The Entangled Tales

The First of Many

The sudden noise of the school bell ringing caused me to jump out of my reverie, as I blinked a few times and became conscious of my surroundings again. The ground was filled with bustling students, some my age, some older and some younger, all with happy, bright faces as they rushed towards their classrooms.

Only a few students remained on the ground, most of them, looking kinda clueless, just like me. I assumed they were some fellow new students, but only later did I realize, not one of them was in my class.

I turned to look back once more, where my mother was giving a mental pep talk, and some instructions to my elder sister. I sighed as I turned towards the building again, the building I would now call my school.

With butterflies fluttering in my stomach, I hesitantly stepped forward, until I was almost to the main building. However, as I checked the notice board, I quickly found out that my classroom wasn't listed at all.

An inner panic began rising in my chest, and I looked back in search of my sister. But she had already gone into the senior section building.

Great, I thought, the first step, and I'm already lost.

My designated classroom was 7-B, but the main building directions to the classrooms didn't include any sections of seventh grade. I frantically looked around, and much to my relief, I saw a teacher approaching the building.

I slowly inched towards the teacher, and nervously greeted her. Then, showing her the admission forms I had in my hand, I asked for the directions to my class, as I couldn't locate the list in the main building.

She kindly pointed me to a separate building, consisting only of four classrooms, and added, "Class 7th stays in the other building, you're a lucky new girl, huh?" Her banter made me smile too, despite my inner turmoil.

But was I really lucky? I didn't know.

She obligingly gave me an encouraging smile, as she proceeded towards the main building. I let out a shaky breath; I had been to new schools at least 4 times now, if not more, I have shifted all my life, but with every new school, came the same old tumbling ambivalence.

And moving to different places all through my life meant that I never had such permanent friends. I had never allowed myself to get too attached, for I know, leaving them would break my heart.

Well, saying all that is almost reminding me of High School Musical, except that this Gabriella, would still have to move after a year or two.

No matter how much we promise each other, to call every day, talk every day, once we leave, it's only memories that remain. Distance might make the heart grow fonder, but it could also be the reason to drift apart forever. After all, nothing is forever.

I was slowly trudging to the new building, my bag heavy with the books, and my nervousness only increased with every step I took.

I was slow in my pace, I wanted to take up everything around me. These new surroundings, this new school. I had to get used to it.

A spiral staircase led up to the floors where the classes were. I stopped briefly at the foot of the classroom and noticed a room beneath the stage. The art room. I smiled as I saw a girl, my age, pleasantly chat with the teacher. They were laughing, having lots of fun.

Reminded me of my favourite teacher. My smile turned nostalgic as I stayed recollecting each memory from my previous school.

Putting those thoughts aside, I climbed up the staircase and stopped on the first floor, just then, a voice behind me said, "Hey! Are you a new student?"

I jumped slightly as I turned around to face the same girl I saw in the art room a minute ago.

"Oh, yeah! I'm in 7B" I replied, trying to maintain a somewhat confident composure.

"Oh, you must be Stella Jean Covey then! Our teacher told us about your arrival. Come, I'll take you to class."

I happily accepted her offer, and on the way, I asked, "By the way, what's your name?"

"Oh, how forgetful of me! I'm Rachel Roetzel! Pleased to have you in our class."

She looked back towards me upon reaching the door, sensing that I was nervous. She gave me an encouraging smile, as I nervously smiled back and walked forward.

With trembling hands, I pushed open the door, and stepped inside, as the entire class grew silent. The awkward quietude persisted for a few more seconds, until my teacher thankfully came to my rescue, announcing to the class, "Class, she is the new student I was talking about, Stella Jean Covey. Let's give her a warm welcome!"

One introductory speech from my side, and the assignment of my seat later, our class teacher left the room, and as soon as she did, most of the girls crowded around me.

Perks of being the new girl, I guess.

I managed to get through that chaos as the bell for the first class rang and we went for English. My class didn't have all students from homeroom, Rachel was the only girl with me. But thankfully, our timetables matched and she stuck with me for the rest of the day.

The day passed by pretty normally, perhaps because I had gotten so accustomed to moving around and switching schools.

Or perhaps it was because the time I most vividly remember and cherish came at the closing of the day.

Prior to leaving the school, my teacher had instructed me to board the bus route number 5, and as to avoid any needless confusion, I quietly made my way there.

Owing to my early arrival, I easily found an empty seat by the window. I had assumed I would sit alone for the ride back home, however, a few minutes after I sat I heard a voice startling me out of my thoughts.

"Is this seat taken?" I turned around and saw that the voice belonged to one of the boys in my class, and after recollecting, I remembered his name to be Jacob.

I was keen on making a friend, other than Rachel today, so I smiled and let him sit next to me. And soon enough after him introducing himself, we broke into a comfortable chatter, as we both got to know each other.

Mid-way through, a younger boy, who was sitting across from us, called out to him, to ask him to join a game of some sort they played. Jacob turned towards me and asked if I'd like to play along.

I was quite excited to play, but seeing so many other, older people, I changed my mind, and denied, despite Jacob's persistence.

He soon sighed and turned to play the game, after I reassured him that I'll be fine on my own and would take a nap. As I thought of him and his words after their game began and he turned away, I couldn't help but let a small smile graze my lips.

I opened my eyes to see him play while laughing. Something about that laugh was...so alluring.

As I tumbled out of the bus, after bidding him farewell, I thought over to the conversation I had with Jacob.

I turned once to see the bus leave, and my eyes wandered to the window where I sat. With a smile plastered on his face, Jacob waved at me, and I could have sworn he winked at me before the bus was too far away.

Heat rose to my cheeks, and I buried my head in my hands. Regaining my composure, I walked towards our building. And with a soft smile, I hoped that this conversation would only be the first of many more to come.