One Lie at a Time

FIRST DAYS ARE THE MOST AWKWARD

Even if you've been in the same district for five years, the first days are always awkward. You don't know if any of your friends still want to be your friend. You have all new classes, teachers, even a fresh batch of kids. You don't know if you'll have the same clique or get a new one. Everything is different. It's worse when you're starting a new year at a different school. Not a whole different school district, but like moving from middle school to high school. But moving school districts is still pretty bad.

For First Days, you have to choose the perfect outfit. Most people wear whatever nice-but-not-too-nice thing in their closet. A tight shirt with some skinny jeans, a cute skirt, a dress even. I like to keep it simple. Sweatpants with a hoodie. Forever and always. If you dress fancy on the first day but switch to a baggy t-shirt the next, people will be confused with your style!

I wake up at 5:30. School starts at 8:10, but I ride the bus, so I need extra time. I have a very organized morning schedule. At 5:30, I wake up and I shower. At 5:55, I'm dressed and ready to go. By 6:10, I'll have eaten. By 6:30, I'll have brushed my teeth and have all of my stuff packed up, and then I go. Occasionally, I wake up late and my schedule is a little thrown off, but I try to keep those days to a minimum.

I grabbed my backpack and headed into the kitchen. Dad was sitting at the old, dusty island, thrumming his fingers on the counter absentmindedly.

"Bye Dad! I love you." I say and give him a quick hug. He pats my back and says back, "I'll see you later."

I almost forgot! Coffee! Coffee was my safety. My ride-or-die. I don't think I could live without it. I grabbed an old cat mug that said You had me at MEOW and poured some black coffee in. I didn't really like cats. They were okay, but they barfed and they weren't playful. There was this one cat I used to catsit for my neighbors named PB (short for Pretty Baby). She was more like a dog. I mean, she let you give her belly rubs. She's the only cat I love. I tolerate the rest. I'm more of a dog person anyway.

Luna, my little chihuahua-rat terrier mix came running in, wagging her tail frantically. She must smell my Dad's lunch. She only came to greet you when there was food. We got her only two years ago. My dad said after our cat Roxy died that we aren't getting any more pets, but then one summer, we were at the pool and he just showed up with this cute, skinny dog he found at the pet store. Luna's not skinny anymore. I think I overfeed her. Or maybe Anthony gave her too many treats. But, then again, who could say no to that face?

I pet Luna and gave her a quick goodbye. She jumped up on my leg, practically begging for more attention. I think she has abandonment issues. If I needed an emotional support animal, I would strap that red vest on her and take her to school with me. 

Before I was about to walk out the door, Dad recited the normal, "Do you have everything?"

"Yes, sir."

"Phone?"

"Yes."

"Laptop?"

"Yes."

"All your journals?"

"Yup."

He saluted and said hoarsely, "Alright, see you later."

My bus arrived just as I was walking out the door.  I breathed a sigh of relief.  It would be very bad luck if I missed my bus on the first day.  

I got on the bus, said good morning to the bus driver, and went straight for the back. No one else was on the bus. I sat in seat twenty-one -my lucky number- and pulled out my phone. There was this game that was blowing up in all the stores. It was called Among Us. I opened up the app and started playing. I liked it. It was fun to accuse people and get them ejected. My character was called me. It confused people because one time, this player called out, "It's me!" while I was the Imposter. Everyone voted him out because he "admitted" it.