It was the first day of the 10th grade and I was more than ready to walk through the doors of Jefferson High and continue my high school education. (See what I mean? I’m a complete nerd.) I would finally get to see what it meant to be entirely dependent on myself. My freshman year had been an epic fail thanks to my older sister Nichole (now graduated) constantly letting me know what a disappointment I was to her. You see Nichole was one of the “Golden Girls” of Jefferson High, the exact opposite of what I had turned out to be (Scrawny girl with glasses and ‘Lord of the Rings’ chapter books but we will get into that later) .
This year would be different, I promised myself. I ditched my block, framed spectacles and opted for contact lenses, and I was determined to go from shy and nerdy to bold and outspoken. I expected it to be difficult, but I told myself I would preserve and hold my head high. Let’s just say that things weren’t starting out the way that I had planned.
Despite the changes, I was still invisible. I made it though first period, and almost didn’t make it to second. It turns out that even the younger freshman were taller than me and didn’t mind pushing and shoving, therefore, I was practically trampled to the ground once or twice. After second period, I stopped in the restroom. I figured that given the circumstances, (everyone being twice my size) it would be understandable for me to wait until the bell rang and the halls cleared out to head to my next class, a routine I had adopted the year before.
Looking at my schedule I suppressed a groan. Geometry. I hated math with a burning passion. I was an English/History buff to say the least.
I made it to the classroom as the late bell rang, and quickly side stepped inside. I joined the other students standing along the walls, waiting to be seated. It turns out that despite being in our second year of high school, some teachers either don’t trust students to choose their own seats, or they have extreme cases of OCD. Glancing at the teacher I decided that in this case, it was the later.
His name was Mr. Humpfree, he told us once we in our seats. (I was at the back of the class, one perk of having a last name beginning with ‘S’) He was tall and boney, with high cheek bones and hollow eyes. (Not attractive in any sense what-so-ever) Not a single strand of his greasy hair was out of place, and four identical pens protruded from his pocket protector.
Glancing around at my chattering class mates, I decided that the class might not be so bad. While I was not friends with anyone in particular, I had had classes with most of the students before. They were good distractions, and they seemed like the nicer crowd of grade.
I must have been zoned out because the next thing I knew there was a giant, hairy hand being waved in front of my face, close enough to practically touch my nose. I jumped backwards in my seat, and just my luck, I sent the chair flying to the ground with me in it.
Bad news: I was dying from embarrassment.
Good News: Nothing seemed to be broken.
I really didn’t want to open my eyes. I could feel people looming over top of me and I knew that my there would be a prominent red blush rushing through my cheeks.
I mentally told myself to open my eyes instead of prolonging the embarrassing encounter that was about to happen, but of course my brain decided to be stubborn. Only one of my eyes opened on command. I could only imagine what I looked like to the others: a one eyed, red faced, open mouthed freak. This was just lovely.
Opening both eyes and pushing myself up, I looked into the two faces in front of me. Looking back at me were the two most popular people in the 10th grade: Madison Noel and Shawn Parker.
I tried to smile but I’m pretty sure it came across more as a grimace. Madison grinned back hesitantly, as if she wasn’t sure what to say.
“Are you okay?” she asked slowly with what seemed like genuine concern, At the same time that Shawn shouted, “Dude! That. Was. Awesome.”
They looked at each other than back to me, and all I managed to say was “uh huh”, before my head hit the desk and the room went black.
****
Well, ladies and gents, there you have it. This was how my best friends and I met. It started with me knocking over myself and my desk, and ended with me blacking out. It was the strange beginning of a very unlikely friendship.
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Fiksi Remaja“Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”---Helen Keller Once upon a time there were two Princesses’ and one Prince. They were all from different parts of the world, but they all had the same thing...
