The Choice of Twilight

Chapter 1: Middle School Blues

Ty hated new. The day wasn't even eight hours old yet and already he was bombarded by unfamiliar things. His clothes, his haircut, a zit on the side of his nose, even his toothbrush-all new. He never quite understood what was so bad about old and familiar.

"TY!" his mother roared from outside the bathroom door. "YOU GET OUT HERE RIGHT NOW!"

Well, the yelling was familiar.

"I know! I'm trying!" Or, that was what he tried to say. He was frantically pulling on clothes while brushing away at his teeth so the words came out a gargled mess.

"You've got five seconds or so help me, I'll-!"

The door flew open, and for a moment Ty was visible in the doorway, fully clothed, teeth sparkling, and hair slightly frazzled but decent enough to be seen outside the house. And then he dashed around his mom and down the hall, the words, "Okay, let's go!" trailing behind him.

Ty beat his mother to the car and snapped his seat belt on right as she slammed the front door.

"About time," his little sister said from the back seat.

Ty turned to face her with some sort of witty retort, but upon seeing her he realized that saying, "You've got a comb stuck in your hair," would more than suffice.

That one simple sentence brought about several minutes of panic as Lily flipped out while their mother tried to dislodge the comb, cursing the entire time.

The morning scramble. It never changed, at least.

#

Somehow, they got out of their driveway and to Lily's school before the bell. They weren't so lucky with Ty. He opened the door to the car and stepped out onto the sidewalk just as the bell rang.

"Bye, Honey!" His mother called from the driver's seat as she threw Ty his backpack and slammed the car door behind him. As she drove off he heard her saying, "Hurry, hurry, hurry." He wasn't sure if she was talking to him or herself.

Ty turned on his heels to face the building. He was entering the seventh grade. His previous years had all taken place in safe and familiar elementary school. It was the only school in their area that ran from kindergarten all the way to the sixth grade, meaning that most the kids in his new grade had a whole year to get to know each other. The other kids from his old school were a small minority, only a speck of familiarity in an otherwise new environment.

He took a deep breath and started forward. His new backpack full of new books was heavy on his back.

#

Not only was he late, he was lost, too. He received a slip of paper in the mail telling him his classes and where they were located. It was nice and helpful so-of course-he lost it. He dug around in his backpack for a while, but it was nowhere to be found. He pressed on without it, going by a vague memory of the room number and the teacher's name.

He passed doors and glanced inside the classrooms as he went. Faces stared back at him. He could tell which of them were old or new students by the looks they gave him-some with an evil glee at his discomfort, others with a knowing "man-am-I-glad-I'm-not-you" sympathy.

It took five classrooms before he found one that had a number and name that seemed familiar. He opened the door and every head in the room turned to look his way. He remained rooted to the spot.

"Um..." He had plenty of things in mind that he could ask, but that was all he could get his mouth to say. He heard giggling from the back row of desks.