By: Michael Chang
“Yes! It is out!” exclaimed Jaquavious Malingous Junior with a youthful smile. Then, he completed his morning routine and rushed out the door to catch the school bus. On the school bus, his friends gathered around him in anticipation of watching a YouTube video by Ninja showcasing the brand new and increasingly popular Fortnite Season Six.
Jaquavious took out his iPhone 7 from his pocket and clicked on the red and white YouTube icon. With intense excitement, he tapped on the video that appeared first on his screen.
While watching the new outfits, parachutes, pickaxes, and map updates, Jaquavious and his friends reacted with an optimistic vocabulary of phrases. One friend commented, “Wow! That’s so cool!” Another remarked, “She’s so creepy!” Others around Jaquavious reacted with, “OMG,” “Epic,” and “I’m going to be him after school.” Unlike his friends, Jaquavious did not verbally express his excitement, but he was equally thrilled about this Fortnite update.
Throughout the entire school day, most conversations between students were about this marvelous software. Whether you were in a classroom, the cafeteria, or even the gymnasium, all you could hear would be children speaking uncontrollably about Fortnite.
At 2:30 PM, during the last class of the day, Jaquavious sat at his desk thinking about his afternoon filled with Fortnite gameplay. Similarly, many of the other students shared common thoughts with Jaquavious.
Suddenly, when the teacher stopped teaching, multiple students sitting in the back row of desks started a chant. “I want to go home and play some Fortnite!” After each repetition of the sentence, the chant grew in volume. Almost unconsciously, Jaquavious conformed to his peers and joined the chant. This overwhelming chaos erupted in the classroom, horrified the teacher, and forced her to dismiss her class five minutes before she was supposed to.
Confused but still exuberant about the new Fortnite update, Jaqavious ran to the school bus and seemingly flew home with the invaluable company of his friends. When he arrived at his house, he updated Fortnite on his Xbox One, rushed through his math homework, joined an Xbox party with his friends, and asked joyously, “Where are we dropping boys?”
Instantaneously, his dream was abruptly put to an end with the alarm telling him to get ready for his first Zoom University class of the day.