2nd Setting Description

Lake Roosevelt High School sits in the middle of the small town of Coulee Dam Washington.  Although it is a small school, it is the biggest building on the west side of the river. 

The air is parched and hot.  Across the street from the school is a row of small, one- story houses.  Some of the yards are green and well kept but many have gone to seed.  One of the neglected yards sports brown and withered grass, but in the others there is only bunchgrass and dirt.  The sun is too fierce for all but the most pampered lawns.

A pair of tan double doors at the school’s entrance opens to a wide dusty hallway.  The halls are thoroughly cleaned every evening but fine dust travels into the school on the wind, and on the soles of every student who enters.

There is a glass display case front and center.  It houses trophies from winning basket teams, wrestling teams and the cheerleading squad.  There are no trophies for the hapless football team. 

The bell rings and students burst out of their homerooms, talking too loudly and too much as they try to cram seven minutes of socializing into the five minutes between classes.  Lockers creak open and are slammed loudly shut, and the noise dissipates with each moment that passes.  Finally the only sound left is the squeak of a single pair of sneakers as a tardy student hurries to class.