Today's the first day of school -- well, at least for me it is. The rest of the school is already two months into the school year. There was a time when the first day of school would excite me. The possibility of making new friends and learning something new exhilarated me and made my bones jitter with anticipation. However, things are different now. I made my way to senior year and faced many struggles along the way. Rather than learning new vocabulary, I learned how judgmental kids could be. Instead of being eager to make friends, I try to avoid getting close to people. Today's the first day of school and I have absolutely no idea what to expect.
"Are you going to go in?" I hear someone say, snapping me out of my thoughts. I realize that I've been staring at the wide, royal blue double doors leading to the entrance of my new school for nearly 5 minutes. I pick up my feet, which feel heavier than usual, and drag myself into the building.
As soon as I walk in, a cold breeze smacks me right in the face. The school is very small from the outside, but the inside is like a maze. There's a hallway in every direction and stairwells in each corner. I'm not even sure where to start or how to get myself around this building.
If there's one thing I'm horrible at, it's directions. Whether it's getting myself around a small neighborhood or finding my way through a clothing store, I always struggle. In those situations, Siri is the biggest lifesaver, but I'm pretty sure Siri doesn't know her way around this school.
So it looks like I'm going to have to ask someone for help.
I scan the area and see a few kids roaming around the hall. One particularly tall girl catches my eye as she leans next to the doorframe of a classroom. She's tying her long wavy black hair in a bun and propping one of her leather boots on the wall behind her. I feel intimidated by her bold appearance but eventually convince myself to approach her. When she sees me standing in front of her, she lifts a brow and squints her hazel eyes at me.
"Is there something you want?" she asks curtly and I already have a bad feeling about this encounter. Maybe I should have just figured everything out by myself.
Maybe I should have, but it's far too late for regrets.
I pull out my schedule and try to figure out what room my first class is in. It's taking my all to ignore the impatient tapping of the girl's foot and the burning pressure I feel to hurry up.
"Do you know where room E117 is?" I work up the courage to ask her. I cringe at the uncertainty in my voice. My hands may not be trembling, but the tone of my voice is just dripping with fear.
Why am I so scared? It's a question I've been asking myself since freshmen year. Why am I so scared of people? What's the worst they can do to me? It doesn't make sense to be so intimidated by a mere human being just like myself, but I can't help it. I can walk into a room with my head held high, but as soon as my gaze meets another person's, my eyes cower and stay glued to the ground.
"Are you being serious?" the girl asks with disbelief. She lets out a chuckle and then points to the door she's leaning beside. "Next time, read the signs next to the doors."
A wave of embarrassment hits me. Of course there are signs in a school. How could I forget to look at the signs?
"Thank you so much! I guess I forgot about the signs because I'm so nervous." I try explaining myself but the girl just shakes her head.
YOU ARE READING
The Dream Team
RomanceHigh school is meant to be a place of growth and inspiration -- the place where people discover who they are and what they're meant to do. However, this isn't true for everyone. For some, it is the place where you lose the confident and brave person...
