"You look so pretty," my mother complimented when I walked out of my room with the white and pink piqao that she bought specifically for today. I chose to not straighten my hair as I liked to and allowed my curls to reach until my mid back with a pink headband around it. I chose to apply light lip glos and no other makeup products because it was too draining. I wore my favourite pink pumps that had little flowers engraved into it and carried my boomerang backpack.
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"Thank you." I smiled lightly at my mother and looked down at my outfit once more to check that everything was in order. Although I was beautiful, my mind still raced with the concern that people would find my outfit very offensive and I hoped that nobody felt that way. At times I wasn't keen to wear whatever she planned out for me but she always found a way to sway me to wear it.
My mother picked up the keys from the table and pulled me towards the car. As usual my mother always made it a point to drop me off at school whenever it was my first day. She claimed that it grew the bond that we had whenever we sat in the car when going to school. It made her feel warm inside whenever I would tell her of my worries and how she would calm me with her kisses.
I jumped into the Toyota Corolla with a sigh. I held my bag closely to my chest and thought of the different scenarios of my first day. I hoped that I met some friends and everything would go smoothly.
After a few minutes of listening to the soft sound of the radio presenter, we finally reached the school, Woodcreek High. "Bye ma," I said to my mother robotically when I got out of the car and walked towards the school doors.
My breath hitched when I opened the door and saw how everyone turned towards me with curiosity. I hated the first day at a new school, the stares, the people who tried to be your "friend", the boys who troubled you and the way teachers treated you like a glass bottle whenever you were near. I wish I could just skip this whole day and go straight into those days where you blended into the crowd and you weren't the star of the show.
I walked towards the registration office and smiled at the lady behind who looked like she wanted to be anywhere but here. She was a beautiful lady, looked to be about 30 years old with beautiful caramel skin, slanted eyes with brown pupils and long braided hair that flowed until her back. She then passed me a smile where it showed the teeth jewels that brightened her image, "How can I help you?" Her voice was soft and sweet which made me feel at ease.
"I'm Diane Khanyile. I'm new here."
She nodded her head and searched through her drawer in the small booth that she sat in. "Grade 11, right?" I hummed and she continued looking at the draw. "This is your timetable and assessment plan," She said as she passed me 2 pages, "everything else will be given by your subject teachers. Anything else that you need your headgirl, Promise, will happily provide it for you."
"Hi," a loud, rough voice greeted. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw a girl dressed in a knee high black skirt, tucked in white top and a graphic black tie that was hung loosely on her neck. Her hair was cut in a pixie cut and her glasses although round were falling off of her nose. She looked as though she was a student who never cared about academics but her jersey that was in her hand with the many academic badges made my thoughts run short.
"Follow me," She said as she guided me towards the hallway. "Woodcrest High prides itself with academic achievements. I know you have heard this before but the school has made it their purpose to make sure that every student has the best opportunities possible so whatever you need the teachers and your classmates will provide it for you." She began and continued showing me around the different classrooms, bathrooms, offices and whatever rooms that I would need from today onwards.
"This is it," She pointed to the class door that wrote Grade 11A on it with beautiful flowers around it. It looked adorable and was different from the tense atmosphere that the school provided. "You are a bit early so there isn't anyone at the moment but the class will fill up in a few minutes since school is starting soon. If you need me you can just call me." I waved at her as she walked away from me.
When I entered the class it was empty, but there was just one child sitting right at the corner of the room hiding next to the large class cupboard with headphones on their head. I looked around the classroom to the 30 empty seats and wondered where would I sit. I hadn't liked the front alot because of the way teachers focused on you and I didn't want to be too far back to be away from class discussions. I wanted to sit in the right place with the right people.
I walked towards the person who was hunched over the table because I was sure that they would be open to make a new friend especially since they're alone and not infront of a huge crowd. The closer I got to the child, the more I realized that he was a boy. It was seen from the way his clothes fell off his body, the chunky silver rings on his fingers and the loud rap music that was blasting through his headphones.
I plastered my largest smile and tapped him on his shoulder to get his attention. "Hi," I said the second he moved his headphones from his head and placed it on his neck. I placed my hands in the side pocket of my bag looking for some sweets to lighten up the mood as he was giving dead stares that showed that he wanted nothing to do with me. "Do you want some love candy?" I asked and extended my hand towards him that had different flavored love candy. "There's a note inside if that helps." I pushed my hand further into his space and just prayed that he would take the sweets from my hand.
After a few seconds with me standing quietly with my hand outstretched he took a pink love candy and placed it onto his table. "Good choice. I also think that's the best flavour. Would you mind me sitting next to you?" I smiled in triumphant when he nodded and placed his headphones back onto his ears. I couldn't wait to tell my mother that I got a new friend and nonetheless the best of them all, the cool one.
