She woke early in the morning to sounds of birds chirping, bacon sizzling, and butterflies bouncing around in her stomach. She was dreading today, she was excited for today, and she was scared of today. Today was the first day of school. To her the school was alien, she had only been there once, and it was bigger than anything she had ever attended. She had never been to a school where she had to change classes or move about the halls freely, and she had never had to catch a school bus. Today was going to be the many firsts for her, and being somewhat new to the area and behind the times in fashion and hair. She had feeling it was going to be a long day.
She told herself, “Paige, It is going to be a good day.” However inside she did not feel confident at all. She didn’t know what to expect. She had just moved to a new town, everyone would already know each other, and no one would know who she was, and they probably wouldn’t care. Her mind swelled with worry and despair. She readied herself to the best of her ability, and headed out for her first day of 7th grade.
The walk to the bus stop was about a mile, or at least it felt like that, and she passed the small farms she lived close to, and the ratty houses that filled the empty spaces. She was nervous very nervous, when she finally reached the bus stop, she would have her first interaction with other kids her age. When she finally got to the end of the road, no one was insight. She assumed she must be very early, as she did give herself plenty of time. The sun rose higher and time passed, and still no appeared. She must have went to the wrong place, or the bus must not have shown up. That was the only explanation. Paige decided to walk back home, and try to make it to school on time.
The first day of school was never easy, and always full some sort of issue or mishap, and perhaps this why Paige’s mother only laughed and drove her to school. Paige arrived at the school she had only visited once for registration. The halls were clear, it was a ghost town. There were cars in the parking lot, had she gotten the first of school wrong too? She would have said the day was going downhill fast but it had never really gotten up any hills to begin with. She sighed deeply to herself, and read her schedule. “First Hour Drama, A202,” she said to herself. What did that mean? She was so confused. She wandered the halls for fifteen minutes before finding someone to help her find her class. Mistake one she was in the wrong building, mistake two she was very late, and mistake three she was honest when her Drama teacher introduced her to the class.
“Sorry I’m late, my bus never showed up,” Paige said, and truthfully thought that’s what happened.
A boy from the back of the class said loudly for all to hear, “Maybe you missed it dumbass.”
Paige instantly turned bright shade of red, and held her head down low. The teacher motioned her to an open desk towards the back of the room. She sat down more embarrassed than ever in her entire life. That was it she thought my first impression ruined. My life is ruined.
“He’s a jerk, don’t worry about him,” a girl whispered to her.
Paige turned to look and smiled weakly. Maybe it wasn’t going to be so bad after all. Maybe just maybe she might make a friend. She was so excited she could hardly stay in her own skin.
The teacher had the boy who was jerk pass out worksheets. When he reached Paige he said,”So you missed your bus huh.”
Paige only managed a nod, and was more embarrassed because it turned out that the boy who was a jerk was pretty cute and a football player. The worksheet was supposed to be done with partner, and Paige looked around, but nothing looked promising. However the nice girl who had spoken to her before asked her to partner up.
“Hi, I’m Lucinda, but people call me Lucy,” she said.
“Hi, I’m Paige,” She was so grateful to Lucy for being her first what Paige interpreted as friendship. They worked together and talked quietly the rest of the class. The bell rang and everyone left the class in a hurry.
Paige’s day was not getting much better, and the next class wasn’t any less embarrassing. She went to the wrong class got laughed at, finally figured out that the letters meant what building, a principal thought she was skipping class, and showed her to her second hour class Literature. Paige was excited because she like literature and english. There was another class full of alien faces she had never seen before, and of course no one talked to her. She sat across from a girl, named Shirley. Shirley did not acknowledge her much only with a fake smile, and front of her sat a girl named Michelle who was her partner in the “get to know you exercise” for that class. Paige thought they had hit off, and she was feeling pretty confident.
So the next hour went and she found her class with no problem. No one spoke in this class of history it was mostly lecture. Fourth Hour came around, and Paige recognized Michelle from her second hour class and waved to her. Michelle rolled her eyes and looked disgusted that Paige would dare talk to her. Paige found out quickly that kids were not nice. That just because you were friends in one class did not mean you friends in any other class at all.
Paige found that her first crush was to the boy who was a jerk, and he was in three of her classes, and stuck to making fun of her most of the year. She didn’t have any real friends except for Lucy, but Lucy secretly thought that Paige waved like a fool, and only talked to her in their first hour. She received a note from people that she ate lunch with stating that they did not like her anymore, and Paige was heartbroken. She was an outsider. She had small number of friends that she would speak with during class, but nothing that carried over into the all important lunch time. Paige was alone, but she remained optimistic. She told herself that this year was a learning curve. She told herself it’s not cool to shop at Walmart, and if you do try to hide. Just talk my mother into a few name brand things, and I should be fine, and get not so dorky gym clothes. Next year will be better she told herself.
Eighth grade was not better, it started out better. She had a friend who wanted to be friends with her because she was new, and Paige was so excited. It would be her first real friend or so she thought. Everything was going ideally until one weekend. Her friend named Ruth came back with highlighted hair and new clothes and no longer wanted to be Paige’s friend. It was another blow for Paige, but even after all of the Rumours that Ruth started about her, Ruth finally moved away, and Paige was able to reclaim a little bit of dignity. She occasional saw Lucy in the halls and spoke to her, but Shirley was oblivious to her existence, and Paige told herself High school will be better.
High school was much better for Paige.
Where is Paige now?
Well Paige was the maid of honor at Lucy’s wedding and Shirley’s wedding. Shirley to this day claims she does not remember Paige from 7th or 8th grade, and Lucy thought that Paige waved funny so that’s why she kept her distance. She has a close tight-knit group of friends now, and everyone loves her. They love how funny she is, and so much in fact that Paige has an application to be her friend. That of course is an exaggeration.
Moral of the story: If though you don’t fit in, maybe you were meant to stand out.
Disclaimer: If you find this to be familiar then you are most likely depicted from a certain person point of view. All names have been changed for their protection.
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