Really, how did they do it? Because you couldn’t climb up a hundred feet above ground, and cut up the flag, holding on to the pole. So how did they do it? Did they pull the flag down? That was the only explanation, right, but eventhat would take a long time, cutting out every single star. So, what, did someone deface, de-star, whatever, an identical flag and then take the school’s good flag down and swap them out?
Completely bizarre, okay. And it was windy, too, so the wind kept blowing the flag like a kite, practically showing it off. It was eerie, too, the way you could see all that sky through fifty empty stars. Looking at it, I felt like we were… I don’t know how else to put it, except that it felt like our town was being invaded by some parallel universe. As if there was another country, another America, shining through that flag. An America that we’d never thought about because we’re all so hopelessly American, it’d never even occurred to us that there could be two of us, you know?
Well. Before you knew it, Cheesy, Vice Principal Gray, all these teachers, the school counselor, and the whole office staff were out front, ordering everyone to get inside. For a minute, it threatened to become a mob scene, too, but of course the teachers managed to get everyone inside. Still, all day long, everyone kept asking, How? Who could pull that off? It was the prank to end all pranks, and one by one, everyone turned to look at me, thinking the same thing:
Cam. Did he have something to do with this?
After first bell, the janitorial staff, all three of them, was out front, trying to take the flag down, but then the chain got caught at the top of the pole, and they couldn’t get it down. So then they tried to cut the chain with these huge bolt cutters, and what happens? They cut the chain in a way that the flag managed to stay in place, with this whip of loose chain blowing in the air, ringing the flag pole like a little bell with every gust of wind. So then theyhad to call the mayor’s office—this is what I heard—the principal’s office called the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office sent a crane to take the remainder of the broken chain and the flag down. After all, it’s a crime to deface the flag.
But wait, it gets better—because the crane showed up at lunch, when everyone was on the front lawn, eating. Everyone just sitting there, watching, while this huge crane started stretching upward, and then Mr. Gray walked out, barking, clapping: Inside! Everyone inside! Now! practically blowing a rape whistle at us. For two weeks, things had been so slow to boil, and then, in that moment, you could feel it simmering, everyone was so amped up.
The next day, it really hit the fan. Because someone posted a video, like everyone in school got a text with this video link, and it was time-lapse photography of the first starless flag, blowing in the wind, with sped-up blue sky and puffy white clouds passing behind it. Which was weird, yes, but the thing was, the time code on the video was dated for the day before, Monday, April 18, the day
before
. I mean, it must have been a trick with the date, right, but how’d they do it? And what really upset people was, could it be possible our flag had been defaced for an entire day and
no one noticed
? I kept thinking about that all day, listening to all the chatter in the halls, between classes.
Because if it wasn’t a trick, what other explanation could there be unless
, I thought… and then I heard my answer, right behind me. A voice, clear as day said: Unless someone hacked the code, and practically jumping out of my skin, I turned around, and no one was there. The bell had rung, and it was just me, alone in the hall.
Everyone kept going on and on about the flag, and it’s like I couldn’t even hear myself think. So I didn’t even go to the library at lunch, I just wanted to find a quiet corner where I could be alone, but of course who do I run into but Ricky.
Completely bizarre, okay. And it was windy, too, so the wind kept blowing the flag like a kite, practically showing it off. It was eerie, too, the way you could see all that sky through fifty empty stars. Looking at it, I felt like we were… I don’t know how else to put it, except that it felt like our town was being invaded by some parallel universe. As if there was another country, another America, shining through that flag. An America that we’d never thought about because we’re all so hopelessly American, it’d never even occurred to us that there could be two of us, you know?
Well. Before you knew it, Cheesy, Vice Principal Gray, all these teachers, the school counselor, and the whole office staff were out front, ordering everyone to get inside. For a minute, it threatened to become a mob scene, too, but of course the teachers managed to get everyone inside. Still, all day long, everyone kept asking, How? Who could pull that off? It was the prank to end all pranks, and one by one, everyone turned to look at me, thinking the same thing:
Cam. Did he have something to do with this?
After first bell, the janitorial staff, all three of them, was out front, trying to take the flag down, but then the chain got caught at the top of the pole, and they couldn’t get it down. So then they tried to cut the chain with these huge bolt cutters, and what happens? They cut the chain in a way that the flag managed to stay in place, with this whip of loose chain blowing in the air, ringing the flag pole like a little bell with every gust of wind. So then theyhad to call the mayor’s office—this is what I heard—the principal’s office called the mayor’s office, and the mayor’s office sent a crane to take the remainder of the broken chain and the flag down. After all, it’s a crime to deface the flag.
But wait, it gets better—because the crane showed up at lunch, when everyone was on the front lawn, eating. Everyone just sitting there, watching, while this huge crane started stretching upward, and then Mr. Gray walked out, barking, clapping: Inside! Everyone inside! Now! practically blowing a rape whistle at us. For two weeks, things had been so slow to boil, and then, in that moment, you could feel it simmering, everyone was so amped up.
The next day, it really hit the fan. Because someone posted a video, like everyone in school got a text with this video link, and it was time-lapse photography of the first starless flag, blowing in the wind, with sped-up blue sky and puffy white clouds passing behind it. Which was weird, yes, but the thing was, the time code on the video was dated for the day before, Monday, April 18, the day
before
. I mean, it must have been a trick with the date, right, but how’d they do it? And what really upset people was, could it be possible our flag had been defaced for an entire day and
no one noticed
? I kept thinking about that all day, listening to all the chatter in the halls, between classes.
Because if it wasn’t a trick, what other explanation could there be unless
, I thought… and then I heard my answer, right behind me. A voice, clear as day said: Unless someone hacked the code, and practically jumping out of my skin, I turned around, and no one was there. The bell had rung, and it was just me, alone in the hall.
Everyone kept going on and on about the flag, and it’s like I couldn’t even hear myself think. So I didn’t even go to the library at lunch, I just wanted to find a quiet corner where I could be alone, but of course who do I run into but Ricky.
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