Tiki woke before her 6 a.m. alarm. She groaned. She’d hoped she might awaken with a fever or rash that kept her home from school, but no. Except for the butterflies in her stomach, she felt fine. She pulled herself out of bed and stumbled toward the bathroom to wash her face and brush her teeth.
First day of middle school— a big school that brought kids from three towns together. She didn’t know most of them. First day riding a bus to school— she lived close enough to her elementary school to walk and rode a bus only for class trips. Now she was going to ride the bus every day. First day changing classes. The school felt huge. What if she got lost?
Tiki picked at her breakfast. She checked her backpack one more time, making sure she had pens and sharpened pencils, lined notebooks and colored folders for handouts. At 7:15, she walked to the end of her driveway to wait for the bus.
Tiki wished her friend Marsha rode the same bus so they could sit together, but Marsha was on a different route. How should she choose where to sit? When the bus pulled up and the doors opened, Tiki climbed the steps and glanced down the aisle. Every seat was taken. She’d have to share, but she didn’t see anybody she knew. Tiki stopped at a seat occupied by a high school girl. “Ok to sit here?”
The girl shook her head ‘no.’ “My friend’s getting on at the next stop.”
Tiki continued up the aisle. “Hurry up,” the bus driver called. Tiki plopped down next to a boy.
“Scottie’s got a girlfriend, Scottie’s got a girlfriend!” a group of boys teased from the back of the bus. The boy turned bright red.
“Sorry,” Tiki whispered, trying to adjust her backpack so it didn’t clunk into the boy.
“It’s OK,” the boy said softly, but he remained silent for the rest of the trip.
Tiki found her homeroom easily and looked for familiar faces. Only two kids she knew from her elementary school— Leonard, who looked a lot taller than last year and mean girl Colleen. “Blue sneakers? Really?” Colleen remarked as Tiki walked by.
“I’m assigning seats until I learn everyone’s name,” the teacher said as he began pointing to desks and calling names. Tiki found herself next to Colleen, who rolled her eyes. “At least we won’t get into trouble for talking to each other,” she smirked.
Bad day, getting worse.
Tiki followed her schedule to her first class, math. A heavy textbook. “Cover it by tomorrow and try the first 10 problems in lesson one.”
U.S. History. A thick textbook. “Cover it by tomorrow. And read Chapter One.”
Science. Another textbook to cover and three handouts.
Only in English did she receive a paperback book, one that looked like it would be fun to read.
So far, Tiki’s friend Marsha hadn’t been in any of her classes. She hoped she’d see her at lunch and scanned the cafeteria line and tables when she arrived. No Marsha. Tiki sat by herself at a large table. So far, the day was terrible.
“Is it OK to sit here?” a girl asked. “I’m Christa. I saw you in science class.”
Tiki smiled. “Sure. I have French after lunch. Are you in that class, too?”
“Yes.”
Tiki and Christa walked to French together, talking. “My Grandma’s French, too!’ Tiki exclaimed. “I can say a few things, but not as much as I’d like.”
Christa giggled. “ I told Grandma I’ll know what she’s saying when she talks to her friends.”
On the way home, Tiki had a bus seat to herself. Finding her way around school was easier than she thought it would be. Sitting next to Colleen was awful, but it was only for a short time in homeroom and was temporary. She missed Marsha, but would catch up with her on the phone tonight and would see her over the week-end. And French? French was great! The worst first day was over and not as awful as she imagined.
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