Don't Panic!

First day

This is the first line of this story. There are more lines to come. 

Speaking of firsts, humankind has a never-ending obsession with them. The first day of the year, first day of spring, first day on parole; we really love our firsts.  Celebrating these firsts is one of our greatest pleasures, so I suppose it was no surprise to find that we were going to 'celebrate' our first day of 11th grade.

"The school is dedicated to excellence. We emphasise discipline, creativity and academic brilliance..."

I yawned like a hungry python and tried unsuccessfully to pay attention to the Principal's sales pitch. As soon as I had arrived in school, I was shepherded into the spacious auditorium along with about a hundred other kids to attend the Freshers' Day celebration. The 'festivities' so far included three long speeches, each more paralytic than the last. 

All around me, my new classmates were in varying states of disinterest. I saw a boy behind me with wolverine-hair sitting  with his mouth half-open, staring into space. The girl right next to me swung her leg around, delivering a smarting kick to my knee.

"Shit! I'm so sorry," She said. Her hair was cut short, fringing a sharp intelligent face and a pair of humongous spectacles. She was dressed in a blue shirt and jeans with mismatched socks and a pair of grey sneakers. 

"It's fine," I said rubbing my leg. "At least I'm awake now."

"I know right, this is so boring!" She replied. "I'm Nasim."

"Sirius," I shook her hand. "Which course are you taking?"

"Bio-Theatre. You?"

"Theatre-Maths."

"Wow I guess we're classmates then," She smiled. 

"Students," the principal had returned to his seat and a bespectacled teacher was now addressing the hall.

"Form a line and come up to the stage one by one. Each of you must give a short introduction about yourself and your hobbies ."

We got up and started filing up to the stage. The first one up was a boy who looked no older than thirteen. He had a boyish face and curly hair that made him look even younger. The fact that he was the shortest guy in the line didn't help his case.

"Hello," he said. "My name is Sid and... I love sleeping."

The hall erupted to laughs and cheers as Sid stepped off the stage and a tall boy with a disproportionately large head took his place. The line advanced slowly. Soon a lanky boy with a coffee coloured complexion was on the stage. He was dressed in a blue t-shirt that read 'Keep Calm And Demand Trial By Combat'.

 "Hi I'm Daemon," he said. He proceeded to stare at the crowd silently. The rest of the hall waited for him to say something. 

"Sorry I'm still sleepy after that amazing speech," He said breaking the deadlock and walked off the stage. I got up on stage and waited for the laughs to subside.

"Hello," I said. "I'm Sirius." 

Every eye in the room was on me. I felt a sudden clenching in my stomach and my hands started shaking uncontrollably. My mouth ran dry and all the stuff I had planned on saying stuck in my throat. I took a deep breath and plunged in.

"I play a little guitar. I love reading books and writing. I don't love speaking on stage."

I ran off the stage, my ears burning. The rest of the line soon finished their introductions and we were returned to our seats for some proper programs by our seniors. After two dances and one song the principal left the hall and the head teacher asked us to gather round for some instructions.