Hikes and Knees

So in this post, I shall be blogging about two separate things that will connect in the end. This being said, do not be confused by the sudden change in topic. All will reveal itself in due time.
Tomorrow, my grade is going on a hiking trip at Pinkam Notch. We are staying for two night, and doing an all day hike on Thursday. The other two days we are doing other mountain/nature related activities. One night we even get to go on a night hike! Hiking in the dark...it makes the hike oh so much better. I actually really enjoy hiking, unlike some people in my class, and so I've been looking forward to this trip for awhile.
To my extreme annoyance, my school does not force all students to come on the trip. I think that this is a problem. One boy isn't coming because he doesn't like our grade. One girl isn't coming because she...she has no reason. She just doesn't want to hike and be away from home. Another girl isn't joining us because she doesn't like nature. DOESN'T LIKE NATURE? That is ridiculous. I believe that everyone should be required to come unless they have a legitiment reason not too. A medical problem, for example. Last year, we went to Cape Cod, where there are many ticks. One girls didn't come because she has a severe case of Lymes disease, and if she got a bite, she would become seriously ill. I scoffed at this, and thought that no one was going to get a bite. I was wrong, however. As it turned out, I was the student who was viciously attacked.
In the beginning, I wrote "we" many times. I will explain why this was not entirely accurate. Yesterday, I was sitting in English class, when I decided to adjust the position of my knee under my desk. Turns out this was not a very good idea. My patella (knee cap) does not track properly, and by just slightly moving my knee, I dislocated my patella. I waved it off, not realizing what I had done. luckily my patella found its way back onto the track, but it was very aggravated that I played tennis for an hour and a half yesterday. It was really painful to walk, and so today I went to the doctor (where they told me what had happened), and was given a brace. Not just any brace, oh no. That wouldn't do. They had to give me THE ugliest brace ever. It starts at my upper thigh, and goes down until maybe three inches above my ankle. Not to mention the fact that it is gray, with six black straps around it. The worst part is that it prevents me from moving my knee completely.
So, this means I will not be hiking tomorrow. Why couldn't my knee have waited until next week to protest against me? Alas, it was yesterday, two day before the hike. But I am not a quitter. No, I shall be accompanying my class to New Hampshire. Though I will not be doing any hiking (not even the night hike, which, as I said, I was very excited for), I will prove to those who opted to stay home that they are babies, and I am strong like bull.
STRONG LIKE BULL, I TELL YOU!
~Isabella