The Butterfly and Her Sunflower

New School - Emilee

I looked out the window of Mamá's car, staring at the cars passing the opposite way as I held my bag tightly against my chest. Today would be my first day at a new school, moving from my old home that Mamá and I have lived in since I was a baby. Now I am six years old, and Mamá had thought it was time I learned from real teachers and made new friends. I was scared. Mamá had told me that she was sure I'd make friends, and the more kids I saw with their backpacks, the happier I was.
As Mamá stopped the car, I discovered how big it was.

"You'll be okay, Em. I'll walk in with you if you want me to so we can find your classroom together, hmm?" Mamá placed her hand on top of mine as I slowly nodded my head. She smiled and got out of the car before opening my door and holding her hand out to me.

I looked at the others who were here. Some even said 'hello'. Mamá finally stopped in front of a door. There were pretty rainbow splatters of paint on it.

"Are you ready to meet your teacher, Mija?" she whispered, rubbing the back of my hand with her thumb. I took a deep breath.

"Yeah. Okay, I'm ready." I pulled the bravest smile I could for her.

"I promise you, Em. By the end of today, you'll probably have so many friends, you won't know what to do with them all, but if not, there will always be someone who wants to be your friend. You just have to find them, and I'm sure you'll find them quickly, or they'll find you." She reached out and knocked on the door. I squeezed my Mamá's hand in excitement. When she opened the door, I was met with a pretty woman's smiling face.

"Hi! You must be Emilee. I'm Miss Camryn or Cam if it's easier for you, and I'll be your teacher for the rest of the year." She held out her hand to shake mine, which I shook excitedly.

"Why don't you go inside and look around the classroom? I'll have a chat with your mum, okay?" She and Mamá stepped out of the way to let me through. I looked around to see every colour of the rainbow and felt nothing but excitement. There were a few kids around the classroom. Some were on the computers playing learning games, others were doing puzzles and playing board games together. A few of them looked towards me, and I felt the uncertainty sink in until a taller boy with blonde hair walked up to me.

"Hey. You must be the new kid that Miss Cam told us about. I'm Jackson." I smiled.

"Hi, I'm Emilee," I said. He looked around at everyone else who was now looking at us, many came up to say hello, but there was a girl in the corner, and she only looked from her place in the corner of the room and didn't move. Her black hair was tied in a ponytail, which looked really pretty like her dark skin. She looked really sad, and that made me want to make her happy.
The bell rang, and I said goodbye to Mama, knowing that I would be safe in Miss Camryn's care. We all went to sit down on the large mat in front of her, but again, I looked at the sad girl from before. She stayed in the corner and didn't look like she wanted to move. Miss Camryn must have noticed, as she looked over at the girl with a saddened smile.

"Jaydee? Why don't you come join the rest of us and meet our newest student?" I watched as the girl looked towards me, and when I looked back at her, she looked scared, so I gave her my best smile. She slowly got up and made her way over. Everyone looked at her, then at me.

"I'm Emilee!" I said excitedly.

"Jaydee." She was quiet. That's when I noticed her hands. There were lighter patches on them. I have never seen this before. I wanted to say something, but Miss Camryn wanted me to 'introduce' myself to the class. She asked me questions about my old house and school, but I couldn't remember too much of it. After being asked some questions, she let me sit back down next to Jaydee. Every now and again, I would look at Jaydee and see her looking back at me. Soon, Miss Camryn handed out sheets of paper to everyone. Large letters and dots were on the page, which I think means we were learning how to write some letters today. I saw everyone go to their bags and grab a pencil, but Mama hadn't packed me any. I only had pens. When everyone sat back down, I went up to ask the teacher, but then I heard Jaydee's quiet voice behind me.

"Here. You can borrow one of mine." I looked to see her holding a pencil out to me. I gave her my brightest smile.

"Thank you, Jaydee." I said as I took it out of her hands. I noticed the ends of her fingers and parts of the hand were much lighter than the rest of her skin. I looked back up to find her smiling shyly, which only made me smile more. 

"Will you sit next to me all day today?" She asked, looking back at me.

"I will sit next to you all year!" I yelled a bit too loudly.

"Emilee, use your quiet voice inside, please." Miss Camryn said. 

"Sorry." I looked at Jaydee, who was holding back her laughter. She sat down, and I sat down next to her, and we whispered about all sorts of things, never really doing too much of the work. We talked until it was time for a new activity, and then when it was time for recess. I was given a hat, so I was allowed to play outside.

"I can't wait to see the playground." Jaydee nodded to me, still putting her hat on. It was covered in frogs.

"I'll take you to it if you want." Her voice was a little louder. I nodded and held out my hand, which she took gently, and now we were on our way to play time.