As October drew to an end, Loretto students experienced a smell worth a thousand words in the high school locker rooms.

As lunchboxes and gym bags accumulated over the previous two months, the smells accumulated as well.

After enduring the smell for so long, seniors and juniors grew horrified of the smell as they realized something went bad.

Victoria Chiu, a junior with a locker near the foul-smelling table, said, “I was confused because I didn’t know where the smell was coming from.

“I thought that someone had left wet socks in their locker.”

Mrs. Erika Gomez, who was on locker duty the week of October 20, said, “It was worse than a boys’ locker room, and boys sweat.”

Mrs. Gomez initially brought the stench to principal and vice principal Mr. Silva and Mrs. O’Neill’s attention when it became unbearable for her as well.

The following weeks, Mr. Silva visited the classifications and reminded students to care for their locker room, as he had visited it and found it no more enjoyable than they did.

As Mrs. Gomez described the smell, nearby students got flashbacks to the terrible time of plugged noses and nearly gagged at the thought.

After early dismissal on October 22, the brave maintenance workers cleaned out the smelly pile of lunchboxes and bags.

The most gratitude went out to the workers, as students could now enjoy sitting with their friends in the morning at the locker room. 

As they cleared the first half earlier in the day, the smell worsened briefly as the rotten lunch was briefly exposed.

Seniors and juniors have lockers near the table, causing them to hold their breath as they attempted to get the next period’s materials. 

Students were relieved to come back to school the following day to an empty lost-and-found table and clear air as well.

Chiu said, “Make sure not to leave any lunchboxes overnight,” commenting on ways to prevent the incident again. 

Since the sour incident, Loretto’s high school girls have yet to leave a lunch bag for more than a couple of days, as they have learned the repercussions of the dangerous mix of stuffy locker rooms and weeks-old lunches.