"It's like I'm running away from me,
it's like I've taken the puzzle in me
and left it scrambled for all to see."
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When Arden Danvers' parents split when she was eight years old, she moved away with her dad from her...
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"We're the patient performer, the kid in the corner, we were just tuning you out. We are young and unafraid."
Young and Unafraid - The Moth & The Flame
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II. \\ WARM WELCOMING //
As Arden entered the double-doors of Hilland High the next day, she felt weariness wash over her as she walked down the loud and bustling halls. She looked around, watching the waves of people move around her and feeling overwhelmed by the unknown faces. It felt weird, having a vague memory of the faces yet not being able to say for sure if she knew them or not.
And since Arden left way before high school started, she had no idea of where things were. The high school was a completely different building from the elementary school she attended when she was eight.
Taking a deep breath, Arden looked down at the paper in her hand with her printed out schedule as she walked down the hall, looking to see where her first class was.
English 11 Ms. Dawson Rm. 107
Looking up from her schedule, she glanced around the hall for a nearby room to try to figure out where she was. The school was three stories, so Arden knew that her class had to be somewhere on the first floor since the room number started with a one. And when she spotted a nearby classroom, she looked and saw that the classroom number on that read 102.
So, Arden kept walking forward, and the next room was 103, letting her know she was going in the right direction.
Eventually, Arden found room 107 and she hesitantly walked in, seeing that a lot of students were already in seats or hanging around in the classroom waiting for class to start.
Her eyes scanned the classroom and relief washed over her when she saw Rowan sitting in one of the desks. Rowan looked up at her and waved, and Arden smiled, but she noticed that all of the seats around Rowan were taken.
So instead, Arden found an empty desk a few rows over and sat down, setting her backpack on the floor just as the bell rang.
Immediately, the teacher stood up from her desk and started class.
"Alright, settle down. Phones off and in your seats. My name is Ms. Dawson and this is 11th grade English." She began, "Just making sure you are in the right place."
