You Can Only Imagine

Chapter 1

Moving day. The hardest day for any teenage girl. Having to say goodbye to friends. I hate it. I never really had many friends but I always told myself two quarters are better than twenty-five pennies. But now I have to start all over. I've been in the same place my whole life and now I have to leave the very place I made my life.
On my last day of school, all of my friends and I were crying to where no more tears were falling from our eyes. "I'm going to miss you so much," said Jewel, my best friend.
"I'm going to miss you too."
"Do you have to go?"
"Yes. But don't worry, I will come back to visit. Or you can come to Florida!"
"Maybe," Jewel said, wiping more tears from her eyes. She and I had been together since we were in diapers. The longest we had ever been apart was a week when she went on a cruise last summer. This was the hardest goodbye I have ever had to do.
After we had felt all cried out, the four of us had a great, big, long group hug. But then my mother had to break it up so we wouldn't miss our flight. I started to cry again but tried to hide it. As I walked away I remembered I had one last thing to do.
"Girls! I have something for you!" I ran as fast as I could to get back to the group of three.
"Here," I said as I handed each of them a heart shaped necklace.
"Just like elementary school," I said
"Yeah. Just like elementary school," Jewel repeated. After, we all had one last hug and I had to leave.
The car ride to the airport had been the longest ride ever. It felt like forever. Not even my music made it better. But when we finally made it there, I felt like I had found out my life was going to end. It felt like if I stepped on that plane, my heart would just stop. I was going to miss everything I had known. Everything I'd grown up around. And it hurt more than anything.
After all of that crying, I had felt so tired and ended up sleeping through the whole entire flight. When we left the airport, something felt familiar. It felt like...... home. But I was constantly reminding myself that this place would never be home. But the feeling never went away. I chose to ignore it. This place was so new to me and so strange. I felt like I would get lost just by going to get the mail once we moved into the new house. I had so many feeling hitting me at once. I also had a many questions going through my head. How will I make friends? Will the school be a nice place? What about the neighborhood? And so many more. But I had time to get answers. I didn't start at my new school for another three days. And those will be the fastest, most nerve raking days of my new life. And I was right. Those three days went faster than I thought. And there I was, standing in front of my new school.
"Sarasota High School for the Visual and Performing Arts," I read as I walked up to the big, glass doors.
"You'll be fine. You're a smart, talented, kind person. You'll fit right in," my mom said, trying to sound convincing. I just looked at her and then kept walking.
"Hello ladys," said the way too perky lady in the front office. "Are you our new student?"
"Is it that obvious?," I said jokingly. She laughed and started shuffling through the papers she had on her desk.
"Just fill this out really quick and then I'll give you both a tour of the school."
"Thank you," said my mom, trying to be just as perky as the other woman.
We were able to finish the papers in about five minutes and then started our tour.
"Now what would you like your elective to be?"
"Elective?," I said. I had no idea what she was talking about.
"Yes, elective. Classes like band, art, chorus, orchestra. I mean we are an arts school," the lady said, making me feel dumb.
"Not sure then. Would I be able to try them all?"
"Why, of course! Which one would you like to try first?"
"Orchestra sounds fun."
And so we headed over the a special area in the school called the Arts Corner. It was really more of a hall but I was too amazed to even notice in the moment. And obviously I was too amazed to notice I was about to run into someone.
"Oh my gosh! I am so sorry!"
"You're good. Hi I'm Amy," the girl said holding her hand out. I slowly lifted mine and then we shook hands.
"I'm Sarah."
"Nice to meet you Sarah. So where are you guys headed?," Amy asked.
"Orchestra. Where you should be too young lady," said the front desk lady.
"Sorry Ms. Tammy."
MS. TAMMY! Thats her name! I thought.
"Well I guess I'll walk with you guys."
I just nodded and we walked a little further. Amy reminded me a lot of my best friend Jewel. A little rebellious but loved by everyone. Which was nothing like me. I was a goody two shoes and always did the right thing and never got in trouble. So I felt like she and I could be good friends.
"So Amy, what instrument do you play?," I asked, with a little crack in my voice when I said play.
"I think you mean instruments. I play four. All similar but still four."
I was so shocked. No words came out of my mouth. Four instruments?! I can't even play one.
"Wow. Impressive," I said trying to sound cool. She just laughed and after that, we just walked while listening to Ms. Tammy talk about the different classes. This was a long hallway and of course orchestra would be at the end. But we finally made it to the class and walked in right as the class started to play. It was a beautifully intense piece and I really liked it.
"So what do you think?," Ms. Tammy asked in a quiet whisper.
"It's amazing!," I said before realizing I had been way too loud. I had heard a few giggles from the people that had heard me and I got a little red.
When the song ended, the three of us in the back applauded and then quietly left the room.
"Bye Amy. Hope I see you around," I said as I slightly waved my hand.
"Bye Sarah," she said back as she grabbed her cello.
As we walked through the whole school I didn't listen to Ms. Tammy at all. I was too concentrated on the fact that I had already made a friend on my first day. And after seeing that orchestra play, I knew that what I wanted to do.
It was about 2:30 now and I was about to leave when I saw Amy again. I was a little scared to call her name and get her attention but it turned out I didn't need to. She saw me and called my name. And within a few seconds she was right next to me.
"Hey Sarah, I need to make this quick so I don't miss my bus but if you want, this is my number. Text me. I think we could be good friends," she said as she handed me a folded piece of paper then ran off to her bus.
I had made a friend. An actual friend. Something I thought would have never happen. But it did and I was overjoyed.
The next day I started my classes. First period was English. When I walked in, everyone's eyes turned and were locked on me.
"Class, this is our new student. Her name is Sarah. Everyone say hello," said the teacher with the same perky voice Ms. Tammy had. Everyone said hello in unison and then it was silent.
"Sarah, there is an empty seat right there next to Chris. You can sit next to him for the rest of the school year. Don't worry, he doesn't bite," the teacher said while pointing to the back of the room. I laughed a little at the fact she had to tell me he doesn't bite. Nobody had ever said that at my old school but I assumed it was normal here because no one seemed to react. So I walked slowly to the empty seat in the back next to the tall, brown eyed guy. When I sat down, he smiled at me then held out his hand.
"Hi I'm Chris," he said with his hand still out toward me. I shook his hand and introduced myself aswell then sat down. I was a little shocked though. He didn't seem like the type of guy to greet the new kid. Or anyone. Back home, guys would just whistle and just say hey Girl! But he was different. And it was a good different.
"You don't talk much do you?," Chris ask, taking me out of my deep thought.
"I'm just a little shy," I said while putting a piece of my hair behind my ear.
"So what's your elective?," he asked.
I pulled out my schedule Ms. Tammy had given me when I got to school that morning and read through to see the elective I was given. "Orchestra," I said with more excitement than I should have.
"I heard thats a fun class," he said followed by a smirk.
"I hope so."
Then the bell rang releasing us to second period. My second period was Science. When I walked into the room, the exact thing happened again. But this time a saw a familiar face. It was Amy. She waved and motioned for me to go over to her. I walked there and sat in the empty seat.
"Hey everyone. This is the new student Sarah," Amy shouted as the teacher was about to speak. I waved to the class then turned back around as fast as I could. Then the teacher smiled at me.
"Hello Sarah. Why don't you come up here and tell us a little bit about yourself," the teacher said with a really sophisticated tone. I walked up to the front of the classroom and just stood in silence for what felt like forever.
"Hi. I'm Sarah. I just moved here from Ohio, I love music, and I've never left the state of Ohio until now."
I didn't give anyone a chance to respond or even process what I had said before I shot back to my seat. I sat with my head down for almost the whole class until someone tapped my shoulder.
"Are you ok?," Amy asked.
"Yeah. I'm fine," I said quietly followed by a smile that I guess wasn't convincing.
"We have lunch next. Do you want to sit with me?," she asked. I nodded and then the bell rang and she and I headed to the cafeteria. Amy had he little group of friends like what I had back home. When I thought about it, I ended up playing with the necklace I had kept for myself that was just like the ones I gave to my other friends. But now I have another friend. And I need to make sure I don't ruin this friendship.
"Do you want to sit over there?," Amy asked pointing at the empty table. I nodded again and we walked over there.
"Ok so I know it looks like I have a lot of friends but just know that I will still be your friend. So you can talk to me. Don't be shy around me," she said. "So on that note, any guys you're interested in so far?," she asked.
"Well there was one in my first period that is kind of cute. I can't remember his name though," I said as quietly as I could.
"Oh. Well make sure you tell me his name when you find out. I know a few tricks to get some of these guys to like you. Thats how I got my boyfriend," she said while winking then biting into her burger that didn't look appetizing. "But promise no guy will make you not want to be my friend. I would be sad," she said in serious tone then laughed. I laughed too.
"Ok. Amy. I promise."