In An Instant

Chapter 4

I had hoped the uniform would have looked better. I wanted to remake my look, not continue on as a dork. Of course my too-long skirt didn't help the image and neither did my too-big blazer that made my shoulders look too-broad and too-square in a too-manly fashion. 

        Just what I wanted.

        Sighing, I leaned my head against my bathroom wall and tried to think up a solution to my issue. After all, they said the first impression was the one that lasted. After much pondering, I finally decided that there really wasn't much that I could do so I settled for rolling up my sleeves which, much to my amazement, actually helped to give me a more feminine look. Still, I wasn't exactly on the road to becoming Angelina Jolie.

        Turning away from the mirror, of which I was currently fed up with, I descended the steps to the kitchen where my mother was waiting, a smile plastered on her face, looking like a proud mom. I stifled the urge to roll my eyes and walked past her to my new black school shoes: flats with dainty little bows on the toes.

        "You look nice," my mom told me kindly, sounding genuinely sincere.

        I nearly choked on a laugh, as if someone had told me the most ridiculous thing in the world as I was eating. "Of course you have to say that. You're my mom."  I shook my head and slammed the door behind me, only feeling slightly guilty for being harsh with her. She was just being nice after all.

        Maybe it was the isolation of the past summer getting to me. I hadn't seen Sidney or Ally at all, only texting them occasionally, but we never had anything interesting to talk about. I would tell them about life at the lake, boring without them; Ally would relate the news of Rosemond, which was next to nothing; and to make things worse, Sidney would report how her summer was going on the opposite end of the Okanagon: so close yet so far. We used to see each other occasionally when we were younger, as we both had cabins in the same area but time passed and we both got places near the water. Therefore, keeping in touch was slightly more tricky. 

        It would be a relief to see them.

        After an eternity, my mom's volvo pulled up outside of Northland High School and I caught my breath, the excitement finally catching up to me. I thought that life at my previous school would never end, but here I was. It was not exactly an eye catcher, but it was a change and that was all I needed right then. Ruby red brick walls lined the building and a perfectly maintained field peeked from behind the school and I noticed a few Seniors throwing a football back and forth to each other, each catch flawless. Outside the main office, new students filed in, eagerness and dismay at the school year starting mixed alike. 

        I hopped out of the car and said good-bye to my mom who was beaming at the wheel, probably happy to finally be rid of me. Slinging my bag over my shoulder, I searched for Ally and Sidney in the crowd. They were no where to be seen. I swallowed my disappointment and decided to get in line to find out my class when I felt a hand on my arm.

        "Hey! Guess what?" I swung around to see Sidney grinning at me, Ally right behind, waving a sheet of paper in front of my face like a flag, but it was moving too fast for me to see what it said.

        "Sidney and I are in the same class!" she squealed with excitement.

        I tried not to let my emotions show on my face. Now I had to be in their class because if I wasn't, we could drift apart. I knew how cliquey those two could be; they were always the first of our trio to hear the gossip, and then they told me after. I couldn't risk letting everything fall apart like there was never three of us. I needed this.