A Special Sparkle One Can Contain

Untitled Part 1

Cassia fixed her gold hoop earrings, a gift from her grandparents living in Chicago, and looked in the mirror. She wanted to look perfect for her first day of school in New York City. Her family moved there just a month ago. They still weren't unpacked completely.

"Only 5 minutes to eat your toast. Hurry up,'' her mom yelled to Cassia who was in her room, getting ready for school.

Cassia answered annoyed, "I'm trying my best!" She lingered to take one last look at herself and started heading down the steps.

She inhaled a piece of burnt, cold toast that her mom had placed earlier.

One minute left, Cassia thought to herself.

She poured the sour Tropicana orange juice for her and her little brother, Ryan, in 2nd grade. Ryan, reckless and annoying, ran straight into Cassia who was holding two full glasses of juice.

The glass bounced against Cassia, and puddle splashed and drenched her shirt. A bright orange stain soaked in, making her shiver because of sudden temperature change.

"Oh no," Cassia exclaimed, "I might miss the bus and it's too late to change. Ryan, you are not left off the hook... You will pay."

She scrambled to get a tissue when she saw the bus near the corner of her stop.

Cassia gulped down the pulpy orange juice and reached for her bright pink backpack with a monkey on it, full of school supplies. Hopefully this backpack isn't too imature, Cassia worrily thought.

She called "Bye mom! Good luck on your first day, Ryan!"

She ran, nearly missed the bus, dropping a sheet of loose-leaf notebook paper. Cassia bent over and picked it up.

The bus was already at her stop. While sprinting to the bus stop, she waved her hands drawing attention to the old bus driver so she can enter the bus. The bus left when she saw another bus coming around the corner. Silly me, she thought, I was catching the wrong bus. Cassia approached the correct bus on time. She climbed up the stairs, smiled at her actual bus driver, and asked a girl with silky hair in row two if she could sit there. She seemed like an ideal friend who would be funny and smart.

"No, I'm saving a spot for my friend," the girl said with attitude. Then the girl added on "Nice backpack and shirt," sarcastically.

"Okay," Cassia replied blinking away her tears. I won't cry on my first day. I'll find another seat. It's not a big deal, she thought while she looked for another empty seat, It's like me saving a spot for my best friend, Ellen.

She plopped herself down in row 5 staring at the window full of stains and dirty fingerprints.

The bus pulled up by the main entrance of her large middle school 1 minute later so Cassia put the paper in her backpack. Cassia wanted to distract herself from panicking about her first day. She thought about how excited she was to see the inside the twin towers. Every time she saw the two towers in her bedroom window, she wanted to go more and more. Her parents had promised them that they will go after they made it through the first week of school.

She stepped out of the bus and tried to find her way to homeroom without getting lost. She pulled out her schedule and the map out of her backpack. Cassia was examining the map while rushing up the stairs as a student was hurrying down. As they collided, a big, fat bump started to form on her forehead.

"Hey, are you okay," a boy with huge red glasses questioned.

"Yeah, I think I will just walk down to the nurse. Thanks for checking in, though," Cassia responded sounding surprised that someone noticed that she was there. As she walked down to the nurse, the bell rang.