DIFFERENT -Eli Moskowitz-

1.0

written from Kay's perspective

I opened my eyes up to be surrounded by soft sunlight and the sound of my alarm buzzing in my new room. This was going to take some getting used to. My old room from before I moved was purple, and decorated from when I was 5 or 6, so it was covered with fairies and princesses, which wasn't quite who I was anymore, but it was comfortable because I was used to it, and all this was new. My new room was light grey, and didn't have any decorations yet because Mom and I only unboxed the necessities from the move, because we didn't have time to empty all the boxes. She told me that within the next couple weeks, we'll get everything sorted out, and that we'll make the new apartment feel like home.

I leaned over to my phone that was laying on the other side of my bed, and turned my alarm off. I sat up and stretched, letting out a yawn as I did so. It was the first day of school, and I was extremely nervous, to say the least. I knew no one here, and I didn't know how reliable my social skills would be here, because I was used to dealing with other Canadians, as I moved from Canada, but from what I know, here in L.A. it's completely different.

I stood up out of bed and walked out of my room and down the hall to the washroom, where I went pee, and then washed my hands and face to start off my day. I finished that, and walked back into my room until I came to a stop in front of my closet. I looked through all my clothes, not knowing what to wear, fearing that everything I own would make me look stupid. After 15 minutes of trying on many different outfits, I decided to go with something simple, but cute. Loose fitting plaid pants that were black and dark green, with a black belt to cinch them at the waist so I don't completely loose my figure, and a black cropped t-shirt made out of a corduroy type material. Once I was dressed, I tied my hair into a messy bun, pulling out the baby hairs that framed the front of my face. I bent over to cuff my pants up at the ankles, as they were slightly long for my short legs, when I heard a knock on my bedroom door.

"Come in." I said as I continued to cuff my pants. My mom poked her head through the door, and smiled at me.

"Good morning sweetheart, I just wanted to make sure you were up and getting ready for your first day of school." She told me.

"I am." I reassured her, as I stood up straight, and followed her out of my room to our kitchen. I sat at the kitchen table as Mom put a slice of bread in the toaster for both me and her, and she just ended up talking to me about how I felt about my first day, and then she told me how she's excited but nervous to go to the first day at her new job, so she understood how I felt about my first day at school. We ate our breakfast and cleaned up, before we both got our bags ready for the day, and then we headed out to the car so she could drop me off to school on her way to work.

"Have a good day, and text me if you need me okay?" My mom said as she slowed to a stop at the curb in front of the entrance to the school.

"Of course, you too, I love you." I told her with a smile as I climbed out of the passengers seat, shutting the door behind me and waving to her as she drove off. My mom was one of my best-friends ever since my Dad left. It was hard for both of us, but we got through it together, which brought us a lot closer than we used to be, so now we tell each other everything, whether it's good or bad. I hoped that my day today would be good so that I wouldn't have to tell her bad news tonight when I got home.

My nerves grew as I walked into the school, making my way to the office. When I walked in a Tall lady with brown hair and glasses was talking to an older lady sitting behind the desk, who I assumed was the receptionist. The tall lady turned around as I walked in, with a warm welcoming smile on her face.

"Hi, are you Kay?" She asked me, her smile never faltering. She made me feel safe, and I figured I was going to like her. I nodded to her, and she reached her hand out to shake mine. "I'm Mrs. Blatt," she told me shaking my hand, "I'm the vice principal and the counselor here at West Valley." She finished talking and pulled her hand back from where it had been shaking mine.

"Here you go sweetheart." The receptionist said as she handed me a few pieces of paper. Most of them were forms my Mom would have to sign, but one was a floorplan of the school to help me get around, and another was my schedule for this term. It didn't look too bad. First period, I had Chemistry, then English, then Calculus, then French, and last period I had Physics. They were all classes that I liked, so I wasn't upset. I looked over my schedule one more time, then looked back up at Mrs. Blatt.

"Alright, do you want to go for a little tour before class starts?" Mrs. Blatt asked me very sweetly.

"Yes, that would be great!" I replied. She led me out of the main office, and around the school making sure to show me where all of my classes were. While she walked around and gave me the tour, she started telling me about some of the sports and clubs that they offered at the school. Nothing she talked about exactly interested me, but I nodded along as she listed them, so she knew I was listening at least.

"Here we are Ms. Kay, your first class of the day, Chemistry." Mrs. Blatt said just as the bell rang, signaling that it was time for first period to start. The halls started to become more busy with human traffic, and I thanked Mrs. Blatt once again before entering into my Chemistry class. I sat down in the front row of desks, smiling at a few of the kids who were already sitting in the class. Not everyone smiled back, but I wasn't bothered by it, because maybe they were just having a bad day I thought. Mr. Lamonsoff introduced himself to the class before taking attendance, and starting class. This happened for my next two classes also, I went in and smiled at everyone, only having a few smile back, and then class started. This meant that I hadn't actually met anyone yet, so by the time lunch came I still technically had no friends, and therefore nowhere to sit. I wasn't going to let this ruin my day though, because so far my day had been pretty good, so I got into the lunch line and grabbed a tray. As I waited, a group of three girls came up behind me.
"Hey, you're new aren't you?" The blond one asked.