“Zoë wake up!” Ugh. First day of school today. “Zoë, I said, get up!” I rolled my eyes and got up.“I’m up mom! I’ll be downstairs in one minute.” Every year I went through the same thing. Mom wakes me up TWICE, I go downstairs, eat, get ready for school, and get on the bus. When I did eat, I was surprised to see my brothers were already done eating. “Whoa, what’s going on?” I looked at the clock - 6:20. Great. My mom had forgotten to wake me at 6:00. “Mom, I told you to wake me at 6:00!” She rolled her eyes. “ Well you are fully capable of using your alarm clock.” The only reason I didn’t use it was because it sang disney songs. Complete embarrassment. When I finally got ready, I realized my schedule had water all over it. “JOEY! Did you get water on my schedule?” “Yeah, sorry Zoe!” He yelled from upstairs. “You ready to go, Zoë?” mom asked. “Clothes, teeth brushed, ate, makeup… MAKEUP!” I ran upstairs quickly applied makeup and ran out the door, all in 5 minutes. New record! “Mom, did the bus already get here?” She crossed her arms. “Zoë, you missed the bus?” Well I guess I’ll have to walk.
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“Zoë, where were you? You missed the best thing EVER!” I rolled my eyes. This was probably like the last time she found a pack of sticky notes in her backpack. Turned out she put them in there the month before. “What did I miss this time, Emma?” We walked to my new locker as she told me about the cafeteria staff giving out free milk to the students. “It was amazing Zoë, you should have been there!” I continued to listen, cause it wouldn’t help if i didn’t. “Hey, Zoë, where’s your schedule for this year?” Guess where? Home. Soaked with water. “It’s okay, i’ll just go to the office and ask for a new one.” She was really confused. “How do you know what your locker combo is if you don’t even know where your homeroom is?” Well, that was the one thing I actually hadn’t forgotten. Good thing I remembered one thing. When I went to the office and I told them it was at home, ruined by water. They printed me a new one. Yay, perfect way to start off the school year! (not). I walked to first, which should have been choir. I opened the door to find a teacher presenting a powerpoint. Great. I was on the complete wrong side of the school. “Sorry, my first day here.” The students looked back at me and the teacher walked up to me. “Are you supposed to be in room 270 east?” I nodded. “Just go back to the cafeteria and go right. Do you need help?” I shook my head and hurried to Room 270 EAST, not west. I was half way there when i bumped into some guy. “Hey watch where you’re going!” I rolled my eyes and looked up to see a curly blondish brown haired, blue eyed man. “I’m sorry, it’s my first day here.” His jaw dropped when he looked at me and he eagerly rushed to help me. “I’m sorry, my name is Dylan.” There was a moment of silence. “I’m Zoë.” He smiled. “I like Zoe.” Silence came. After about a minute I asked, “Can I have my books?” He was almost shocked when he realized he still had the books in his hands. “Sorry. Here you go. If you need help with anything, i’ll be around.” He winked. Was he flirting? No, probably not. I was just an average wavy brown haired, green eyed girl. Who was a little tall for 17. “Well I should go head to um.. uh…” His blue eyes were just so bright. “First? Yeah me too.” Well that was embarrassing. “Yeah, room 270, EAST this time. Haha, I’m not the best with my navigational skills.” He sort of laughed, probably to make me feel better than headed off to first. “Bye, Dylan!” Oh god, what was I doing? I probably sounded like a crazy obsessed fan girl. When I FINALLY got to choir, they were halfway through Let It Be by none other than the Beatles. I scurried to the teacher and told her what happened. “Attention class, we have a new student! What is your name darling?” I glanced at everyone. They were probably mad about me interrupting their song. "Zoë.” She smiled at me. “Well Zoë, why don’t you go sit between, hmm.. Does anyone have an extra seat for Zoë?” Oh great. Most. embarrassing. day. ever. Two boys raised there hands. “Alright Zoë, you can go sit next to Will and Elliot.” I sat down with them. They were actually pretty nice. By the time lunch came, I found my way around the school, and managed to find Emma in the crowd of hungry 11th graders. “So Zoë-“ She giggled to her self at her rhyme. “-how is school here?” You see, Emma and I have been besties since first grade, and I got zoned for a different school my middle school years and halfway through high school. Eventually, we moved back and came to the lovely Crest County High School. “Good so far, I met a few people… all boys.” She gave me the “doesn’t-suprise-me eye look” and i continued. “It’s so cool here! The guys are actually pretty decent and don’t give you cheesy pickup lines and bent flowers as romantic gestures.” Emma was a romantic in every way. She loved cheesy romantic gestures, so she probably would have liked to have been with me at my old school. “Zoë, you’re so lucky! Guys die to date you! I’ve seen a few flirty glances, and I heard Nick wants to ask you out!!!” Oh god. She always considered me the pretty, smart, nice girl who could get any guy. “Wait, who’s Nick?” She rolled her eyes. “Only the most popular guy in school!” Oh great. Another one of those guys. “Emma, you KNOW I don’t go for popular.” Here it comes- she would say,”Oh but Zoë you’re so pretty, every popular person thinks you’re popular! Just accept it!” “Come on Zoë, you’re lucky to have that happen to you!” Not really. Popular guys were always snobby, and went for every girl they could get. “What about Dylan? Any word about him?” She looked at me like I was crazy! “Zoë, Dylan is exactly like you, and that’s great! But he’s a player. He’s had 10 girlfriends in the last 4 days!” Well maybe he just hasn’t found the one, i thought. But knowing Emma, she would start talking about true love and all the gushy romance stuff. “Well maybe he just doesn’t like them?” Emma gave me the “really?” look and I could tell she heard my comment as more of a question. “Zoë, you’re way to good for him. Go for someone like Elliot. Now HE’S perfect. tanned, blue eyes, brown hair. He’s SUCH a good match for you!” I rolled my eyes. “Maybe his looks, but I find him more as a friend.” Now Emma rolled her eyes. Almost everything I said, she had an eye movement. “Whatever, Zoë. Listen, I have to go return a book to the library, but enjoy your lunch, okay?” She winked and waved goodbye. Well, now I can eat my burger, i thought. Great, I forgot ketchup. I stood up to get ketchup, and was greeted by mashed potatoes and milk. “I’m SO sorry Zoë! Oh my gosh, let me go get some paper towels! Hold this real quick, I’ll be real fast!” I didn't even recognize who it was, but they obviously recognized me. I set the lunch tray down and wiped milk off my face and realized it was Dylan. He quickly rushed back and handed me the paper towels. “Thanks, Dylan.” He frowned thinking I was being sarcastic but I smiled and assured him I meant what I said. “Sorry Zoë. You were rocking that dress.” He smiled and I realized he was, indeed, flirting with me. “Well thank you, but it’s alright, I can just buy a new dress.” I was probably blushing, because my face felt warm. “Um… I have to go to the bathroom… But stay here!” I put my hands out as if to signal to stay put, and then ran to the bathroom. “This is the worst day of my life!” I screamed. I started washing my face, then was startled by a voice I had not yet heard. “Oh come on, your mascara didn't smear.” I turned around and was greeted by a tall,smiling, caramel haired, hazel eyed girl. “My names Alison, but I prefer Ali. Here, let me help you clean up.” I could tell she was a good friend. “Thank you, Ali. That could help a little.” She frowned. “First day gone bad?” I sighed. “Yeah. I don’t know how, I never have bad days!” I felt like she would become my go-to-gal. “Well, i’m sure it will get better, if you try.” I smiled and in 5 minutes, I was clean once again. “Thank you Ali, I think so too.” I realized Dylan was still waiting for me. “Ali, I have to go. But if you want to sit with me, that would be great!” She smiled. “Of course! I’ll be out in one minute.” The rest of lunch was really fun, and I got to know Ali and Dylan a lot. Turns out they were best friends!
After lunch came math, which was pretty basic, so it went fast. Soon I was on the bus with Emma and Ali heading home for the day.
