The New Girl

Day one again.  New school, new rules, new teachers, new kids.  As I shuffled into yet another classroom that smelled of construction paper and rubber cement, I couldn't help but wonder what this time was going to be like.  My last school already seemed like a distant memory, but considering that I was only there a few short months, it's surprising that I remembered anything about it at all.  I looked around to find someone who could tell me where to sit and put my things.  I quickly spotted who I assumed was the teacher, Mrs. Denny, sitting at her desk looking over some papers.  I approached the desk and began to ask her where I should go when she abruptly darted her eyes in my direction and sneered "Excuse me, were you asked to come to my desk?"

I stuttered through my response of "No ma'am...it's my first day here and I wasn't sure where to go."

Mrs. Denny rolled her eyes as she replied "Honey, it's the first day for everyone and all of your classmates seem to know where to go."

I quickly scanned the room to see if names were written on the desks, which they weren't.  It was quite obvious that the children in the class had sat in friend groups.

"No ma'am, I mean that I didn't go here last year.  I don't know anyone here." I stammered.  I could feel the lump already beginning to grow in my throat as she glared at me from what seemed to be a million miles up.

"Well then you'll just have to get to know someone.  Go sit down." She dismissed me with a wave of her hand and returned to perusing her document.

I slowly turned around and faced the piercing eyes of what seemed to be thousands of children, all fixated on the new girl.  I scanned the room for an empty seat and spotted one at the back of the class.  Good, I thought, at least I won't have to be the center of attention.  I quickly walked over to the empty seat and put my things down.  As I looked up several of the children who had been watching me quickly turned their heads, in what I guess was an effort not to be seen gawking, and the whispers began.  In true second grade fashion, the girls began shooting me quick glances while giggling at their assessments of my nature, while the boys had already moved on to new and more manly subjects.  I turned to the girl in the desk next to mine.  She was a pudgy girl just like me, wearing a tattered t-shirt and overalls at least two sizes too big for her.  Her hair was braided in a million microbraids that were all coming undone, with little sprigs of curly hair shooting out from everywhere.  I wondered for a moment if her mother was Medusa but my thoughts were interrupted by her greeting.  She had apparently noticed me staring while I was lost in thought.

"Hi!  What's your name?" she beamed.

"Lisa...what's yours?"  I replied.

"Shanaya, but everyone calls me Nay-nay.  Where are you from?" she asked.

"From Burlington," I replied.  "We just moved here last week."

She seemed to take great interest in my foreignness.  "Where's Burlington?" she inquired.

"It's in North Carolina too...but it's like 10 hours from here."  My sense of time while travelling was obviously impaired, since driving 10 hours from anywhere in North Carolina would undoubtedly leave you in a different state, but to my 7 year old mind it felt as if we had driven weeks to get here, so I thought 10 hours was a reasonable estimate.

"Oh, okay." Nay-nay replied, not really noticing my calculation error.  Our conversation was interrupted by Mrs. Denny starting class.

"Welcome students to a new year here at Rand Road Elementary.  I'm Mrs. Denny and I'll be your teacher this year.  Get ready to work hard because we have a lot of material to cover before the end of the year.  Let's start with some introductions.  I would like everyone to stand up, tell us your name, and what you did this summer.  We'll start with..." she trailed off as she scanned the room for the poor soul who had to begin this series of intros.  As her eyes neared my direction I could feel the panic starting to come...no, please don't pick me.  The truth was the only thing I had done the entire summer was hide in my room from my mom's boyfriend, usually while he beat her up for not having his dinner ready on time.  The only non-terrifying thing we did all summer was move here, and that was just last week.  So other than hiding from him in a new bedroom, my summer was quite uneventful.

Mrs. Denny's eyes settled on me with an unmistakable air of condescension.  "Why don't we start with a brand new student this year, Ms. Lisa Mitchell" she said as she waved her hand in an upward motion to indicate that I was to rise.  As I stood up my mind raced...what am I supposed to say?  I was desperate for the kids here to like me more than the ones from my last school.  I just cringed at the thought of being bullied here like I was there.  I had to think of something cool...and quick. But what?  We were so poor that we never did anything...so what could I come up with?  Before I knew what was happening I blurted out...

"My name is Lisa Mitchell and this summer my family went to Alaska and Hawaii."

Oh no, I thought.  That was too much.  Twenty-five pairs of eyes looked to me with awe, begging for more details that I couldn't provide.  I could feel the room shrinking in around me.  I started to fidget my hands behind my back, a sure sign that I was lying, but luckily no one here knew me well enough to recognize my giveaway.

Mrs. Denny smiled and said "That sounds very interesting.  Tell us more about that."

I stared at her in desperation, hopeful that she would recognize my plight and move on to the next student, but no luck.  She just stared back at me with expectation in her narrow eyes.

"Well, we flew there on a plane." I mumbled, searching for my next deceitful detail.  "I went with my mom and little brother.  It was lots of fun and we took lots of pictures."  Whew, I thought, that was totally believable.  I gave myself a little pat on the back in my mind for being such a clever storyteller, and satisfied with my explanation, sat back down in my seat, hoping that this move would indicate it was time to move on.

"That sounds really great Lisa.  Please tell your mom that the class would like to see the photos from your vacation.  Do you think you could bring them in tomorrow to show everyone?"  Mrs. Denny inquired.

"Yes ma'am, I'll ask her." I replied.  Well, the jig is up, I thought.  How in the world would I get not just pictures from Alaska and Hawaii, but ones with me and my family in them?  I felt absolutely sick to my stomach as Mrs. Denny moved on to Nay-Nay, who rattled on about a trip her family tooks to Carowinds that summer.  For the rest of the day my mind was filled with nothing but hopelessness as I went over every possible scenario in my head of how I could secure these vacation photos.  By the end of the day I was exhausted and had decided that I would just not talk about the vacation again and hope that everyone would forget.  That was my only hope.

The next day I entered the classroom and took my same seat.  As I pulled out my notebook and pencil Mrs. Denny approached my desk.  I couldn't help but notice a hint of sarcasm in her voice as she asked me for the pictures.  I mumbled an excuse about how I had forgot and would ask my mom tonight.  With a self-righteous smirk on her face, Mrs. Denny went to the front of the room and began class.  So much for her forgetting.

I hate being the new girl.

(Image credit: https://prime.500px.com/photos/90754967/homework-by-jarom%25C3%25ADr-cha...)