Perhaps today is the final day I will be a middle school student. After just one more entrance exam, I will step through the gates of high school. Our recent middle school graduation ceremony was truly overflowing with emotion. Our class had stayed closely bonded together for four whole years. Everything became even more meaningful with our homeroom teacher, who had walked alongside us since the seventh grade—the year we all started entering the awkward phase of puberty. From shouting until our voices turned hoarse to cheer for the school soccer team, to our field trips and excursions... Throughout those four years, we shared all the most beautiful moments of our youth together.
After the ceremony in the school yard, we returned to our classroom to throw a party—our final gathering as middle schoolers. Our class of 49 individuals shared countless peaceful memories of our youth. At first, everyone was laughing and chatting happily just like any other day, and no one wanted to shed tears on this final farewell. But then, our homeroom teacher was the first one to tear up. With deep emotion, she recalled the first day she met and talked to the class. She remembered the spring fairs where teachers and students set up stalls to sell things together before Tet, as well as all the joyful parties of the past. She cried so much that it ached our hearts; she loved us just like her own children. She was always gentle, or perhaps that was simply her nature. Even when she scolded us, she only wanted the best for us and offered sound advice. That is surely why all of us loved her so dearly. It is just a pity that our middle school years flew by so fast, forcing us to part ways so soon.
The classroom was decorated with an abundance of balloons and fresh flowers. The tables were piled high with pastries, candies, milk tea, and iced lemon black tea. On the blackboard, the words "Class B9 Year-End Summary" were written neatly, clearly, and boldly. The girls gathered around the teacher at the podium for a final chat, a few boys comforted her, and others bustled about preparing for the party. Some students didn't hesitate to burst into tears, while others, though putting on a strong face, felt a deep, swelling sorrow churn within their hearts.
When the party began, everyone returned to their seats. She stood at the podium, choking back tears as she shared her innermost thoughts with us—her students who were about to graduate. She projected photos and videos onto the screen, reliving all the memories we had shared together, including our cultural performance rehearsals. She had saved all of them in a folder on her computer. Everyone in the class choked back tears, each of us wishing we could pour out everything in our hearts to those around us. Together, we signed our homeroom teacher's class shirt. The signatures of all 49 students, along with her own, became an unforgettable memory. The class shirt was now completely covered in the signatures of every member, with hers right in the center—a symbol of our gratitude for her care.
After the party, the class stayed behind to clean up the classroom one last time before leaving. Contrary to the tears at the beginning, the room was now filled with giggles. I don't know if I will ever have the chance to hear those sounds again in the future. Suddenly, a knock on the door rang out, causing all of us to turn around and look simultaneously.
..............
2. A Memorable Trip
This was perhaps the final trip of our middle school years with the full participation of all members. Our class had about 47 people; a few friends had moved away or transferred in over the years, which likely created many personal memories for me. As a collective, we were quite active in school movements, excelled at sports, and maintained a solid academic standing with 24 honor students this year. Regarding our relationships within the class, even if we didn't particularly like someone, we still treated them normally. Perhaps because of this, our class rarely had friction, and when we did, the incidents were usually quite shocking or sometimes hilariously funny.
Dưới đây là phần tiếp theo được dịch sang tiếng Anh với văn phong mượt mà, giữ trọn vẹn nhịp điệu và sự hồi hộp của câu chuyện:
We gathered at the school around 5:30 in the morning, when it was still pitch black outside. To be honest, I was a bit late. Sitting in my mom's car, I frantically begged her to drive faster so we wouldn't miss the departure time. But my mom insisted that we wouldn't leave until 6:00 anyway, because the classes she used to teach were always like that. In the end, I lost a third of my pocket money just from a bet with my mom over whether we would be late or not. When we arrived at the school and saw students standing around chatting in small groups instead of assembling at all, I finally understood the truth in my mom's words: "I gave birth to you, do you really think I don't know you?" I hurried off to find my class's gathering spot, and a moment later, a few friends spotted me and pulled me into the group. How should I describe that moment? Well, it was a hilariously chaotic mess. We had to wait quite a while until everyone was present before we could board the bus. I sat next to my close friends; we wanted to sit near the front to avoid motion sickness. As the bus started rolling, I realized it was already broad daylight. I checked my watch—it was exactly 6:00. Looking back, it probably wasn't worth rushing like crazy to get there so early.
The bus cruised smoothly down the road. Once everyone had settled into their seats, the class tour guide emerged from the front passenger seat. She must have been a fresh intern because she looked very young. She wore the standard guide uniform and seemed quite comfortable in the winter weather. Holding a microphone, she smiled brightly and introduced herself: "My name is Tran Hoang Thanh, I hope we'll have a wonderful time together, everyone." Our class started murmuring a bit after that, but our homeroom teacher immediately shouted, "Quiet!" The noise subsided into whispers, making it easier for her to talk with the tour guide. The beginning of the trip was truly fun. My best friend and I invited our homeroom teacher to sing karaoke, another friend brought a stuffed animal, and someone even brought a one-kilogram box of pastries to share with the whole class. We also played a few pranks, like tying shoelaces to the chairs. Oh, how fun it was back then.
When we arrived at an amusement park, we were handed electronic wristbands that looked like smartwatches. They all looked identical, resembling digital watches, but they were actually used to pass through the ticket gates. Strangely enough, the security guards made it mandatory for us to wear these wristbands to enter the park; if anyone refused, they would be refunded and not allowed inside. Since that was the sole rule, all of us complied. A few students intended to protest, but the teachers sternly reprimanded them. It was the park's rule—no band, no entry—so we had no choice but to obey.
This amusement park was extraordinarily grand. Comparing it to Alice's Wonderland or Peter Pan would be a neck-and-neck race. It featured gigantic, magnificent mansions, alongside areas modeled after oceans and mountains. It was a deeply enchanting place. The tour guide led us to where our belongings were stored. This week-long trip leaned much more toward a resort and relaxation style. According to the schedule, we had to divide ourselves into rooms. Do you know that alphabetical room assignment style? We had to divide ourselves that way, but was the rumor of 30 people sharing a single room real? Yes, it was true. We would be split into groups based on our names and grade level rather than our specific classes to ensure fairness—mixing together the athletic students, the academic achievers, and so on. And each group of 30 would have a manager. Just imagine, 30 young men and women of this age living together in one space for an entire week... That felt a bit strange considering our total of 237 eighth-grade students. While pondering this, I realized my group had quite a few familiar faces, both people I liked and people I couldn't stand. Fortunately, we weren't staying in one single massive room; instead, each person would have their own floor, as the rooms were allocated by floor. My exact room assignment hadn't been decided yet.
Even though we were in the same large team, for the games, we would compete on a class-by-class basis, like a head-on showdown. The tour guide remained in charge of the games for my class.
.........
The first game was shooting, and our class would play this in a forested, mountainous area. The tour guide told us to divide our class of 47 (she joined in too, to balance the odd number of players) into groups of 6, 8, or 12, depending on our preference. We chose the rule of 8, so the class was split into 6 groups. The rule was that once the number of active players dropped to around 24, the game would end. Each of us participated in a sort of hunting game, but everyone was issued a handgun loaded with fake bullets. We had 5 minutes to find a hiding spot before the mutual hunting began. This was a game where physical stamina held the ultimate advantage. My group consisted of me, Ethan, and seven of my close friends: Lyra, Theo, Blake, Amber, Duke, and Tessa. Although we were close friends, the initial plan to elect a group leader sparked an argument, because everyone wanted to be the leader except for me and one female friend who immediately stepped down. In the end, we decided to choose Lyra as our group leader through a game of rock-paper-scissors, since she was already a class officer. That process alone consumed three whole minutes, making it difficult for us to find a gathering spot. The area was quite desolate, though not completely ruined.
The game kicked off with a gunshot echoing in the distance, though we didn't know where it came from. We left our rendezvous point and split into four groups to scout, protect the base, or scavenge for equipment. I was paired with Blake. Since we were on the same main team, this made total sense. Perched up in a tree and observing everything through a walkie-talkie, I could easily communicate with my teammates, though they didn't seem very responsible. After five minutes, a voice blared from the loudspeaker:
"Every five minutes, we will announce the list of eliminated players and the remaining count. Beginning: 4 players have been eliminated, 44 remaining."
The voice continued reading out the names of those who were out. Only a few minutes had passed, and an entire group was already "wiped out." That didn't worry us too much since my group was full of veteran gamers—except for me; I was a terrible player. Suddenly, I heard gunfire nearby. It was a clash between Group 1 and Group 7. They probably hadn't dared to shoot at each other yet, so Blake and I saw an opportunity and swiftly took out both sides.
Strangely enough, they suddenly passed out. We thought they were just acting and kept our guard up, but then I remembered what the tour guide had said: when a bullet is fired, the casing burns and releases a substance that causes players to knock out instantly upon impact. To protect us, the forest had been equipped with surveillance cameras. We confiscated their gear and left. The loot we acquired was quite interesting: a pair of binoculars, a lot of ammo, and a silencer. Since there was only one silencer, we decided to take it back to share. However, because the area was so vast, we lost our way and accidentally strayed into Group 7's base. It was a very luxurious setup, guarded by four players. It seemed they were focusing entirely on defense. Did this game really draw such clear battle lines?
I called my team via the walkie-talkie. Lyra assigned me to stay and scout Group 7's base while Blake carried the equipment back. I followed orders. Fortunately, the deal was that I got to keep the binoculars and the silencer. Physical stamina wasn't my forte, but my slow, cautious movements turned out to be a lifesaver as I managed to stay undetected. The silencer made hiding and infiltrating much easier. I even had to crawl through a small "doggy door" to get inside.
Just as I was brushing the dust off my clothes, a gunshot zipped past. I dodged it by pure luck. After returning fire and taking down that gunman, I realized it was none other than our class vice president. I rummaged through his gear and found a few more interesting items.
"Number 4, what's the status?" a voice suddenly crackled from his walkie-talkie, followed by a series of tapping sounds. A short tap, silence; then one long, one short, two longs... It was Morse code. 'A', 'Y', 'S'... probably meaning "Are you sure?" I replied in Morse code with the letter 'Y' for 'Yes', and luckily, they let me pass.
As I was trying to find their weapon cache, my luck began to waver. I was spotted just as I stepped into a room. In the darkness, I used the light from my watch as an advantage to blind and take down a guard. I realized my glowing wristband had become a liability, so I covered it with my sleeve. But the noise from the scuffle attracted someone else to the room. Hiding behind the door, the silencer allowed me to easily take down yet another player.
By that time, my luck had probably run out because the elimination announcements started echoing again. Without pausing to listen, I grabbed as much gear as I could to escape. That wasn't easy; I hadn't anticipated the terrifying weight of that loot.
When I finally broke out into a safe zone, I was completely exhausted. Hearing a noise, I quickly dove into a bush. A few people had spotted me. As I ran, I tossed some gear out into an open patch of dirt as bait. It worked—two players rushed out; one chased after me, while the other stopped to pick up the gear. Oh... did I mention that I had found a grenade earlier?
Just as I managed to take down my pursuer, a massive explosion echoed from the distance where I left the bait. I had no idea where I found the energy to run that fast. Before I could even process what was happening, a blade was pressed tightly against my neck.
"Game over!" the loudspeaker roared.
I sighed and pushed the person away. Looking up, I was shocked to realize it wasn't anyone from my class. It was Dan from Class A1!
