Head in the Clouds

2

I open the doors of my new school, South Shore High, followed by my mom and dad.

We walk down a big hallway, a few other people, who were probably students, watching us as we look around.

"Hey. Maybe that's the principal's office," I say, unaware that it's a classroom. My parents ignore me and keep walking as I open the door.

"Hi, I'm Erin, the new girl and can't wait to-" I stop.

I see about 4 people, who were probably seniors, cleaning the classroom while chatting with each other, but stop when they see me.

"Can we help you?" a girl sitting on one of the desks asks me. I stay silent.

"What's wrong, do you not know how to talk?" one of the guys asks me, putting his arm around the girl sitting on the desk.

"Um... no" I manage to say.

The guy rolls his eyes at one of the other girls who was sweeping the floor.

"Why are are you still here?" the girl sweeping the floor says rudely, and walks up to me, giving me a dirty look.

I freeze, in shock. The next thing I know...

I slam the door and begin to run away from the classroom as fast as I can, but bump into a locker and fall to the ground, landing on my hands.

"Great," I say. I begin to stand up when a see a girl with her damp hair in a messy bun standing right in front of me. Her light red hair matches her loose t-shirt. She reaches her hand out and pulls me up.

"Thanks," I say, and then start walking away. She stops me.

"You must be new," she says, shaking my hand with a big smile. "I'm Leia." Leia pushes her purple glasses in place, waiting for a response.

"Oh, um I'm Erin," I reply. "So... I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here? School doesn't start until next week, doesn't it?"

"Oh, I'm here to get extra practice for when swimming starts," Leia says.

"Oh, is there a team?"

"Yeah. I didn't make the team last year, so I really want to improve before I start grade 9."

"You're going into grade 9? So am I!" I say, surprisingly.

Leia looks at her watch. "Oh, I've got to go. But I'll see you later," she says before walking away in another direction.

I turn around and begin to walk towards the entrance of the school so I can get out of this place.

As I'm walking, I hear someone walking behind me who's wearing high heels, as the sound gets closer and closer towards me. I begin to walk faster and faster until I'm running away from this person who's following me.

When I can't run anymore, I stop and try to catch my breath.

"Erin!" I turn around to see my mom with her hands on her hips and a furious look on her face.

"Principal Thompson is waiting to meet you," she says, before turning around and walking down the hallway as if it was a runway.

I run after her until we reach the actual office.

I come in to see an older woman talking with my dad.

"Good morning," the older woman says. "You must be Erin."

"Morning, but it's 1:30 in the afternoon," I say.

"Erin," my mom says, giving me an angry look.

"I mean, you must be Principal Thompson," I say with a fake smile, shaking her hand so hard it hits her somewhat organized desk.

She looks at my mom.

"Ok. As you know, I'm Principal Thompson and this is my office. If you need any help with anything, you can come here or talk with a teacher."

"Thank you principal Thompson, it was very nice to meet you," my mom says enthusiastically.

"You too," she replies.

I lean back into the chair I'm sitting in. I find a pack a pack of gum in my pocket, and chew it as principal Thompson starts talking to us about 'school rules'.

I blow a bubble when she points at me.

"And that's the first rule I want to talk about, chewing gum during class." Then she starts going into detail about an incident that happened during school.

***

"And that leads us to our next topic, eating during class," principal Thompson says, about 10 centuries later.

"OK... we get it now," I finally say. "Which leads us to our next topic, leaving on time to get where you need to be!" I say, mimicking her voice.

"That's a very important topic I forgot to mention," principal Thompson says, before going into another story.

"I'd really like to stay and chat, but we've got places to be."

"Don't worry, we'll just skip it," my dad says.

"That's too bad, because Brandon was really looking forward to his wheelchair basketball tournament tomorrow, and wanted to practice before the big game," I say with a sigh.

"Oh, right. I'm sorry principal Thompson, but we do have to go," my mom says sadly. "Maybe we can reschedule, except this time, you're not coming," my mom says, looking at me.

I silently celebrate.

"Ok then, goodbye and I'll see you soon," principal Thompson says, shaking my parents' hands.

We head to the car, but I sprint ahead and jump into my van, almost dead from boredom. I wave to Leia in the parking lot, before falling asleep in my car.