"I hate it here so much." Sam complained to no one in particular. This school harbored all of the moments and feelings that Sam wanted to forget.  

Erin took Sam's hand "We're only here to pick up your letter of recommendation from Mr. Dempsey. Then we can leave and never come back." Erin reassured them. Erin was Sam's older adoptive brother. Ever since Linda's mom brought him to Sam's house when he was ten, he immediately felt like it was his duty to protect Sam. Even though  he couldn't speak English at the time.

"I wonder why he took so long to write it. he said he would have it done by the twentieth," Linda commented, who was walking with them down the drama hall to Mr. Dempsey's office. 

"That's either a good thing or a bad thing." Sam had asked Dempsey, the drama teacher, to write them a letter of recommendation for a grant they were applying to. Despite Sam's gender they were determined to be a serious film actor. 

Getting to Dempsey's office they looked around and as usual it was mess, and the drama teacher was nowhere to be found. The group of teens groaned and muttered as they turned to check the auditorium.

The teens walked into the foyer of the auditorium. Linda shook her head,  "If he's not in there i'm going to shoot him in the face with my shotgun." 

"Well, wait until I get my letter." Sam replied looking completely serious. They were not going to leave until they got that letter.

The auditorium was really that special, it had 300 seats (2 of which were always broken), it was relatively small. The carpet only went down the aisles, there was no orchestra pit, and the stage was painted black and barren. But Sam couldn't help but love it after all the hours they spent up there. 

Dempsey was standing on the stage talking to people in the front row of seats. From the way Dempsey was talking Sam's guessed it was the popular kids who didn't take acting class seriously and messed with props. One of the rules in theatre that should never be broken and when it is, it means death. 

Dempsey looked the visitors. His scowl immediately lifted from his face, "Sam, Erin, Linda. What a pleasure it is to see you," he hopped from the stage and walked up the aisle. "You're here for the letter of recommendation aren't you?" he smiled

"There is literally no other reason good enough to com back to this hell hole." Sam replied in a joking manner but they weren't joking at all.

Dempsey passed the group to the sound booth, a small table that controlled the mics and sound cues, picked up an envelope and handed it to Sam. "Good luck." he grinned proudly.

Sam smiled back, "Thank you sir. This means a lot."

"Glad to help." he replied. He patted Sam's shoulder and walked to the stage. 

Sam was finally everything they needed. A feeling of relief washed over them, they could finally relax.

"Alright, let's leave." Erin said abruptly. The trio made their way out of the auditorium and to the hallway. 

Linda was the first to the drama exit,  she pushed the door but it wouldn't move. "What the-"

"ATTENTION STUDENT AND STAFF. THE BUILDING IS UNDER A LOCK DOWN UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE. NO ONE IS PERMITTED TO LEAVE OR ENTER THE BUILDING." 

"Are you kidding me?!" Linda shouted.

Great,  Sam thought, as soon as something was going right.