“GO AWAY!”
These are the words students fear when entering Cal High’s back parking lot.
Why? Because they fear the wrath of the menacing Christopher Torrey, one of the many campus supervisors tasked with catching students who may innocently wander to a place they shouldn’t.
Torrey immerses himself in his profession, catching sneaky teenagers with an advanced technique.
“He is brutal,” junior Sophia Bonifacio said.
Bonifacio and junior Anne Yamada both helped coach the men’s volleyball team with Torrey, who also works as the head coach of the men’s volleyball team.
“He said I was mediocre,” Yamada said.
Bonifacio can attest to Torrey’s demeanor as well.
“[Torrey] is strict when he wants to be,” Bonifacio said.
And Torrey certainly wants to be strict when it comes to the closed-campus policy, which does not allow students access to their vehicles unless they’re leaving campus.
But that doesn’t mean that students don’t still try.
“There’s been a lot of crazy things that have happened [in the back lot],” Torrey said.
As a senior, Gabriel Quezada hangs out near the back parking lot. He recalls how students used to wait in the quad, but it was too hectic.
“Nothing really goes on back here [in the back lot] anymore” Quezada said.
And Torrey definitely makes sure it stays that way with the way he reigns supreme in the back lot.
These days, some might say Torrey “rules” the back parking lot, making sure the closed campus rule is being implemented.
“Truth be told, this has always been a closed campus,” Torrey said.
Torrey said the most common assumption people make about him at Cal High is that he is “super, super mean”.
“I’m just a regular guy,” Torrey said. “I come to work with a smile on my face.”
For adults working on a school campus, there’s a good chance that part of their job is to be able to tolerate kids, if not enjoy being able to make them bend to their will. At least that’s what we students think.
Torrey’s never-ending crusade against letting people access their cars requires him to be on the lookout at all times.
“You just have to be vigilant,” Torrey said. “I mean, it’s super tedious because you’re talking to teenage kids.”
But he followed up his campaign of being a ripoff Batman of the back lot with noting that not all students are terrible. Even though he may act like they are.
“Ninety five percent of [students] are super, super good.” Torrey said.
That couldn’t be the end of the story–not with the infamous tales of the back parking lot.
“You kind of see everything, to be honest with you,” Torrey said. “Things that you guys don’t see at all. You guys would be shocked. I don’t necessarily want to share some of the craziness, but it would shock you guys, even as teenagers.”
With our imaginations running wild now, anything could be going on back there. Aliens could be landing back there. A portal to another dimension could exist. There could be talking ferrets, or a lemonade stand. Who knows?
Whatever it is, students can all trust that Torrey is keeping order back there at all times.
