New

2

I was always told that school is meant to be fun and full of good experiences. I'm hoping this is true.

My dad doesn't want to teach me at home, so he's sending me to school. My older sister has prepared me with everything I need.

She took me to tour the school and I saw that it wasn't really a big school. It had seven wings and a large gym.

The commons weren't as big as I thought they would be but still a good length. It's the morning of the first day and Sophia, my sister, is driving me.

Just before I get out, she says to me, "Have a nice day. I know mom would be very proid of you." I flash a small smile and shut the door.

I turn around and see a bunch of kids talking to each other. They all have friends from last year. I see a few nervous sixth graders.

I remember when I was eleven, my mom brought home a puppy. A small black and white dog. I named him Oreo.

Dad hates him but mom convinved him to keep him. She said it would make me and her happy. Ha said to her, "anything to make you happy, dear."

Not me. Her. In a way, I blame my mom for not doing what's best for me. He doesn't love me for some reason. Just then the bell rings snapping me out of my thoughts.

I have severe social anxiety. I get sweaty, dizzy and then black out when it gets bad. My brother says I just need to breath and think happy, calm thoughts.

It works usually. All the kids start to walk into the open double doors. I decide to stand off to the side and go in last. There's cheerleaders whooping and cheering loudly.

They stand in two lines as students walk through them to get to the doors. Finally most of the students go inside and I walk in. The cheerleaders freak out and starts throwing their pom-poms.

They follow in behind me. "Hey, girl, you okay? I saw you standing off to the side. You looked... I don't know, awful. But not like, you know. I mean like, you looked... sick?" She said.

"I get what your trying to say. I am fine thanks." I start to walk away but she yells at me to wait. I turn back around. "I'm Taygan." She holds out her hand. "Brooke." I shake her hand. "What grade you in?" She asks.

"Eighth." I answer. My palms start to sweat. Oh god. Breath. Think about Sophia and Caleb. I focus on my breathing.

"You okay? Again?" She asked. "Yeah, I just have..." I stop myself there. Why would she care? "You have, what?" She asks. "Nothing. Nevermind."

I start to walk away but instead of stopping me, Taygan follows me. "Wanna be friends?" I stop dead in my tracks. I look at her.

"Me?" She nods. I smile. I have never had a friend outside of my family. "Yeah... sure, okay." I answer. My very first friend. Maybe. Popularity usually ends up making people snobby and self absorbed.

We'll see later in the year. We walk down towards the commons. "Where you from?" She asks. "Here." She looks at me a bit confused.

"Why weren't you here last year for seventh grade then?" She asks. "homeschooled." She nods, "oh." I nod too.  we turn into th  commons and I see every single kid and feel sweaty, nervous and anxious.

Breath. In... Out. Calm. "Uh, Taygan." She looks at me waiting for me to say something. "I don't deal very well with people. More specifically, groups of people."

I emphasize the 'groups of people' part. "Oh. It's okay. We don't have to meet people yet. But I can show you people and tell you about them so you can consider making friends."

That doesn't sound to bad. I reply with, "okay." And she grabs my arm. We kinda walk around while she points at people and telling me about them. Some people are great friends, others are okay and some would be awful friends. She then points out one girl.

"Her name is Summer. She's super popular but people think she's a bitch." She says. "Stereo types." She nods.

"Yeah, but she's actually super nice. We talk sometimes and she's good friend material. She can be a little crabby every so often but never mean. We all have our days." I nod.

"Her best friends are Naveaha, Brayden, Naomi, Martin, Madison and Lindsey. Lindsey is very nice. She's actually kinda quiet, like you, but she knows a lot of people and a lot of people know her." See continues.

"Naveaha, she's the real bitch. She snaps and glares and secretly, Summer hates her, but we don't speak much of that. Brayden is a F boy. Same with Martin. But they are nice, but dirty. So dirty. And Naomi, she's normal."

I nod to show I understand. "So, make friends with them?" I ask. "Well, don't date the boys and try to not talk to Naveaha. Well, just don't be like her."

I nod again. "Got it. What place are you in? Popular?" She laughs. "I know a lot of people but I'm known as the cheerleader. They think we date the basketball players and we're classic blondes with blue eyes, long legs and a cold heart but I think I'm actually not that type of person."

She looks at me with her eyebrows raised and her lips tight. "Yeah. It's just a stereotype. You're actually really cool and chill. But you are blonde with blue eyes and long legs. Thanks for talking to me though. That was pretty nice of you. The nice popular girl talking to a loser with no friends. Who knew."

I smile and throw my hands up. She laughs. "Your not a loser. And even if you were, you're still cool to talk to. Someone who actually listens. Rare to find someone like that."

I nod. "Yeah. I guess it is." We talk more and she points to the boy she likes. He's not to bad looking. His name is Tyler. Brown hair, blue eyes, tall, popular, and kinda cute. I can see them together.

"But," she says, "he's on the basketball team. So much for the non-stereotyping, huh?" I throw my hand in front of me with a "pshh." She looks at me still.

"Who cares what anyone thinks. I can totally see you two together." I say. "That's the first time anyone has said something besides, 'not if I get him first'" I laugh.

"No, he's not my type. He could never like me anyways, I'm," I look down at my outfit, "out of style." She look sat her uniform and laughs. I do too. I have an actual friend.

Five minutes later the bell rings and we go our separate ways. Homeroom first period, so I check my schedule. Mrs. Booth. She's in room number three hundred six.

I look around and see the sign that says three hundred wing. I walk towards it and see the room number. I head in and see kids all around talking. A few more come in behind me.

I try to find a place to sit but there's people at every table. There's a small couch in front of her desk so I just sit there. I know no one in this class and feel a bit sick.

My palms sweat, I'm starting to feel nauseous and about to have a panic attack. Too many kids. They all stand in front of me. They have friends. I know nobody.

I try to breath bus suddenly I can't. My breathing starts to get heavy. Calm down. Calm down. Don't embarrass yourself on the first day. One of the popular boys, Brayden is in here.

I see he notices me. He doesn't do anything but watch. I hold my stomach and look up. I see the teacher walk in. "Hey, hey, hey. Calm down. It's okay. Can I get you anything? Water?"

I shake my head. I need comfort. I need mom. I get up and walk out to the hallway. I cry thinking about my mother.

I lean against the wall. The teacher walks out. "Can I stay here a moment, Please?" She nods and closes the door. No ones in sight. The bell rings and I sit on the floor.

I hear someone walk down the hall. I pay no attention to it until they stop. I pretend not to notice that someone's standing right in front of me so I keep my head down.

"Hey," he said, "you okay?" I nod without looking at him still. He stands in front of me now. "Need someone to talk to? I don't wanna go to class anyway." He says. I finally look at him in the face...