School of Marvel

The First Day (4,000 words)

I allowed my brown eyes to go wide and worried as I stared up at the huge school building before me. My satchel strap pushed on my shoulder heavily, telling of the weight of books I carried. I loved my satchel, it was a pink Vera Bradly with lighter pink paisley patterns on it and currently filled with schoolbooks, notebooks, pens, pencils, a pencil sharpener, and so on and so forth. I had purchased all new school supplies for this year.

My stomach was quivering, and I didn't try to stop it, not that I would have been able to. I was regretting the decision to try a private school for my junior year. I had been homeschooled all my life, and I loved every year of it, but I had always wondered what it was like at a more public school. Now I was about to find out.

It had been my sister's idea to come to school this year. She was a blonde, with short hair that fell between her ears and shoulders, reminding me of AnnaSophia Robb. Her cheekbones were higher than mine, a trait I had always been jealous of. But since I was older, I refused to be too envious of my younger sister.

When she felt my gaze turn to her, she looked over, hazel eyes locking with chocolate ones. "I blame you for this," silently said the frown directed towards her. She shrugged a little and started walking towards the building where the many other teenagers were streaming into. It was fun to give into outsiders' assumptions about homeschoolers, so I liked to act like I had problems with people. I could be more social if I wanted to. Or so I told myself.

School had already been in session for a week, but they had still accepted us. We had a homeschool camp that was a week-long event, beginning right before school. We had managed to convince our mom to let us go to the camp, while she convinced the principal to let us come in a week late. It worked out surprisingly well.

We started by making a stop at the office. Principal Fury was an intimidating back man with a patch over his right eye that contributed to his assertiveness. I could tell he would not tolerate any disrespect.

Of course, he already knew why we were there, so he gave us maps, a chart of our classes, and a personal escort to our 'homerooms', which were apparently the first class you started in for the day, though I had no idea why that required a special name. When Kameron departed into her room, which was not the same as mine, much to my trepidation, I squeezed her hand and tried to smile. She raised her eyebrows eagerly and whispered a goodbye before following the principal inside.

By the time I got to my own class, I thought I might throw up from the level of nervousness I was at. I had no problems speaking in public, I had no stage fright issues, but all this change was definitely wearing on my system. I trailed behind Mr. Fury when he opened my classroom door, trying to regain some of my former confidence.

This was stupid. How could I have let me talk myself into this? Why didn't I just stay home? You had to go and explore the world, didn't you? This is worse than that one time I went fake rock climbing. What's wrong with me? It's just people, there's nothing to be worried about. They won't really care about anything you do. It's okay. I stepped into my room and looked over the sea of people watching, rubbing my satchel strap nervously. There are so many of them! Why did I do this?

"Mr. Spector," said the principle. "This is your newest student, Alina Kein. You have a desk for her?"

"Of course." My teacher wasn't a tall man. He had mussed hair and a harried look to go with his English accent. I couldn't decide if he looked nervous or intimidating. I got both vibes from him. "I've got a spot for you right over here, Alina." He pointed to a seat in the second row against the wall. "But before you sit down, why don't you tell us about yourself?" It was a question, yet it wasn't a question with an option.