My First Dance (& Other Tales from Highschool)

In Which I Meet My New Best Friends

I stood at the front door, gazing out the window with my purse clutched tight in my hand. My mom was back in the kitchen, making herself a last-minute cup of coffee before we hit the road. My stomach was churning with butterflies; I silently prayed that I wouldn't throw up. I couldn't be known as the girl who puked herself on the first day of high school orientation. None of the upperclassmen would let me live that down.

"Are you ready to go, Carrie?" My mom asked, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. She looked pretty as always. People always said we looked alike, but I never saw it. I mean, sure-- I had her brown curls, her grey eyes, her olive skin.. We weren't the same, though. Her hair fell perfectly in pretty twirls. Mine frizzed up every morning and took a whole hour to hairspray down before it even looked decent. Her eyes sparkled, like opals under the sun. Mine made me look like a dead fish. Her skin was flawless, smooth as the pebbles by the creek. Mine had scars and blotches of acne all over.

"Yeah, let's head off," I agreed with a sigh, "It's not gonna get any better standing here." She reached over and squeezed my shoulder, the way she always did when she knew I was getting nervous. I followed her out the door and down the steps to our house. I took a look back and smiled; my beloved cat, Jinx, was sitting on the windowsill of the upstairs bathroom. I was surprised she wasn't laying out on the balcony like she normally did. Maybe my anxiety got the better of her, or maybe she didn't feel like having the sun in her eyes when it bounced off the orange paint of our house.

I couldn't spend forever reminiscing on my cat, though, as much as I wanted to. Being late to orientation wasn't a good idea. Still, I wanted to bury myself in my covers and hug that cat to my chest. I wasn't ready to go to high school.. Especially not in a completely new town.

I wished my dad could come along. He said he had to work, but deep down, the whole family knew that wasn't true. He never worked on Saturdays. I couldn't blame him for lying, though; after what he and my mom had been through, I wouldn't want them both in the same car either, especially when I was already so anxious. I would just have to tell him about how it went during our nightly phone call. He never missed one of those.

I was picking at my braces when we finally pulled into the lot. In front of me loomed one of the biggest places I'd ever seen. It was much bigger than my middle school back in my hometown. It felt bigger than the factory my dad worked at, but I knew my brain was just playing tricks on me there. There was no way a measly high school was as big as a tire-making plant! Still, seeing something so overwhelmingly big.. It was intimidating to say the least.

With one good-luck hug from my mom, I was off on my own, thrown into a ocean of sharks and angler fish and whatever other horrible sea creatures were there. I took a big breath and grabbed hold of the door handle, yanking it open and stepping into the place I'd be calling my school for the next four years.

A young woman with thick glasses motioned me deeper into the hallway. I couldn't tell how old she was. She looked in her 30s, but the clothes she was wearing indicated more 70s. She pointed me to the direction of the cafeteria, where all the other freshmen were meeting for orientation. There were so many kids that I felt like I was about to pass out. I guess other people actually managed to get there early.. Meanwhile, I was just on time. The principal was already starting to approach the microphone positioned by a board of lunch menus. I quickly found a seat at a table with three other girls.

The principal spoke on for a bit before calling people up by their last names to get schedules. They were laminated with crude art of the school's mascot, a tricolor lion. I wanted to meet the designer of it, but I had a feeling they wouldn't appreciate my opinion of their choices. I was looking over my classes when I felt a tap on my shoulder. Turning around, I saw a familiar and tiny face. She only came up to my chest, and even though I was tall, I couldn't believe she was the same age as me! It was one of the girls from the table I'd been sitting at. Two gold pigtails hung at the sides of her head, and she had the prettiest eyes I'd ever seen on anybody before. They were one of the lightest colors of green I'd ever seen, like jade gemstones. Freckles dotted her her pale cheeks, and her hands were freezing as they grasped my wrist.

"You're alone, right?" She questioned, looking around, "Otherwise, you'd be sitting with your friends."

I felt my face flush from embarrassment. It was never a great thing to be told you looked lonely, especially not when you were in front of a bunch of kids who just got out of middle school. "Yeah," I agreed softly, gazing at my feet, "My name's Carrie. I just moved here this summer."

A smile flashed on the girl's face as she started to move, making me stumble after her. "Good news for you is that nobody's alone in Sunnyside! My name's Sienna, and you're gonna be friends with us." Before I could ask who she meant, she lead me to the other two girls who'd been sitting with her.

"That's Sydney," She explained, pointing at the girl who was scrolling on her phone. Her black hair had been chopped into a bob, a cat-ear headband on her head. She had her hoodie pulled around her like a safety net. Her dark eyes never moved from her screen; she didn't even acknowledge me. I felt my confidence starting to sink a little. It would have been nice to at least be greeted. Maybe she'd come around later, though; it was my only hope if I was joining this friend group.

"That's Vick," Sienna continued, motioning to another girl. She was slightly curvy with brown hair that came down past her shoulders. Her eyes were a bright blue color that shined under the fluorescent white lights of the cafeteria. Her ears were pierced in two different places, and her clothes popped with different animal prints. She seemed much different than Sydney; she looked at me, offered a smirk, and waved. She was the epitome of high school cool, the opposite of how I felt. I really hoped this whole friendship thing worked out.

Once Sienna was able to get Sydney's attention, the four of us compared schedules. We all had a few classes together, with the culminating lunch period allowing all of us to be together. Sienna was gushing about having her friends there, but I wasn't sure why she seemed so relieved. She seemed like the type of girl to be able to befriend anyone. She wouldn't have been lonely even without them. Then again, maybe I was thinking from lack of experience. I never had a best friend before. Maybe it really sucked when you didn't get to see them in class. I was just grateful that I'd lucked out and gotten into class with girls who could stand me. At least for now.

After all the students obtained their schedules, we were allowed to look around the school. Together, the four of us walked around the labrythine halls, Sydney leading the way. She told us boredly that her older cousin went to the same school, so she knew all the ins and outs. I decided maybe she was in a bad mood and tried to avoid stepping on her toes. I just nodded along and went to greet each teacher that I had. Most of them seemed pretty nice, but the gym teacher was this super tall guy with a shiny whistle around his neck. He watched me like I was already a disappointment. Suddenly, I wished I'd taken the online gym class we were offered over summer..

We eventually finished the tour. For the finale, we searched the endless rows of lockers for our own personal spaces. Most middle schools had lockers already, so the other girls were already pros. In my small town, however, we'd only had hooks outside of the classrooms. I had no idea how to work a combination lock. Luckily, Sienna was nice enough to come over and help me. I was glad I found someone as nice as her at orientation. She'd be a godsend throughout the year.

We said our goodbyes when the other students started trickling out of the building. Our parents would be awaiting us in the parking lot. I inwardly sighed to myself; there was no doubt that my mom would have a million questions about what the new school was like. I loved her more than anyone, but her interrogations could get seriously annoying. I waved goodbye to my new friends and headed for the car.

Of course, my assumptions were right. My mom didn't stop talking even when we walked into the house. She didn't take any of the hints I tried to throw out, either. She had questions about every little thing, from whether or not I'd seen any cute boys to if I got my locker open alright to what the principal was wearing. I eventually had to make the excuse of going to the bathroom to escape her unyielding voice. Jinx greeted me when I came up the stairs to my bedroom, rubbing against my ankles with soft purrs.

I pet her head before flopping down on the bed, taking my phone from my pocket and dialing my dad's number. When he picked up, he sounded so excited to hear from me that I found myself smiling. It was always sweet that he was so invested in my life. Sadly, that also meant a draining conclusion: He had the same arsenal of questions my mom had.