Dance life

Everything New

When my alarm clock woke me up it was 7 am and Gil was already gone. I jumped from my bed and went to the bathroom. I felt the excitement coming up in my body. I hadn't expected that. But well, this was the first time I was new. When I was ready with the breakfast I took my schoolbag which I had packed in the evening and ran down the stairs. I continued running to the bus, although I had enough time to go slowly. The whole bus ride I was jumping up and down in my seat like a Jackhammer. And then at last the bus stopped. I had to walk five minutes to the school.

In Brazil the school system is a whole different thing than in the US. But in Rio there are a Primary-, a Middle- and a 4-Year High School, like in the USA, after the Kindergartens.

The school was really big, bigger than the Boston High. There were five houses. They all were painted differently. Four of them had four floors. And one had only one floor. The last one had to be the cafeteria.

I walked to the front house. It was yellow and white. There was written in big, coloured letters:

'Rio de Janeiro English High School'

There was a posting column in the middle of the entrance hall. Without stopping at it, I went to the school secretariat.

A middle-aged woman with black hair was sitting behind a big table. Many different papers and documents lay on it. When I came in she raised her head and looked at me with her dark brown eyes.

"You are Rosalie Jane Crowner, aren't you?" she asked with a sympathetic smile.

"Um ... yes, I am", I said a little bit confused by her question. She smiled again.

"That is your timetable. And let all your teachers sign this paper", she handed two sheets of paper to me. I took them.

"Thank you."

On the timetable there were also written the numbers of the room and on the back side was a plan of the school and the rooms. I had been right the house with only one floor indeed was the cafeteria.

My first lesson was English in the room number 267. It was in house three. This house was nearly as big as the first one. It was painted orange and white. I went to the last floor. There I started searching for room 267. When I found it, I had approximately fifteen minutes until the lesson started. I held my breath and went in. At least twenty students in my age were already in there.

"Hey, who are you?" a girl with dark blonde hair looked at me.

"Hi, I'm Rose. I'm from Boston."

She came towards me.

"I'm Tereza. Nice to meet you."

"Oh... er...it's nice for me to meet you too."

I smiled shyly.

At the same time another girl came in.

Tereza looked up.

"Hey Juana!" she called.

"Hey Ter! Oh, who's this? Is this the girl from Boston, Miss Dourado told us about before the summer holidays?"

"Yes, I am", I told her with a gently smile.

At this time the teacher, a woman of twenty eight years, came in.

"'You wanna sit with me?" Tereza asked.

"Yes 'course", I sat down at the desk.

"That's Miss Dourado", Tereza whispered.

"Thanks", I whispered back.

"Welcome to the new year at our school. I hope you had nice holidays?", asked the teacher.

The whole class answered in a chorus: