Well, it looks like the powers that be decided to give us another day in February.

So say hello to Leap Day, as the year 2000 happens to be a Leap Year. Of course, Leap Day happens every four years, meaning that February gets an extra day. I don't know the significance of February 29, as I don't know anyone who was born on that day. But this year, February 29, 2000 would be significant in the history of Lochland Middle School.

In any case, I noticed that many more people didn't attend yesterday's dance than I thought, as the dance theme seemed to offend many students. I'm not sure what's wrong with having Disney as the theme of the dance, but many people were so offended by it, they left the dance and went to the student lounge or the computer lab. Jem wasn't one of them, to my disappointment, as she always stays at the dances no matter what.

So what happened to make this day so memorable, save for the fact that this day only happens once every four years?

The student council, angry that so many students left the dance, issued an in-school suspension. That meant no one was allowed to attend classes or leave the suspension room (not even to use the bathroom) until school ended for the day.

And guess who got suspended for not attending the dance?

This guy.

So this means I have to miss all my classes and sit in a room because I went to the library instead of going to the dance and hooking up with a girl.

Wow. Society can be so hateful towards nerds. Something needs to change in order to combat this discriminatory problem.

Anyway, the suspension room is located in the middle of the school; it doesn't have windows. You could walk in here during the middle of winter and be freaking hot in this room. The room also has several tables and chairs, which are less than the amount of students in the room.

Meaning, about 40 people are in the room and there's only 15 chairs and eight tables.

Well, that's not fair.

Anyway, the head of the student council says, "Since you guys decided to "exercise your options" by not attending the dance, you will all spend the day in here." Everyone groaned. "I would advise you to think about what you did and how you offended the school and your fellow students by not going to the dance..."

"But I really gotta pee!" one of the girls cried out.

"Well, you should have thought of that BEFORE you decided to go to the computer lab instead of the dance!" said the student before she shoved everyone into the room and locked the door.

"Well, this is great," said a boy as soon as the student was gone. "We're stuck in this place, and there's no way we can leave this room."

"And I still gotta go!" the same girl cried.

"Yeah," said another girl. "Does anyone not know about how dangerous this place is? We could die in here and no one would be able to find us for weeks, if not days."

"Well, don't you think it's illegal to leave us in here?" said another boy.

"Well, forget this!" the first boy yelled as he stood up from one of the chairs. He took what appeared to be a large credit card and slid it between the door and the wall until the door unlocked.

"Finally," someone yelled as everyone went out the door. Most of them were relieved to be out of that terrible room. Claire said to me, "Well, I never thought I'd see the day that no one would care if 40 of us would live or die in this terrible place. How did no one know about this? Did any teachers approve the suspensions?"

"Who knows?" I said. "I bet no one here cares about a group of teenagers who refuse to live the lifestyle of the American teenager."

"Well, that's going to change," said Claire.

"Why?" I said.

"Because nobody deserves to be punished for not following the crowd," said Claire.

OK, I can't argue with that. Following the crowd always meant losing your right to be an individual. Conformity causes pain.

Anyway, after all was said and done, the group of suspended students decided that if they were going to be suspended for not going to the school dance, they would gladly inform the principal of what was going on. Maybe name a few students and humiliate them, make them see how much they liked being made fun of.

And that's what happened.

So here I am, back in the library, waiting for the axe to fall. Nine students snuck into the front office and made an announcement claiming that the school suspension room was off-limits and anyone who sent 40 students to the room would lose their trip to Washington, D.C. and not be allowed to graduate with the eighth grade class. Those who made the announcement and tossed us into the suspension room were to turn themselves to the principal's office immediately.

The minute that message got out, many students in the classrooms all began blaming each other for the dance fiasco. In fact, I could hear people shouting at each other all the way down the hall. Clayton came to me, saying, "I heard you got locked inside the suspension room for not going to the dance. Is this true?"

"Why wouldn't it be?" I snapped.

Clayton said, "Because I bet your sister is part of this. She still hasn't forgiven you for not wearing a dress to your 10th birthday party."

"If Jem were a part of this, we'd already know," I said.

"It's only a matter of time before that happens," said Clayton. "Now, what did you do to make everyone angry?"

"Plain and simple, I decided that if a group of people are punished for not attending the dance, there will be no more dances for the rest of the year," I said.

"Well, good for you," said Clayton. "I never liked going to dances. "

"Why not?" said Claire.

"Because dances are boring, pointless, and insignificant," said Clayton. "I don't know why we have to have them in the first place."

"Clayton, were you caught drinking at the dance?" said Claire.

"Why do you ask?" I said.

"Because Gloria Bates told Marie Langley, who told me that Clayton and several other boys were caught drinking at the dance and got suspended," said Claire.

"Well, it was only ginger beer," said Clayton. "I don't know what Donna Chandler's problem is."

"You didn't by any chance reject her sister and call her a fat cow who's incapable of doing anything else but eating, did you?" I said. Claire snorted at that, knowing that Denise Chandler had a severe eating , making her fatter than the entire population of the school, including the teachers.

"Uh, no," said Clayton. "Plus, if my dad found out that I was going out with a fat girl, he'd peel off my skin and wear it as a coat."

"Well, there is that," I said.

This conversation would have carried on for several more pages when a boy came to us, saying, "The student president is calling for an assembly for the eighth grade class, so we better get to the cafeteria if we know what's good for us."

I took the hint and we all walked into the cafeteria, where the entire eighth grade class was packed into the tight space, along with several teachers. The principal was nowhere to be seen. I saw Jem and her girlfriends standing in a corner, all of them glaring at me like I had done something wrong. I won't repeat the story about how Jem gave me the tirade of the century until dad shut her down. (I mean, what is up with Jem and her always yelling at me? Was she turning into Barbara Holt? Come on now! I can't be like Milton, who now has to go to another school because he's being picked on at home AND at school. I won't go down that path!)

Anyway, Nicole Mayer, the eighth grade president, stood up and said, "Never have I ever seen in all of my years of education, 40 students would choose to hide in the library and the computer lab instead of attending the dance as requested. But that's not why I'm angry."

"So why is she mad?" said Clayton.

"I don't know," said Claire.

"The reason I'm angry is because 35 people have broken twelve school rules, the rules that were set up when we first came here," said Nicole. "So far, there have been 26 counts of wearing banned clothing, 34 counts of bringing lunch from home, 19 counts of copying another person's homework, one count of a person of the opposite sex in the girl's bathroom..." (Here, everyone glared at Danny Wilder, who often pretended to be a girl so he could wear dresses and jewelry. He sank in his seat in shame.) "...over 100 counts of not being a loyal student of Lochland Middle School by consorting with students attending Clatskanie Middle/High School, 40 counts of not attending the school-sanctioned dances, and one count of befriending a student who refuses to conform to the school's policies..."

"You," said Claire while staring at me.

"Nope," said Clayton. "I believe that rule applies to Matthew Larsen and his friendship with Ricky Green," said Clayton as we stared at the two boys in question.

I nodded, but I also knew I could be in big trouble for being friends with Milton, but Clayton would be left out of it. But it wasn't over yet.

Nicole concluded, "For the first time in the history of Lochland Middle School, there will be no end-of-the-year party for the eighth grade class, nor will there be a promotion ceremony. The trip to Wild Blue Ropes Adventure Park has also been canceled. I expected better from all of you."

Well, that day will never leave my memory, as I heard many students crying and protesting the punishment they were given. Claire shook her head, saying, "If that's how it's going to be, I might as well find another school. I'm so done with this one."

I frowned, knowing that I was going to hear about it later on when I got home. At this point, I could care less if I wasn't going to Lochland High School anymore. I knew I can't be a part of a school that focuses its cruel ideals on innocent people and inflicts pain on students who don't conform to the rules.

Don't they know conformity causes pain?

Other than that, February 29, 2000 is the worst day of my life, as I learned that the school I was attending was nothing more than a prison for students instead of a proper middle school. Meaning, I'm among those who are being treated unfairly because I'm not going along with the school's culture of teenage rebellion. I don't care about how much I have to get in trouble; I just want to get out of there as soon as I could.

Just get me out of here, please!