Mind Games

Firsts

My palms are covered in sweat and I tap my foot nervously on the floor. My dad stops the car and my mom turns around and smiles at me. In return, I muster the best fake smile I can. She pats my knee and my dad turns the car off. He gets out and walks to the trunk. I swallow hard and get out of the car as well, waiting for my mom to follow.

We circle around the car and my dad hands me my duffel bag. He takes two of my suitcases and swings my backpack over his shoulder. I attempt to take it from him, but he refuses to let me carry another bag. My mom pulls out my small suitcase and closes the trunk. We walk through the parking lot to the front building of my brand new school.

It's a Christian academy, of course, because my dad went through high school at a Christian academy himself. I used to attend a charter high school, but Dad changed his mind and decided that Junior year would bring about more changes than just my age. On my sixteenth birthday, he announced that I would be transferring to Edgewater Christian Academy. It's an all girl school that has a tremendous amount of popularity and a very large reputation for being a great school.

Of course, all the great talk of the school and the programs and the students doesn't ease my nerves. The entire five hour car ride here was me freaking out while my parents tried to assure me that changing schools would be fine. All of my friends back at Providence Charter High School had an epsiode when I announced the news to them. I did too. But I swore to keep contact with them even though I would be hours away. Especially since Edgwater is different, seeing as it has dormitories and I'll be staying here until Thanksgiving, Christmas, Spring, and Summer breaks.

Some good things came out of this, though. My parents gave me a credit card and my grandparents gave me an abundance of cash in case I want to do anything with it while I'm here. Not to mention the fact that I got a brand new cell phone, so keeping in touch with my best friend, Chloe, will be much easier.

My parents and I enter the building and I see a few girls sitting in chairs with their parents, waiting to get registered. My mom approaches the secretary and our registration is surprisingly quick. She leads me to another woman, who checks me in before handing me a room key and a campus map. The campus is massive and bustling with activity. I reference the map and finally arrive to my hall. We enter through a large, charcoal colored door with a gold handle. The building is old, red brick and it feels ancient. My parents trail up the stairs to the third floor, which just happens to be the very top floor of this building.

My room is all the way on the far end of the hallway. The red door has a small white board next to it that says "welcome". A large window is situated beside my door and it has a great view of the quad. I use the key and unlock my door, opening it up and being surprised by the amount of room. There's a bay window on the far end of the room, overlooking a pathway with old fashioned lights and willow trees on the other side. The walls are a nice cream color and they're completely bare. On one side of the room, there's a wooden stand with a fairly new television sitting atop it. On the other side, a light brown couch that could fit about five people is just begging to be sprawled out on. An empty door frame leads into a smaller room, where a bed and a desk are positioned a perfect distance away from one another.

There's another window just above the bed, which will be wonderful for me when I'm struggling to sleep. I re-enter the main room and examine the bathroom. A glass, walk-in shower and a large counter top sink greet me. Not to mention a sparkling clean, fancy looking toilet. Mom and Dad just stand in the center of the room, looking around in awe. This room is incredible. It's so much more than I expected. I place my bags in my bedroom and return to my parents.

"Not so bad now, is it?" Dad grins and places his arm around my shoulder.

I roll my eyes and nod, "We'll see."