Sacrifice for a Dream

Chapter 3

Being in foster care, first days of school were not something that was new to me. Being the new girl in a small school where everyone had been going together for years and already knew every minute detail about their peers was also not anything new. Attending a school where students lived together? That was new.

Saturday and Sunday, I mostly stayed in my room, only venturing out for meals. It seemed most of the school went home for the weekends or found other places to eat, but I didn't know exactly where those places were. Anne and I had looked at the map of the area, but there hadn't been any malls or big cities nearby.

The hallways and bathroom in my dorm were very empty of people on Sunday. I decided to take my shower that evening instead of tomorrow morning when I would be in a rush and the bathrooms would be full of girls. I laid out all my clothes and I packed my book back with the new laptop that I had played with all weekend. It even had internet access. We'd never had internet access at home since Gerald just used his cell phone to check email and watch sports. Anne was not really a computer or electronics type of person either.

Also, in my backpack I packed the map of the school, the list of rules, my schedule, notebooks, pencils, and pens and a paperback just in case I had downtime, or I needed an escape.

My first class of the day was English with Mrs. Nans. She was also the teacher I had to ask about choir auditions. I easily found her classroom at the end of the hallway on the first floor. She was a nice round lady who was humming to herself as she bustled around the room watering plants. Her graying hair was worn in a tight bun on the back of her head. She was dressed in a knee length navy blue dress; it was dotted with bright red apples and over the dress she wore a soft cream cardigan sweater. I heard her functional navy heels tap on the floor as she moved around. I was early to class, so I was the first student there. My stomach hurt too much with nerves to eat breakfast.

I stood there waiting for her to notice me, but she just went around the room, humming and watering her plants. Finally, I cleared my throat to get her attention and she looked up with a kind smile, "Aww, you must be my new student, Wren."

I gave a small smile, quickly looked her in the eye and then looked down again.

"You can sit anywhere but I suggest not the back, a lot of the other students have already claimed those seats." Mrs. Nans rustled through her desk. The desk seemed to be incredibly messy and chaotic, but she found the papers without having to dig through much stuff.

"Here is the syllabus for the semester," Mrs. Nans explained. "If you have any questions, or need any help, my email address is on there and I usually write back within the day."

I nodded, "Ms. Merle said that you would be the person to ask about joining choir." I loved to sing and since it looked good on college applications to have extra-curricular activities; I'd decided choir was a good fit. Sports were out due to my klutziness.

"You're a singer, are you?" her smile got even brighter, and I could tell Mrs. Nans liked music too.

"I like to sing," I told her.

"Rehearsals are Monday and Friday from four to five p.m. We would love to have you join us," Mrs. Nans told me as she bustled around the room getting ready for the day.

"I'll be there," I was so excited. My last choir teacher was an older man who would fall asleep in his chair after working on one piece for half of the class.

With our conversation over, I found a desk in the very front row of desks. The first students started to trickle in. I studied them as they came in and they in turn studied me.

The first girl to come through the door had a shock of bright teal hair. She was a bit taller than me, but she had lithe muscles in her arms and legs. Her skin was tanned, and she had on a glittery plum lip gloss. She was laughing with a huge guy that was wearing a letterman's jacket. Two girls with hair dyed purple and pink trailed behind her, chatting to each other.