So although I had been absent from school for a whole week, and returned the following Monday feeling that I had been gone a whole lot longer, I wasn’t surprised that the high school machine had trudged on just the same without me.Banners and flyers decorated the hallways and the cafeteria; Valentine’s Day was almost upon us, and with it the requisite flower and candy deliveries sponsored by the sports teams. For two dollars you could have a single rose sent to your crush during fourth period; for fifty cents, the girls’ basketball team would deliver a box of those disgusting, chalky heart candies to your boyfriend during homeroom.The hallways were stuffy and hot as the school’s antiquated heating system worked overtime in what was shaping up to be one of the coldest winters in our island’s history. The Young Republicans of America club members were giddy over this “proof” that global warming was just a big myth. On the morning of my return, when I walked through the hallway with Lily, the crush of the students threatened to overpower me completely.
