.

"Just about every week, someone or a gang of kids does something like a prank or ratchet public art. It's considered part of the Sarcastic Movement. It usually doesn't even start until the third week of school or something — not the second day."

Jack gave Zack a long exaggerated nod as a body bumped into his back. Jack turned to see the guy's face face as they apologized.
Instead the bumper said, "Oh hey, you're Jack, right?"

It was that overly flamboyant kid, Alex with the highlights. Jack replied a yeah.

"You're in my first period!"

"Yeah."

"Do you remember where it is and how to get there?"

"Ummm..." Jack looked at Zack because clearly Jack didn't remember.

"I got you two," said Zack to the rescue.

"Yeah, we can just follow him," said Jack. "His class is just three doors down from ours."

"Cool. I can't be late again or The One Whose Name Sounds Like Spit will let me have it."

"Hahaha, yeah."

And the three left.

"See ya!" Jack said to his brother.
A click in Jack's mind made the sophomore realize that he didn't tell Alex that Zack was his brother like he usually told people (he was proud to have a brother like Zack). Jack wondered why he didn't, but the wondering didn't last long.

As soon as they stepped in the door, the bell rang.

"Well, here we are boys, class has started and the two of you aren't in your seats. Remind me your names so I can mark both of you as tardy," the spit-named witch Mrs. Greppetho whipped her words at them.

There was a few seconds where everybody in the classroom was silent, and then Jack obediently answered, "Jack Barakat."

Alex, jumping on the giving-in bandwagon said with a sigh and an eye roll, "Alex Gaskarth."

Jack finally flicked his eyes over the rest of the room. All the seats were filled except for two, in yesterday's seat selection. Mrs. Greppetho must've made all the kids stay in the same spot. Jack started disliking her a lot more once he received a tardy when he shouldn't have.