Anemoia // Sally Face

1: Confidence

October 13th

My parents said coming to this place would be good for me, I'd make new friends and discover many things. They said it was in the country, but I didn't expect it to be like this. There's almost nothing to do here, and no good stores. I thought this place would be like grandma and grandpa's place, out in the country and a 40-minute drive to town. Well, this is worse. You are in the main town, but there are practically only three stores. One for clothes, one for food, and one that can be considered as a convenience store. Oh, and a cool thrift store, which is the only place to get cool clothes. The ones they sell in the normal store are all tacky and weird. Only single-colored shirts and tight pants. The thrift store has cool things from the 60's and 70's, if you're lucky you can find a leather jacket! But it's a good thing I packed my clothes from home, so I'm not entirely weird.

I came from California, so Nockfell is a big change. The school is small, and the kids there? Even weirder than the town. I wasn't exactly 'cool' in my last school, but at least people talked to me. I've been here two months, and no one's said a word. Except for one guy, but he was creepy and gave off the vibe that he knew something I didn't, so I try to stay away from him. Maybe this place is the type where you start here from day one, make your friends and they last for the rest of your life. That would be super lame.

So, I go about my school day as best as I can. It's senior year, but it's not like it should be. There're no fun activities, no pep rallies, no parties (At least that I've heard of), just boring sports that no one shows up to. I tried to go to a volleyball game once, because I love volleyball, but there were only bored parents in the stands. Also, our team lost horribly, they couldn't even get to double digits in either of the sets.

I have noticed this one group. They seem pretty cool, and I would like to be friends with them, but they haven't tried to talk to me, so I haven't tried to talk to them. One of the girls is in my art class though! She sits a seat away from me, and she's always drawing. I thought she looked like the type to be super nice and talk to me when I first got here, but it looks like she hasn't noticed me at all.

Today, that's going to change! I've finally gathered the courage to speak to her! There's only five minutes left of class, so I pack my things and leave my backpack beside my desk. I get up and walk to the side of her.

"Hi," I say confidently.

She doesn't react. Maybe she didn't hear me, or is choosing to ignore me, or maybe she thinks she's cooler than me, so she won't talk to me.

"Hello?" I say again. This time I catch her attention and she looks up from her scribbled paper.

"Oh hello! I'm sorry, I didn't see you and I didn't think you were talking to me," She explains.

"No, it's alright. I just wanted to introduce myself," I chuckle awkwardly. I don't know what I was thinking by coming over here.

"Yeah, you're the new girl, right? I noticed you, but I didn't want to bother you, so I never said hello," The girl says, "My name is Ashley, it's good to finally meet you!"

"Hello Ashley. You're the first person I've talked to here,"

"Really? You must be kinda lonely," she laughs, "Hey, I have an idea. Why don't you come sit with me at lunch? I sit with a group, so they may seem a little intimidating, but I promise they are all very sweet!"

"Lunch? Sure, I'll sit with you. I guess I'll find you then," I smile.

I walk away and Ashley goes back to drawing. Shortly the bell rings and I leave for my next class. I can't believe she invited me to sit at her table! It was so easy; I should have done this from the start! It won't be hard to find her either, I... Secretly always watched them from across the room while sitting at the loser table. Everyone at the loser table is alone, and quiet. They don't talk, they just sit and eat. I suddenly remember I didn't tell Ashley my name. I feel embarrassed that I said I was going to introduce myself but never gave her my name! I guess right when I see her at lunch, I'll tell her.