Photo Booth (On Hold)

Chapter 2: Start of a New Era

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I don't know where you're going but do you for room for one more
Troubled soul
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When the first day of school arrived, I navigated the narrow, crowded halls with relative ease, making it to most of my classes on time. My teachers seemed like they would be much better this year than they were last year, which I was glad of.  They were nicer, more funny, and the subjects themselves were going to be much more interesting.

I was in high level classes, so I didn't get to see my friends very much. I had people I could talk to, but I didn't really consider people like Lila friends. Lila was a part of the group of people who were in most of my classes. They were intelligent, but had a very different set of interests than me and my friends. Lila has never said a swear word in her life, and she practically covers her ears anytime anyone says so much as "Damn it." Any inappropriate joke flies right over her head, meaning that she wouldn't understand a large part of my sense of humor. She hardly ever listens to music, which is my life and how I understand and express my feelings. She hates anything scary or paranormal, and she doesn't understand the point of science fiction, unlike me. There are a lot of other small things that separate our interests as well. All in all, she and the rest of her friend group are nice enough, but I feel like I'm starting to suffocate if I hang around them too long.

Since Lila and the rest of her friends are in most of my classes, I desperately look for my friends when I get to lunch. Kerry goes to another school that has an intensive computer science workshop program, so I definitely wouldn't be seeing her. I text Abby next, but she has a different lunch period. After that, I try the other two girls in our friend group, Kayla and Olympia. As it turns out, I have lunch with them half the time, but not today. I see Dana, a girl I know I can talk to. She is friends with almost everyone, and we have a lot in common. She's sitting with Fay, a loud, somewhat obnoxious girl who I don't particularly mind.

"Is this seat taken?" I ask tentatively, motioning to the seat by Dana.

"No, go ahead!" Dana responded cheerily, and Fay nodded.

As I was taking my seat, I made eye contact for a split second with a ridiculously tall, dark haired girl across the room named Rosetta.

----------Flashback----------

She was the first friend I made when I moved here, and she was the only friend I had for most of seventh grade. We hung out every Friday after school for most of seventh grade, but I was always the one who made the plans. She would get mad at me when I didn't make plans to hang out with her, but when I suggested that she text me occasionally to make plans, she let the subject drop.

Even though where we went was a short walk down the street, she always insisted that we walk the same distance in the other direction to meet her mom so that her mom could drive us. When I told her that it would take the same amount of time to just walk there, she was surprised a disproportionate amount. Yet she still insisted on having her mom drive. Towards the end of our friendship, I started walking to town whether she came with me or not. I was trying to prove something, maybe just that she didn't own me. Eventually, a lot of little things led me to feeling suffocated being around her, and I ended the friendship after trying to fix things a few times.

I had gotten closer over the course of that year with Kerry, who was in a few of my classes, so I let her introduce me to her friend group when I no longer had anyone to sit with at lunch. I hit it off with them, especially Abby, and I almost completely forgot about my first year with Rosetta. I would occasionally make eye contact with her in the halls and smile, but it was always awkward. She had a large group of friends now, and so did I, so it wasn't like I just left her in the lurch with no friends. All in all, I actually helped her, or at least that was how I justified it to myself when I thought of her and felt bad about leaving.