The car comes to a slow halt in front of Car High. It was one of the longest 5 minute drives I had ever experienced. I was literally shaking all morning at the thought of having to arrive at this nightmare of a school. I gripped the backpack that sat comfortably on my lap, wishing I could just crawl inside and never have to see anyone again.
"Alright, hun," said my mother who sat next to me in the drivers seat with beaming enthusiasm, "we're here!" She turned to me and paused for a while. It was obvious I was still intimidated. She sighed, "Honey, I know your first day of school can be tough, but you should be used to it by now!"
I appreciate her attempt to help me, but those weren't the choice of words I would've liked to hear. Due to my constantly failing academics, I've pretty much been kicked out of every school in the state, so the feeling of a new school was all too familiar. However, this was different.
Remember that name? "Car High"? Yeah, that means exactly what you think. Fitting in is hard enough at a new school, but when your the only human in a school filled with cars, I had no idea what I was supposed to do.
I looked over at my mom. She had been giving me advice for a while, but my spiraling anxiety was overpowering my sense of hearing.
"It's gonna be okay, darling," she said as she fixed my hair behind my ear. I looked back down at my backpack and sighed. It was time to rip off the bandaid and just walk into school. I step out to be greeted with rows of traffic flooding into the school building. I'm sure I'll leave a great first impression when I walk past all of them into the school. Good grief.
"Hey, have a great first day, kid!" I look behind me and I see Tony, our car, winking at me as he delivers advice to me in his exaggerated Jersey accent.
"Thanks, Tony." I say, looking down at my shoes and then back at the school. Time to start the worst day of my life.
