Snow, Snow Is Here To Stay

First Day

I was taking the garbage out when I saw Marco talking to someone who resembled his mother.

"Marco!" she was yelling, "Where were you yesterday? I called, like, twenty times!"

Marco lowered his eyes to the ground.

"I'm sorry," he said. I froze when I realized where he had been. Throwing snow at me.

"Well, where were you?" his mom asked.

"I was with a friend," he said simply, shrugging.

"Alright. Go walk Midnight," his mom sighed, walking into the house. Marco breathed a sigh of relief as he headed down the block. I was going to say hi when a girl, who looked exactly like Marisa, walked up to Marco. I couldn't hear the conversation, but it ended with them hugging. I headed back into my house and knew I probably had no chance with Marco. The rest of the week rolled by without so much as a glimpse of Marco or Marisa. Soon enough, it was my first day at Birch Street High School.

I was escorted with my dad to the principal's office. Mrs. Larson was the nicest principal I've ever met. She gave me a lock and my locker, which was right beside my homeroom. The girl beside me looked about my age with fire-like red hair in a cute pixie cut.

"Hey," I smiled.

"Hi, I'm Ruby," she said, looking at me.

"Anna. So, what homeroom are you in?" I wondered.

"Ten-two. You?" Ruby replied.

"Ten-one," I grinned.

"Cool. Well, have a good first day," she said, closing her locker and walking away with some other girls. I grabbed a green binder and walked into my homeroom. The first person I saw was Marco. He waved me over.

"Hey!" I said.

"Hi," he smiled. Then I noticed Marisa had her arm slung around his shoulder in a girlfriend-ish way. She must have caught me staring.

"Hi. I'm Marisa. I'm Marco's girlfriend. Nice to meet you," she beamed.

"Marisa, we are not...Anna, our parents say we're too young to date," Marco laughed, shooting Marisa a look.

Marisa glared at him. "But if we could, we would," she said casually.

Before I could stop myself, I blurted out the biggest lie I've ever told.

"Back in China, all the girls had boyfriends before the age of fourteen." I had no idea why I said that. I was blushing when I dared to look at Marco.

Marco stared at me, mouth opened, and Marisa rolled her eyes.

"Um...ok," said Marco, clearing his throat. I walked past them and grabbed a seat beside an Asian boy.

"Hello," I said. He lifted his head and gave me a grin.

"Hi. Welcome to Birch Street High!"

I smiled and reminded myself that I only needed one friend here.

"Thanks. So what are the good and bad things around here? Are people nice? Is the cafeteria food good?" I asked.

"Slow down!" he chuckled. "First, I'm Ben. I'm Korean. Who do you know so far?"

"Marco, Marisa, and Ruby," I responded. Ben tapped his pen on his chin thoughtfully.

"Not a great way to start but it'll do. The cafeteria food is pretty good, especially Tuesday's tuna sandwiches."

"Oh, ok," I nodded.

"What are you interested in?" Ben asked.

"Music and volleyball. I used to be a model and my parents are hoping I can start that up again," I answered.

"Model, huh? I can see that," he said. "I mean...I don't mean..."

"No, I get it," I blushed.

"Ok. For music, get to know Viv Hanlon and Katie Taylor. They're the best musicians in our grade. For volleyball, tryouts are this Friday. Jessy Newman is usually the captain. Give me your number, I'll text you their numbers after school," Ben announced.

"Yeah, sure." As we swapped numbers, the bell rang and I put my phone away. My homeroom teacher was Mr. Garber. He was very nice and told funny jokes. My first class was my Art elective. Miss Gibson handed out our supplies in Ziploc bags. My partner was a blue-haired girl named Zoe. She was very talented and was able to come up with five facts about three different artists when I couldn't even think of one artist. Why did I pick art? My parents didn't know what an elective was so they just chose a random one.

"I'm sorry you got stuck with me," I smiled empathetically. She shrugged it off with a hint of a grin. Zoe and I chatted some more about China and Zoe's homeland, Brazil. We shared contact information and I couldn't believe I had made a friend.

I walked by the Science labs and caught a glimpse of Marco and Marisa talking. I shook my head and walked to my locker. Grabbing my snack, I sighed. Five more hours of school today. I can't wait until I get home.