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Short Stories Sins In The Dark

Chapter One

The sun blared through Jade’s window as she unpacked her last box of things for her new apartment in the new city. Moving out of her parent’s home and across the country was a big step in her newly found adult life, but it was for the better. Finally free from the grip of her parents, she sighed as she sat on her bean bag in her living room.

“Hey, Jayden, right?” her roommate excitedly questioned.

“Yeah, but you can call me Jade. It’s nice to finally meet each other face to face, Niara,” I smiled as she sat on the couch.

“Oh my goodness, agreed. You can call me Nia, by the way. Are you going to college?” She asked, wanting to get to know me.

“Yeah, actually, it’s my last year. What about you?”

“Your last year? Are you in a two-year college?” She questioned.

“No, I graduated high school at 16 and am graduating right before my 20th birthday,” I said, and her eyes gleamed in delight.

“So cool!” she yelped in excitement, making me chuckle.

“Are you in college?” I asked, and she shook her head no, taking a sip of her drink.

“I went to a trade school and became a medical assistant, best decision ever,” she said, very relieved about her choices.

“I wanted to, but my parents didn’t let me, so,” I shrugged as I stood once more with a stretch of my arms above my head.

“Do you have any jobs lined up?” Niara asked me before I could walk away.

“Yeah, actually, I start tomorrow as a personal assistant for this guy. His name is Ace,” I said as her eyes grew fearful.

“Like THE Alexander Phantom?” she was barely able to utter the words.

“Uh, yeah, I guess,” I shrugged, confused by her fearful voice.

“He’s dangerous, please be careful around him, Jade,” she said, genuinely concerned for me.

“I will, thank you for the warning, Nia,” I said, a smile forming on my face before walking toward my room.

The next day arose, my ear-splitting alarm violently awakening me. I sighed before getting myself up and into a cold shower. Now awake and showered, I stepped back into my room and began to look for clothing. I put on these black pantsuit bottoms with a white long sleeve and a tan vest on top and some black Jordan 4s. I grabbed my purse, exiting my room, closing the door behind me. 

Walking over to the kitchen, Nia had made coffee earlier that morning, and it was still warm, so I helped myself to a cup and sent her a thank you text. Walking out, I locked our front door and headed to the elevator; I could hear my shoes tap on the floor. The draft in the hallway made me shiver a bit as the sun hit my face while waiting for the elevator. Finally getting to the garage floor, I walked over to my car and soon drove off. Playing music as I drove, singing along, I got to the office, parked in my spot, and went into the lobby. I got onto the elevator with this woman. She had 6-inch stilettos with a pink pencil skirt and a white top. She looked at me and chuckled.

“What’s funny?” I questioned, annoyed, looking at her.

“Nothing, your outfit is just too cute,” she mocked, laughing some more.

“Who are you to talk about me? You’re wearing the ugliest color of pink, black stilettos, and a white shirt; you don’t even match,” I stated. She looked me dead in my eyes, her expression now angry.

“Do you know who I am?” She asked.

I laughed. “Am I supposed to?”

Reaching the top floor, her stilettos angrily clicked off of the elevator and wherever she had to go. I took a deep breath before continuing to where I had to go, finding the same lady in my boss’s office. I knocked before entering, and Ace was laughing at the lady.

“Good morning, boss,” I said.

Out of breath, my boss turned to me and said, “You’re so funny.”

“Me?” I questioned.

“Yes, you! Not only funny but correct, Linda, you’re fired, and she’s your replacement,” he said so coldly; it gave me goosebumps.

“What! I have done nothing wrong for you to fire me,” she yelled at him, but he just gave her this odd, terrifying look, and she sighed, walking out of the room.

“Your desk is in that room. If I call you, you’re close enough to hear me but able to create your own space. You also get a complimentary tablet to keep track of my schedule and set up my schedule as well,” he said, passing me a white brand-new iPad.

“Okay, thank you so much,” I said, standing.

“Today should be pretty easy since it’s your first day,” he said, then ended the conversation, banishing me to my new office.

Categories
Features

Interview with Dance Team Captain, Selena!

Selena is a senior in the final chapter of her time at CKM. She has been a dedicated member of the dance team since freshman year and is now the Varsity captain of the Mane Event Dancers.  Selena looks back on the time she has spent at CKM very positively, and she hopes to give other young dancers the support she cherished while dancing for our school. 

Next year, Selena will be moving on from captain to a new role as an assistant coach, so she can continue working with the team that inspired her passion for dance. In addition to dancing for CKM, Selena has also coached the Cal spirit team, helping potential Lions perfect their skills with her expertise. 

Besides dance, Selena is also familiar with other forms of the arts, like photography. She is currently taking a class on the subject but also takes pictures of the things she loves for her enjoyment. Sports photography has particularly become a love of Selena’s since she has been dancing at football and soccer games for CKM, often snapping pictures from the sidelines while she cheers the Lions on. 

Selena is thankful for all the people she has met through CKM dance, as she has some of her most precious memories at CKM with the friends she made on the team. Sophomore year, 2021-2022, was a particularly memorable year for Selena, as she feels like that’s when the team was the closest to each other because it was much smaller than it is now. She’s still really close with many of the people she met that year and appreciates the closeness between CKM dance members.

Selena is excited to stay local for college so she can come back to help with the team and the community. She feels that she gained a lot of important social skills through CKM that have prepared her well for a future career as well as just in her daily life. She appreciates the work she and her team have put into their improvement and she’s very proud of what she and the rest of the Mane Event Dancers have accomplished over the years, all with the help of amazing coaches who helped push her to do her best. 

She wants to tell future CKM dancers to enjoy their experience here and try not to take it for granted because it goes by all too quickly, don’t stress too much, and just enjoy learning a new skill and have fun. Since joining the team, Selena has found a passion for dance and now can’t imagine her experience without her time on the team; Try new things and take chances, and you might find a new self truly loving what you do!

Categories
Entertainment

Pre-game Playlist

There are so many playlists out there that people use to get hyped for their games. Here are some soft songs to get you ready for that big game!

Can’t Take My Eyes Off Of You, by Lauryn Hill  

Not everyone’s favorite but a favorite of mine that gets me hyped. Especially if you have ever had a crush or just someone you’re thinking about while listening to a song that gets you in a good mood. 

Mirrors by Justin Timberlake 

Now this song is just great, it gets you thinking of things that make you feel a way that gets a kick out of you. And it’s a pretty long song but it makes you just want to dance. 

Valerie by Amy Whitehouse

This song is like daydreaming when you’re listening to it. It makes you feel like everyone you’re thinking about just disappears. It most definitely makes you want to dance and get everyone else hyped and in a good mood before your match. 

Dream Girl by Kolohe Kai 

Now this is a banger, this song is a good song that makes everything go away when you start to think about that one person. This song makes you feel like you know how to sing for real. Makes you want to start singing to your teammates.

Fantasy by Mariah Carey 

I mean it’s Mariah Carey who doesn’t like her? This song makes me want to snap my fingers and do a little pop of the hip. This is a song that gets everyone in a good mood no matter what. Whether you can sing or not it makes you sing it either way. 

Hold You Down by DJ Khaled ft. Chris Brown, Jeremiah, etc…

This song is a song that will make your head bob and a song that you could share the music out loud with the entire team. That way they can also get hyped. The lyrical melody is memorable too.

Categories
News Photo Series Sports

Red & White Meet

McClatchy’s track and field team kicked off the first meet of the season with their annual red and white meet. The meet itself wasn’t a typical meet where other teams from other schools came to compete; it was just a meet amongst the team. The meet was done so the players could get a feel for what an actual meet entails. The runners showed up bright and early at eight o’clock last Saturday to help set up the meet and some of the equipment needed for their events.

The team consisted of 113 people, differing from field events, sprinting, and distance. Coach Watkins, also a chemistry teacher, coaches the distance kids and the throwers. Coach Dale coaches the pole vaulters. Coach Johnson, also a math teacher, coaches the hurdlers and high/long jump. Coach Mo’ coaches the sprinters, and was a college student-athlete, who ran track at Sac City College.

Before the meet started, I had the opportunity to talk with Coach Mo’:

“So if I heard correctly this is your first official year being a full-time coach?” 

“Yeah, it’s my first time coaching through the school district.”

“That’s so exciting! Going into this first meet, technically more of a warmup meet, what do you look forward to your runners doing today?”

“I look forward to seeing all the preparation that we’ve worked on in the past few months. We just ran the timed four hundred last week, which was super successful! Today most of the sprinters will now be running the 100 and 200 meter, which we have been preparing for. It’s a great way to start our season!”

“Yes, it is! What do you look forward to achieving as a coach this season?”

“I look forward to achieving more PRs, more banners of course, and just aspiring all of you to keep being active and staying out here.”

Coach Mo’ has such a positive outlook, and so do the rest of the coaches. Many of the runners had amazing races, setting new personal records (PR). Hugh Heyer ran PR’d in the 800m race, coming in first place with a grand time of two minutes and six seconds, basically running a minute and three seconds on each lap. 

Many of the girl varsity runners PR’d in the 1600m. Madeline Zimmerman, only a sophomore, ran a 13-second 100m, and she had never run track before. We can expect to see a lot out of all the newcomers on the team, along with the returning veterans, like the super-fast sprinter Jada Lawson and crazy fast distance runners Owen Anderson, Sam Rounds, and more.

As the season progresses, we as the audience, parents, or supporters, should anticipate the greatness the track and field team will accomplish. Whether that be getting a new banner to hang up or just having a good time, the Lions will set out to do their absolute best and on those days where they might not, it will be okay because they will have so much support from their teammates and the community around them. You go Lions!

Pictures from the event photographed by Francisco Escobar:

Categories
News Sports

McClatchy Lions vs. Jesuit Marauders Boys Varsity Soccer Final

On Saturday night, the McClatchy boys varsity team played in the CIF Sac Joaquin finals against Jesuit. They had a great season, and everyone was excited for this final game.

The first few minutes of the first half were a close battle between both teams; all the boys wanted this win and did everything they could to get it. With 23 minutes left in the first half, Jesuit scored, making it 1-0.

Starting the second half, both teams seemed tired, but they did not give up. McClatchy students, family, and staff did not stop showing support and still had hope they could win this game.

The intensity of the game picked up, with both Jesuit and McClatchy attempting shots but missing. Time kept getting shorter, and McClatchy was losing their chance to make a comeback.

With only two minutes left, Jesuit scored again, making the score 2-0 and McClatchy losing their chance at winning the title.

Although they did not win, McClatchy had a great season, ending at #1 in the league with 11 wins and only 1 loss. It wasn’t the ending everyone was hoping for, but McClatchy fans showed love and were extremely proud of how far they made it this season.

Categories
News

Volunteer Opportunities in Sacramento

Sacramento is in no short supply of volunteer opportunities and people in need. Volunteering is a very generous way to give back to your community.

Going out and helping around your community can be a very good way to use up some spare time and help those in need. Opportunities to volunteer with The Front Street Animal Shelter and the Sacramento Food Bank & Family Services are just a few clicks away.

The Front Street Animal Shelter and the Sacramento SPCA need volunteers to help with the care of these animals. The volunteer work consists of walking the cats and dogs, socializing with the animals, cleaning them, and just spending time with the animals making sure they feel cared for and loved during their search for a home. To sign up, one would just have to go to either of the shelters’ websites and navigate to the volunteering section.

The Sacramento Public Library is looking for teen volunteers for their Virtual Homework Zone program. In this program, kindergarten through eighth-grade students can drop by and get help from the volunteers with their homework. They want people with at least a 3.0 GPA and full access to a computer with Zoom.

At the River City Food Bank, their goal is to give food to people who are unable to meet the basic living expenses. From February 27th through June 27th, you can volunteer to prepare and hand out food to the people in need. Even if you cannot make the time to volunteer, food banks across Sacramento are always taking food donations in the form of canned goods.

You don’t always have to volunteer your time, for there are always people in need of other things. Donating food to food banks, hair to Locks of Love, or even donating to charities, there is always a way to help.

Categories
News

New Campus Renovations

For the next few months, McClatchy is focusing on new renovations to improve campus life. This includes new bathrooms, upgrades to the field, and a cafeteria renovation.

Cafeteria renovations should be done after Spring Break. These renovations include a whole new flooring, new food service equipment, and re-tiling of the kitchen area. Changes like these are projected to improve the efficiency of the cafeteria, so more students are able to get lunch quickly. These upgrades will change the way the cafeteria works until it’s complete. The cafeteria will be closed intermittently until Spring Break, and two food trucks serving lunch as normal will be parked near the trash cans to the left of the outside cafeteria line, and one near the McClatchy mural on the blacktop. There will also be a larger food serving area in the ROTC Quad.

We’re also planning to see several upgrades to our sports fields. Two new bathrooms will be installed near the softball and soccer fields for easier access to athletes. Tennis courts and the swimming pool will also be upgraded. Tennis courts will begin construction in March, bringing in new scoreboards and flooring for a better playing experience. Games taking place in the allotted construction time will be relocated to different fields or away games. In addition to this, the swimming pool will begin construction in the summer to make for a more playable pool for our water polo team. It will be made to be deeper for adequate water depth, optimal for water polo, and will be fitted with a completely new deck as well.

Another project taking place this summer is the placement of an all-new HVAC system. McClatchy is notorious for the air conditioning randomly breaking when it is most needed. This completely new HVAC system is meant to prevent it from happening again. After these renovations are completed, we can expect a cool school in the summer and a warmer one in the winter. With Sacramento’s summer days reaching the 90s-110s, this cooling is badly needed. Plus, the air conditioner and heater will be on consistently, so we don’t have to worry about sudden heating and air conditioning malfunctions.

Credit recovery that would otherwise be held at McClatchy will now be held at the Health Professions High School following the amount of construction happening during the summer, but will otherwise be held as normal.

Overall, we can expect plenty of much-needed upgrades to our school founded in 1937. These changes will improve campus life as a whole, but until these changes are completed, we can expect a very different day-to-day schedule to avoid the construction. Sports games will be relocated and played as normal, and the cafeteria will be temporarily closed but also replaced with more lunch facilities. Quality of life on McClatchy’s campus will most likely dramatically improve with these changes.

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Book Buzz With Amanda Book Reviews Opinion

The Girl From Mars by Tamara Bach Review

This week I gave myself ‘The Girl From Mars.’ Written by Tamara Bach. I didn’t enjoy this book due to its lack of writing, describing a constant derogatory way of looking at the way things are. 

This story circles the life of 15-year-old Miriam. She has no intellect of what the outside of her little town is like. She is a very negative character, but then again so are all 15-year-olds. She acts very grown up to her friends and to her mother (she seems to hate all of them). She experiences the ultimate lows of what it means to act grown. 

She eventually finds a circle of friends she associates with, they convince her to take a rebellious road trip only to eventually take a turn for the worse. 

Though this book didn’t stand out to me, it had a great representation of what being a confused teenager can look like. As Gen-Z, we grew up with teenage shows that show almost everything but the realistic struggles of being a 15-year-old kid. 15 is the teenage dark period. I think that’s why I didn’t enjoy this book as much because it reminded me of all the weird stuff that happened as a 15-year-old. 

This book is also a bit stereotypical, Miriam has grown up in a small town, where nothing ever happened, everyone already knew her, and nothing ever seemed to change pace. Her character is a constant daydreamer that night and day, dreaming of something bigger. 

I guess dislike is too strong a word for my feelings toward this story, but it had its relatable parts. It represents a lot of LGBTQ struggles and dicey feelings masking friendships and relationships and such.

Categories
Cuisine and Recipes

Perfect Peanut Butter Cookies

Peanut butter. It’s a debated food, as I’ve heard from most people that they either love it or hate it. And some are sadly allergic to it. If you couldn’t tell, I love it. It has such a strong, distinct flavor that is like no other. I feel so bad for those who have peanut allergies, as they can’t regularly eat something I think is a wonderful invention. I also feel bad because peanut allergies can be deadly, which is probably the point I should’ve mentioned first, but oh well. Anyways, if you’re a fellow peanut butter lover, these easy cookies are perfect for you.

Ingredients

  • 1 ½ cups flour
  • 1 cup (2 sticks) butter
  • 1 cup peanut butter (preferably smooth)
  • ½ cup brown sugar
  • ½ cup white sugar
  • 2 teaspoons vanilla extract
  • 1 large egg
  • ¾ teaspoons baking powder
  1. Preheat your oven to 350℉. In a medium bowl, whisk together flour, baking powder, and salt until combined. Set aside.
  1. In a separate bowl, beat the sugar (white and brown), peanut butter, and butter until light and fluffy.
  1. Add vanilla and egg, and mix until combined.
  1. Add the dry ingredients to the wet mixture, and fold until combined.
  1. Separate mixture into ¼ cup large scoops, and move onto a baking tray.
  1. Bake for 10-15 minutes, or until golden brown.
  1. Remove from the oven and use a fork to make indents on the top of the cookies in a square pattern.
  1. Allow to cool, and enjoy!
Categories
News Sports

McClatchy Lions vs. Whitney High Semi-Finals Boys Varsity Soccer

McClatchy’s varsity boys soccer team has made it to the semi-finals of the CIF Sac Joaquin sections. They have worked so hard to get where they are, and they had a challenging opponent to beat to advance to the finals.

McClatchy started strong from the beginning to when the whistle blew, and their opponent, Whitney High, had the kick-off. McClatchy knew that they had to win this game to make history.

Whitney High had a corner kick. McClatchy made a mistake with their communication, which led to a goal against them, but that did not stop them. It only made them play harder. But soon after McClatchy had a corner against them on their side, they went in strongly, crashing the box with a header to the back of the net, which Kevin Miller made. All the boys gathered around cheering each other on while the crowd went wild.

The score was 1-1, making a very intense game. A little bit before halftime was about to end, McClatchy had another corner kick beautifully crossed into the box with a header straight to the back of the net by Ethan Roach. The boys all cheered Roach on, pushing him around, giving each other high-fives, and heading back to their side of the half.

Half-time began, McClatchy gathered around talking strategy for the next half so they were well-prepared and fixed their communication from earlier in the game. The whistle blew to alert the boys that the half would begin and the crowd started to cheer on both sides as the boys started to get ready to head onto the field. McClatchy had the kickoff this time, and as the whistle blew they kept position and good control over the ball, getting the other team tired.

Later into the half, Kevin Aguilar had a magnificent goal; he struck the ball low and with a lot of speed on the ball straight to the right side of the net and the crowd went crazy. McClatchy had secured their spot in the finals! The whistle blew, and McClatchy fans cheered. The team all congratulated one another and shook hands with Whitney, who also had an amazing season.

McClatchy is on their way to the finals after a great game. Now, we wait for the final match on Saturday, February 24th.