Roman's Dream

Life has always been hard since I can remember. From trying to make friends to living up to my parents standards, it never seemed to be enough. I thought if I could graduate high school and go on to become a lawyer, like my parents wanted, I would satisfy them and finally be happy. I kept reminding myself of that as I walked out of my room and towards the bathroom. As I stared at myself in the mirror, I thought of ways I can make myself look more sophisticated. I took my shaving cream and razor and shaved the stubble I had gotten. I then took the gel from the counter and slicked my dark brown hair back until it looked like my dad's. Feeling satisfied, I walked downstairs to an empty house and a note on the counter. The note read:

"Sorry Roman. Your father and I left for work early. I hope you have a great first day of school today. Love, Mom."

I sighed. Of course they would miss seeing me off on one the most important days of my life. I had just transferred to a new school after we moved and I had to admit, I was quite nervous. The thought of having to make new friends and trying to have a social life, while also putting all my attention on school work, was stressful.

I grabbed an apple from the counter and made my way towards the front door, checking my watch. School started in twenty minutes but I also had to grab my schedule from the front office. Luckily my school was in walking distance from our house so it wouldn't take long to arrive.

Soon enough, I approached a large building with the letters 'Paramount High' perched on the top of it. As I walked inside, my nerves started to get worse and worse with every step I took. I heard students whispering and lockers being slammed shut as I quickly passed them. When I came across the cafeteria, that's when I realized I had no idea where I was going. A girl with glasses passed by me so I decided to ask her.

"Excuse me? Do you know where the office is?" I ask her, forcing a smile on my face.

"Yeah. It's down the hall, turn left, and it's the second door on the right." She said, sounding a little out of breath.

"Thanks. I'm Roman by the way. I'm new here." I said, with my hand outstretched forward.

"I thought so. Mine's Valerie." She said, shaking my hand.

"Well I better get going. See you around." I say, pointing toward the way she told me to go and turning around.

I continue my walk, following the directions Valerie game me, and arrive at the office. There was a woman sitting at a desk typing extremely fast on the computer. I wait a little to see if she would acknowledge my presence. When she doesn't, I slowly walk up to her desk while holding the straps of my backpack nervously.

"Excuse me? I'm here for my schedule. My name is Roman Adams." I said, making my name sound extra quiet.

The woman looks up from her computer and squints her eyes at me. She looks back at her computer and I hear the sound of something printing behind her. She gets up, grabs the paper, and gives it to me.

"Thank you. I'll be going now." I said, and walked out the door while looking at my schedule and the map she gave me.

The first class on the schedule was my business elective. Paramount High specialized in starting their students early with college classes as electives. That's actually one of the reasons my parents transferred me here. They wanted me to start off early on becoming a lawyer. I didn't really have a choice in the matter. My mother was quite understanding when it came to what I wanted but, it was a different story with my father.

I started walking while looking at the campus map. My business class was actually just around the corner from the office. I looked up from the map and and turned left towards the direction of my class when I spot a bulletin board filled with posters. There was band, student government, drama, and just about every other club's poster on the board. Maybe I'll join one of these in the future.