My First Dance (& Other Tales from Highschool)

In Which My Bathroom Break Gets Interrupted By Boy Troubles

I woke up in a complete daze. My phone was playing this horrible noise.. The sound of an alarm. Groggily, I batted around my bedside table before finding the volume button and slaying the monster that woke me from sleep. For a hazy moment, I wondered why in the world I would've set an alarm. Then I remembered-- Today was the first day of school! I rolled out of bed, bringing my blanket with me downstairs for breakfast. It always got cold in the den of our house, and I didn't want to freeze. My mom had already gotten out a bowl of oatmeal for me; it sat atop the coffee table, looking and smelling delicious as always. I sat down on the sofa and started to eat, accompanied by a reality TV show to watch.

When the episode was done, I hauled myself off the couch and upstairs to get ready for class. The night before, I'd set out my outfit and school supplies. I knew I would be moseying around trying to get ready, so I planned in advance. I was an expert at rushing when I needed to, but the butterflies in my stomach were holding me down that morning. It was so nerve-wracking to go to a brand new school, especially as a freshman!

As I hustled down the stairs with my backpack in hand, a beeping came from the driveway. I almost forgot that my mom was waiting for me outside! She promised she'd drive me to and from school for the first few days, just until I could get adjusted to the new changes of high school. I picked up the pace and clambered out the front door, down the steps, and into her car. I was ready to get bombarded with worried questions and reminders, but to my surprise, my mother was quiet. On the radio was a familiar song, one that she and my dad used to sing to me when I was little. I gave her a soft smile and clicked my seatbelt in place, sinking into the seat below me. Reminders of those happy days were always melancholic.

It didn't last for long. The song faded out and led into a radio talkshow host excitedly shouting about their new vacation giveaway. Cringing, my mom grabbed the volume dial and turned it all the way down, just so the man's voice was indistinguishable. "You have everything ready?" She asked as she pulled into the back parking lot of the school.

"Think so," I agreed nervously, bowing my head. Seeing that school again made me nervous. I'd already attended orientation and the back to school dance there, but actually doing in for classes was another story. The place suddenly felt foreign, as though it was filled with unexplored, dangerous waters. My mom gave me a reassuring hug and told me to make today count. I gave her a kiss goodbye and took myself and my bag up to the school and entered.

I got turned around a lot in the hallways. If you've never been in a highschool, you're lucky. Navigating the halls is like trying to walk through a labyrinth. It's not fun. What's even more not fun is the fact that nobody will stop walking for you, and no matter how lost you seem, the other students don't care. They're just trying to enjoy the last few minutes they have before they need to get into homeroom. Luckily for me, though, I wasn't the only one. A lot of other freshmen seemed nervous and unsure of themselves, as though they didn't know where they were going yet, either. Some of them approached teachers and held out their schedules, hoping they'd be able to help. I didn't. I was much too shy to ask a stranger for directions.

I eventually caught Sienna in the hallway. She had homeroom with me, so I prayed she'd know where to go. It seemed like she did. As soon as she saw me, she squealed, gave me a great big hug, and dragged me off to a random classroom. Inside were posters full of all sorts of sciencey stuff. There were beakers with tubes and hotplates, there were labcoats hanging from hooks, and there were diagrams pasted all over the walls. I knew immediately that she hadn't done me wrong. We were in our biology lab.

Sienna led me to two desks by the corner and sat down in the one closest to the window. Shed later explain that the window seats were best because they gave you a place to look if you got bored, but I was just grateful to have found a place to sit with her. Most of the other students had already arrived in the classroom, and desks were filling up fast. I nearly jumped when the bell rang, signifying the beginning of class.

The rest of my day went by fairly easily. With Sienna and my other friends as guides, I was able to find my classrooms in the midst of the confusion. Most of the lesson plans started out with introductions to the class and didn't have a whole lot of work involved, unless you counted memorizing people's names. All my teachers seemed nice, except for my math teacher, who seemed pretty grumpy that she had to be teaching a bunch of kids. I think she'd do better in a college class or something, because she got awfully mad when teenagers did so much as breathe. I managed to lay low for that class. Halfway through the day, it came time to go to lunch, but before that, I decided to take a break at the restrooms.

You see, in school, you almost never know when you're gonna have to use the bathroom. I don't know if it's the business or what, but that urge sure can hit you like a ton of bricks. To me, it was embarrassing to get out of class to go to the restroom. Everyone knew where you were gonna go! How much more embarrassing could you get? So, I grabbed Sienna at the end of our history class together and had her led me to the girl's restrooms. She asked if I wanted her to stay outside the stall, but I declined. You could see the cafeteria from right outside, so I knew I wouldn't get lost. Besides, I really didn't want my new friend to listen to me peeing; some might call that a bonding experience, but I just call that gross.

Before I could even sit down, though, another person came in. Oh great, I cursed to myself, Now a STRANGER is gonna listen to me pee! I decided I'd try to hold it until they left. I waited, and waited, and waited.. But I never heard a flush. I never heard the faucet come on, I never heard paper towels ripping, and I never heard footsteps leaving. Instead, I heard a girl starting to cry. Sighing out, I came out of the stall and knelt down next to her. Her eyes were all red and puffy, and she was clutching her phone to her chest. "Hey, um," I started off, feeling a bit awkward, "What's the matter?"

"See for yourself!" She cried out, thrusting her phone at me. I was a little taken back by now violent she was, but when I saw her screen, I understood. People were spreading nastily edited pictures of her around, captioned with horrible things. From the context of the first post, I realized her boyfriend had apparently gotten what he wanted from her and was now starting a smear campaign. The poor girl was getting crushed in the comments. Nobody was coming to her aid. Nobody was trying to stop the bullying from happening. They just laughed at her expense, chimed in with equally horrendous things, or ignored the posts altogether. I wasn't going to be like the others.

Multitasking, I took out my phone, going to each and every page to screenshot the posts. I defended her in the comments, telling them to knock it off, that what they were saying wasn't okay. Then, I reported the worst of them. The girl watched my every move, looking dumbfounded. As I finished and handed her phone back, she gazed up at me and asked, "Why are you being so nice to me? You don't even know who I am. Why defend me against people like them? They're popular, you know. You might get picked on next."

I gave the girl a hug and explained, "I've gotten bullied before, a long time ago in primary school. It wasn't as bad as yours, but nobody would ever play with me. They'd call me rude names and isolate me on the playground. I came home crying every day." I rubbed my cheek a little, feeling self-conscious about the memories I was sharing, "Nobody ever stood up for me. I think if even one person did, it could've made things better. I can't let that happen to somebody else."

The girl sniffled and hugged back, taking my hand as I helped her stand back up. "Do you wanna go to the office?" I offered, "I can be there to support you if you want." She shook her head no and said she'd be fine on her own. I tried to protest and follow, but she disappeared down the opposite corner of the hall.

I didn't think she'd actually go and report them on her own. In fact, I was considering doing it myself after school. But halfway through the day, I heard some names I recognized from the comments being called over the announcements, and I smiled to myself. I was proud that she was able to stand up to them. I was a little proud of myself, too, for helping her regain that strength. I never ended up learning who she was, or what happened to the people who were bullying her, but I know I never saw any other negative thing being circulated about her on social media. I also know that our homerooms got a long talking to about how it wasn't okay to treat other people like garbage. I think the school probably handled it well from those facts alone.

I'm really happy I was able to help that girl. Nobody deserves to feel like that, especially on their first day of school. If you get that opportunity, I hope you'd do the same. All I wish is that I'd remembered to go back to the bathroom afterwards. My bladder would've thanked me.