Matilda 'Dixie' Green, who gets dragged into the unfathomable events at Starcourt Mall by her hopeless crush on Billy Hargrove and new-found middle-schooler friends. She struggles to cope with the trauma, which gradually costs her, her popular cheer...
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𐮙First Day𐬽
Matilda's POV༒༒15th September 1985
I was fearful... fearful of what people would say, fearful that people wouldn't recognise me for who I was before everything that happened during summer break.
I'd been in my own bubble of telling myself that everything was going to be okay on the first day back at school, the first day of my last year, but the moment that I set foot on school grounds I felt my heart drop at the sight of the building.
I looked at the parking spot that used to be Rebecca's go-to space, the space she parked where I saw Billy for the first time... the place was flooded with memories of before. I was frozen, my eyes became glossy. I'm so glad I chose not to meet Chrissy and Jason this morning - not that I even got a call anyway.
I brought my hand up to my hair when it started blowing backward with the wind, showing the fading bruise on my cheek - mom had slapped me for the third time upon seeing my hair back to it's natural state. I'd covered the bruise with as much make-up as I could, but I still felt conscious that it was visible and ran my fingers through my hair, shaping it to cover the side of my face as much as it could.
My head was lowered as I walked into the school building and then to my locker... again, reminding me of Billy, the notes he left me, the first time we ever spoke... this is weird. I kept my face down, ignoring the mutters I could hear behind me as other high schoolers passed me - 'is that Matilda?'... 'she looks different'... 'her sister died in that fire, remember?'... 'and she's changed her hair? What is that about? It's like sixth grade all over again... you remember? The talent show - how embarrassing.'
I swiftly grabbed a few books and rushed to Mrs O'Donnell's History class - she'd been a favorite teacher of mine since the very beginning of high school, she was also Rebecca's favorite.
Barging past other students without them noticing me proved to be impossible because the mutters continued and it felt like I was being surrounded by them, like they were inescapable - it made me feel extremely claustrophobic in what would be a really spacious hallway if there was no one roaming it.
'Why has she changed her hair?'... 'I liked the dark hair better'... 'should we say hi?' - please don't, I thought. I walked even faster after hearing that, almost tripping over the backs of sneakers as I neared Mrs O'Donnell's classroom, which was completely empty because I'd reached it before the bell would toll 7:30am.
Mrs O'Donnell, when she first saw me walking into the room, didn't know what to say to me and she was making it very obvious with her sheepish glances and sympathetic smile, "Matilda," she sighs softly, "It's lovely - and a relief to see you back here," she stands herself up, fiddling about with a few chalk sticks and writing on the blackboard at the front of the classroom.
