Time Travelers

Chapter 1

"Excuse me, ma'am?" I asked a tall, prim woman in her middle age timidly who was sitting behind the front desk. "Could you point me in the direction of the eighth-grade classroom?"

The woman turned around to face me and blinked twice.

"I'm new to this school." I explained quickly.

"Oh, of course." Said the woman in a slightly sarcastic tone, as if she expected that I was trying to waste her time. "Classroom five, down the hall on the right." She immediately turned back around and resumed her paperwork.

I checked the clock on the wall beside her; five minutes till.

Heads turned as I adjusted my new purple backpack securely on my shoulders before starting off down the hall. While avoiding getting jostled by the rush of students, I located door number five and placed my hand on the knob. I took a deep breath, and slowly opened the door.

I silently entered. My cheeks burned and I avoided eye contact as I found an empty desk. I seated myself and took a quick look around my new classroom. It had plain, white, empty walls with basically nothing in the room besides desks and a few bookshelves. It was nothing like my old school.

My old school was exciting. My old school had my friends. People I knew. Teachers I liked. My mind reflected back to my best friend, Tracy. We used to do everything together; we shared our every interest, every secret, and every excitement. I wondered what she was doing right now...

I suddenly heard a soft thump and I snapped back into reality. There was a small folded piece of paper lain on my desk. After making sure the teacher was busy, I discreetly opened the paper and realized it was a note. Although I hadn't the slightest idea who it could be from. I got the first impression that rules were pretty loose here, considering I got passed a note on my first day.

It said, 'Ur the new girl, right? Want to share a table with my friends and me at lunch? From the girl sitting to the left of your desk, Monica'

I crumpled the note up without a second thought and inserted its remains in the desk cubby in front of me. I wanted my old friends back, not new ones to replace them. Although, after glancing to the left of me, I figured Monica looked nice enough, I just wasn't interested in making new friends. Not yet, at least. I just didn't feel ready yet. I almost decided to write a note back, but just then the teacher cleared her throat and the room grew silent.

"Alright, class," said the pretty, short teacher, whose curls bounced with every word. "Before we start today, I have an announcement. We have a new student joining us here at Mountain Heights School! Celina, please stand up and introduce yourself."

A few kids clapped half-heartedly. I gulped. I never have done well in front of crowds.

I stood up hesitantly and said quietly, "Uh... hi. My name is Celina Parker, and I just moved here from San Diego, California." My gaze slipped to the floor and my face flushed.

"Thank you, Celina, you may have a seat." The teacher said briskly, and I gladly sat down. "As most of you know," she continued. "My name is Mrs. Delrina, and I'll be your teacher for ninth grade. Just to set things on the right track, for those of you that don't know, note passing and talking during class are strictly forbidden. Now, everyone please take out your grammar books and turn to page sixty-four."

I sneaked a glance at Monica, who looked sheepish as she pulled out her grammar book from her desk. I was glad I had crumpled up and discarded that note. I fished around in my desk for my grammar book.

Once I had it located, I placed it carefully on my desk, flipped to the required page, and started reading.

The next few hours dragged. All I wanted to do was go back to the hotel we were staying in, and Skype Tracy. I wanted to vent to her how awful it was here, how much I wanted to be back in California instead of here in Iowa. I would give her a detailed description of how different this school was than the one back home. I would tell her how ugly the dull, boring rivers were here compared to the beautiful ocean there.