Before the Winter Pep Rally, Mr. Lee asked me for a quote for a video he was making. I told him we had some great surprises in store. What I couldn’t have known was there were a few surprises in store for me.
The first hiccup came during the challenges. As I was announcing the “pin the Bexley lion” competition, my voice failed me. As anyone who has been in a student section knows, this is nothing new. Within five minutes of any sporting event, my voice is gone. The key, Mr. Olexio tells me, is to yell from your solar plexus, not your throat. (Mr. Olexio is a pro at projecting his voice, as any one he has yelled at over the years will attest.) This, however, was a particularly quick and inconvenient way to lose my voice.
After trying my best to get out a few final words (unsuccessfully), I had no choice but to give over the microphone to the closest person I could find. Gavin Rackoff rose to the occasion. Unfortunately, Gavin’s lungs also failed him, so for the two of us having to keep the rally going was a challenge.
After a misguided attempts to return to the microphone, the pep rally finally wound to a close. The big surprise of the lion “pie-ing” Mr. Mackenzie was the only thing left before we called it a day.
When Ben Dahl, who was dressed as the lion, got Mr. Mackenzie-the crowd went wild. All was as planned. On his way out, Ben stopped and did a brief stutter step in front of me. “I don’t know why Ben is making this exit so dramatic,” I thought to myself, but thought nothing of it. Before I knew it the full force of Ben Dahl’s right hook, with nothing but a pie tin and whipped cream to protect me, was collided with my face. Ben, who I had thought of as a friend, did not hold back.
If you have never been pie-ed before, and I recommend trying it once, I suggest you do it in a controlled environment. Not only did Ben smash my face, but he got me at an angle such that whipped cream was coming out of my ear canal for days. The pie-in-face experience ceased to be fun when my ear wax smelled like sugar and lard.
All things considered, I wouldn’t change a thing about the Pep Rally. The juniors planned a great show, and apart from my body failing the school, it went off without a hitch. (And there were some awesome dunks, pins, fake swimming races, and bowls!) Plus, after losing my voice and taking Ben Dahl’s “Reddi Wip” mega-slap to the face, it’s all up hill from here.
Written by Harry Wexner’13
