Oceans ❀ Embry Call

二

Graciella took a deep breath, her hands were shaking slightly and she could feel nerves growing in the pit of her stomach. It was simple, all she had to do was to walk up to the bulletin board, look at the paper that was held up by a push pin and search for her name! That's it! Easy as pie.

But Graciella was freaking out. Not only was today the first day of school, but today was also the day Coach Park posted the sheet that listed who had made it on the soccer team this year. Over the summer, Graciella had tried out for the team. Joel and Michael convinced her into doing it, saying it'll be a good opportunity for her to make new friends, and to stay in shape, but most importantly, it was a good excuse to stay out and away from the house that made her so depressed.

Graciella had argued with them, stating that the house wasn't making her depressed. It was the lack of positive interactions with the people who lived in it that was making her depressed. Nevertheless, soccer was the only sport Graciella liked, so she went with it.

She made a lot of new friends over the summer, and the Coach was not only attractive, but he was sweet and genuine. Her new friends and Mr. Park had pushed her to work hard and to improve on her skill, she wanted to be on the team so badly.  She had been a nervous wreck at tryouts, but she did her best, and that was all the mattered. But was her best enough to cut it onto the team?

Letting out a big sigh, she stepped forward, approaching the wall. It was childish but she secretly crossed her fingers for good luck. The paper was a little high, and Graciella being on the shorter side had to get on her tippy toes to see. She scanned the list, (which was not in alphabetical order as she had expected it to be) mentally cheering and applauding for the girls that had made the team. Reading the names, Jennie Lee and Rose Young, two girls that she had actually became really good friends with, she smiled and made a mental note to go congratulate them in person.

Graciella's heart began to plummet as her eyes scanned down the list. She had yet to see her name and the feeling of disappointment bubbling inside her was growing. Her finger ran down the piece of paper, her desperate eyes searching for her name, she was nearing the bottom.

Biting her lip, she was preparing herself to turn around and walk away when she reached the last name on the list, Graciella Lahote.

The feeling of disappointment vanished, excitement taking it's place. Mentally cheering for herself, she danced a small victory dance. She had made the team! This was amazing! She had to tell Michael and Joel!

Graciella hurriedly walked down the hall, speed walking towards her locker, a large smile dancing at her lips. Her first class of the day was Chemistry Honors with Ms. Gray. Luckily for her, she had both Joel and Michael in that class. In a rush, Graciella approached locker 110. It was a different one from last year, so it took her a while to find it.

Upon reaching her new locker, Graciella pulled out her schedule, the top left corner contained her locker combination. She quickly dialed the code, opening the small, rectangular space. She began to quickly, but neatly, put her things away. Organizing her locker and her things to her standards.

Since it was the first day, she didn't have much. She grabbed some notebooks and made sure her backpack had extra pencils, because knowing how forgetful Joel was, he would be one of those unbelievable students who forgets to bring a pencil on the first day of school. She thought for a second, before grabbing an extra notebook for Joel, because he probably didn't remember to bring that as well. Joel was truly a special person.