Memory

First Day, Already Enemies

It all started when- isn’t it funny how many stories start like this, with the beginning almost always the same, just like in my case- It all started when I woke up on a bright sunny day, and began to get ready for school. “Rose, you’re going to miss the bus!” My mother’s voice rang through the house, her tone filled with frustration, and a slight hint of anxiety. I couldn’t miss the bus on the first day, she would flip. “I know mum, I’m almost ready!” This was true in part, I was dressed and my bag was packed, but I couldn’t find my hat and my toast was going cold on the table. I finally found the annoying piece of headwear and rushed a couple of bites of toast before running out of the house, almost being forced to chase the bus down. The driver stopped in time, and I got on, and swiped my card against the scanner. All the seats up the back were full, and the only seat vacant in the middle region was occupied by some kid’s bags. I took a seat up the front, took out my iPod and plugged my ears full of the beautiful sound created by Metallica, AC/DC and Pantera.

The school came into view and the students from the back barged forward, the boys laughing and pushing each other around. One of them fell onto me and shot a look of disgust at the new girl, because that’s all I was, the new girl. I was the last one off, my card was swiped on the scanner again, and I saw for the first time the building I was stuck in for five days a week, every week of the school year, and I wasn’t very impressed by the graffiti coated walls and slightly peeling paint.

The school just got worse as I went in. All the students seemed to already have their friend groups, and none of them looked welcoming. The boys all seemed to group together, and in their group I saw the unwelcoming guy who glared at me on the bus. I kept walking until I found the building labeled administration. The lady behind the counter saw me walk in and looked back at her computer. I gave a slight cough and she raised her head and gave me a look that clearly said ‘what do you want.’ “My name is Rose Jae Lee, I’m new here and I need a timetable and a school map, if you could please get them for me.” She sighed and looked through the computer again, before printing off a timetable. She handed that to me along with a school diary. “You need to go to homeroom first, and that is in room 20. Hurry along now, I have work to do.” I couldn’t stop thinking about how unfriendly this school seemed, but I was stuck here now, because mum wanted to move house. I looked through the subjects I had, and was glad when I saw that they had given me all the ones I liked. After homeroom I had double maths, and as much as I didn’t like maths, it was a core subject, so I had to do it.

I looked in the diary and found the school map. Room 20 was in the opposite part of the school to where I was, so I started walking, trying not to take forever, because I didn’t want to linger alone. When I reached the room there was still 5 minutes until the bell rang, so I just waited outside the door. The group of boys was coming my way, and none of them looked happy to see me here. I began to feel intimidated, so I ducked into the nearest toilets and hid. I could hear them jibing and calling me out, but I had too many experiences with bullies in the past to listen to them.

Finally the bell rang but the boys were still out there, waiting for the new girl to come out so they could pounce on her. Lucky I didn’t exactly want a perfect record for getting to class on time or anything. Soon a teacher came along and told all the boys to go to class and stop prowling around the girl’s toilet. I timidly walked out as soon as they were gone and the teacher escorted me to class and explained to my homeroom teacher why I was late. “Mirelle, this is your new student. She was hiding in the toilets while Dimitri and his pack hung around.” The teacher nodded grimly, before sending me a warm smile. “So, you must be Rose. I’m Mrs. Fein.” She gestured to a seat and I sat down without caring where it was. Mrs. Fein looked like she was in her mid-thirties, but working with high school students had aged her past a reasonable point, making her appear ten years older. She marked the roll and read out the notices, which I paid no mind to, since I wasn’t going to be joining any sport teams, nor would I understand the other information until I was used to the school a bit more. The bell rang to signal end of homeroom and I dreaded the possibility of accidentally running to this Dimitri guy and his friends again.