𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐬 𝐠𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐜𝐨𝐚𝐬𝐭, charlie conway

𝐂𝐇𝐀𝐏𝐓𝐄𝐑 𝐎𝐍𝐄

Chapter One
Orientation

WITHIN a week of my decision to stay in America, I was enrolled at Eden Hall Academy in the 11th grade, or as American students call it, the junior year. I still couldn't wrap my head around the meaning behind the class names besides seniors, but I had bigger fish to fry.

Orientation was the Monday before school started on a Wednesday—a half day for freshmen, a full day for upperclassmen and international students. I was in for twelve hours of preparation and excitement.

When I first arrived to the campus, I was taken aback at how beautiful it was. My father had told me the school was private, which as I understood was similar to what we called non-government schools back home. I attended a government school in Australia, or what's called public here—Merrimac State High School. I had no problem with public school, but the ideals of private schools always intrigued me. The campus here almost felt like a college, brown brick buildings and ivy and long pathways, endless green grass.

I started the day in a meeting with my new guidance counselor, going over my transcript. I had to explain a lot of it because she had a limited understanding of Australian schooling—apparently most international students here hailed from western Europe. It was similar enough to British education, apparently, so she eventually got the hang of it. Still, I would be required to take placement and proficiency tests. That was where they moved me next.

I took a maths placement exam, an English proficiency exam, a French proficiency exam, and a science placement exam. Considering I had absolutely no background in American history, they had already determined that I should be placed in the lower level Intro to U.S. History. I was feeling exhausted after taking all of those, but by then it was just time for lunch.

The afternoon was to be full of instruction on adjusting to the Eden Hall and Minnesota life, and bonding with others. We embarked on a tour of the grounds, where I was placed in a group with boys and girls who only spoke Italian. I could keep up enough to get the gist, but I was disappointed I couldn't talk to them. After that, we were called to the auditorium for a presentation specifically for international students.

They had a special seating chart by the door when you came in, so you had to find your name and seat number. I soon found that each of us were sat next to another student in a red and gold Eden Hall shirt that said "peer mentor." I thought that was a really nice idea. I turned to the girl at my right and offered my hand.

"I'm Verona. What's your name?"
"Verona, awesome, you found your seat. I'm Rebecca, but everyone calls me Beck. And let me guess, you're from 'down under,' aren't you?"
"You bet."
She giggled a bit at my accent but I just smiled because I knew she meant well. She had nice, silky smooth black hair and light in her eyes.

"You'll find this out during the presentation, but you're going to be a part of the International Student Cohort, which is a club that does some extra activities to get you involved and used to our school. You all get a sort of buddy, a non-international student, and I'm yours. We'll have some of the same courses, and we'll work together on club activities."
"That sounds great!"
The presentation did go on to explain just about all of that. The cool thing I got out of it was that there was only one other person of our 50 student group that was from Australia, and I was determined to find out who it was. Though the continent was big, it really was a small world. The likelihood I was connected to them in some fashion was pretty great.