I’m back. Second month of school in Northwestern. A new school, new teacher but no new classmates, only soldiers gone to the other grade 8 class, including Amelia. Wow grade eight. How have I survived so long with the same cast of annoying characters? I should move on, this story isn’t about them. It’s about a gym class. I had changed and sat back down with my new squad. After a while the teacher calmed us and announced we were playing a new game. Mob tag, or Swarm tag as well. It reminded me of a book I recently read. She explained the rules, two people who are it would have a pinnie. They would also have a ball they throw back and forth to tag people. If you had the ball you couldn’t move and had to try and tag people. Last one standing wins. I could feel everyone’s eye rolls. This sounded beyond simple to win. She picked Atticus and another kid, slow ones. We all jumped up and ran to the corners, far away from the it people. Then the game began. Everyone circled them. After a few moments, my friends and I gathered around a basketball hoop, hopping up trying to touch it. I, being the shortest in my friend group at 5 foot, failed miserably. I stared at the people, feeling pity for them. I walked over to Sarah to make conversation. “How was Luke caught?” I asked in a surprised tone. He was the fastest kid in probably the whole school, yet here he was, caught. Sarah shrugged. As we stared at the three kids passing the ball i made a suggestion. “Let’s go in, might be fun” “sounds good” Sarah said. With a nod, we both ran to the nearest penny. It worked. Almost instantly, a ball flew into the boy’s hands and he lunged for us. As we twisted away a laugh escaped me. We ran to the next kid, him doing the same. This was fun. My other friends saw us and discarded the basketball hoop. Then somehow, a few more kids where caught. Now the game was getting good. I began running laps to escape the it kids in all corners. They would move as a blob to one side and I would go to the other. Soon I saw some of my friends get taken to the mob. The kids who had been caught where smart. They developed a system. A few kids would latch onto a classmate and announce “CORNER THEM” then all the kids would surround the selected kid. They inch them closer into a corner and give them no escape without violence. Then, one kid would get the ball. Particularly punches with the ball where thrown. If one kid didn’t catch you as you tried to run, they pass it to the kid closest to you. There was almost no escape when it came to the corners. As I ran I looked behind me. I saw something that made me stop dead in my tracks. Sarah, running on the other side, three kids surrounding her. “CORNER HER!" The scream filled the air. All the kids who were there turned and looked, soon following after her. I saw her happy smile quickly turn to dread before she disappeared under the growing crowd. A scream bubbled up inside my throat. “SARAH!” I yelled. I saw the swarm disband and Sarah walking over to the teacher, grabbing a pinnie. We made eye contact and gave each other a sad nod, knowing she had gone to the dark side. It never dawned on me that that little nod could have aided in my demise. I ran off some more. After more time, I caught Sarah's eye from across the gym. A menacing look came on her face. Then, she charged at me. Alanah quickly followed. I ran towards the corner farthest from the doors to the hall. A yelled filled our room, blocking out the squeaking of sneakers and the giggles. “CORNER!” I paled. Kids looked at me, running. Suddenly at least six had surrounded me in a corner, hunger in their eyes. So many familiar faces surrounding me. I saw the blue dodgeball fly around, inching closer to me. I moved side to side, the mob moving with me. I looked to my left and had an idea. The ball was only a few kids away. A few kids away from entering the swarm and tearing me apart. I side jump and broke into a run. Prancing along the wall to the weakest link. Kids shouted around me. I somehow broke through. With one final jump hugging the wall, I skipped over a boy's leg and made it out. I felt the air of people swatting at me with the ball, so close to my back. But I made it. I ran as fast as I ever had. Faster than I do in soccer. Faster than that mandatory track and field day and all the boys in my class cheered me on. In a split second I was out and on the other side of the gym. I heard their cries of defeat. As I ran by my teacher, a ball hit me. Landing in the crease of my leg as I raised it up in my run. My teacher said it didn't count so I continued on. Around five minutes later, another mini attack happened. I spun myself out of that situation. I heard my teacher yell “oh an escape artist!” Making me laugh. As the gym time passed, I grew tired. Another attack came and I just couldn't spin fast enough. I was caught. The ball collided into my side and I doubled over. Accepting defeat, I grabbed one of the greasy pinnies and slipped it on, feeling myself join the mob. A smile grew on my face. I now felt the need to get others, to have blood on my hands. I ran over to one of my friends and didn't stop following. A few other caught on. I knew what I had to do. I opened my mouth and yelled “corner!!” We ran her to a corner but luck was not on my side. The teachers voice filled the air, calling our game to an end. I felt the swarms control lift off me. I casually walked with my friends to the change room, laughing about the game. It turned out to actually be fun.