The Little Things

Chapter 1: The First Day is Always the Worst I Think

I can't believe I'm going to be a middle schooler in exactly forty-five minutes. It's currently 6:44 am, and the bus will be here in eleven minutes. I take one last look in the mirror before leaving to walk to my bus stop. Combing my sleek black hair with my fingers, I carefully place some strands before my shoulders. I quickly adjust my new teal blouse from Kohl's and fix my glasses.

Gah! I'm so excited to get back to school. I know, you're all probably thinking; why the heck is she so pumped for school? A: I haven't seen my friends this whole summer, B: I've been forever alone this whole summer except for seeing my family, and C: I don't have anything else to be excited for today.

The clock turns 6:49 am and I dash out my door. A sudden gush of warm wind hits my face as I exit my house. The walk to my stop takes forever since the school board decided to locate my bus stop a block away from my house. There's a little chill in the air on the way to the bus stop. Hugging my chest, I finally reach my destination. No one else is at my stop besides my neighbor, Lea. She is going to a seventh grader, too. We never talked much to each other in elementary school, so there's an awkward silence between us now. Looking at Lea's attire, I see she's wearing pink jean shorts that are a little too short for my taste and a low-cut, white t-shirt. Her hair color has changed from a dark auburn brown to a light red orange. Wow, middle school changes a person.

Once the bus comes, I don't recognize anyone, except for Aiden. He's sitting at the back of the bus, with Lily right beside him. Aiden and Lily haven't changed that much. The only difference is that Aiden's dirty blonde hair is shorter. Lily's golden locks are tied up into ponytail, as usual. I sit in the seat across from them, while Lea takes the seat behind mine. The bus driver starts and we pass by my house. Not many people are on the bus, since it's orientation day for us seventh graders.

As we near a familiar neighborhood, I see my dear bestie, Marie, sitting on large rock besides a small pear tree. Her parents stand next to her, with a Canon camera in hand. I can't see Marie's facial expression because of her hair. Her long, black hair hangs in front of her face as she slouches. She's holding a water bottle in her hand. Once the bus doors open for her, several flashes appear, blinding the bus driver. Giddy as usual, Sweetie runs down the bus aisle, tackling me in my seat.

"Grace! I haven't seen you in forever!" She squeezes me purple. We squeeze each other so tight that I can smell the Chanel No.5 perfume lingering on her.

"Jeanne Marie!" I squeal.

She plops down in her seat. "Ugh, you know I hate it when people call me by my full first name. It's too long. Marie is better and easier to pronounce."

I hold back a giggle and put my earbuds on. Marie continues to blabber and I can't tell what she's saying. Somewhere along the lines, I hear her talking about her summer in Disney. Being the amazing friend I am, I just smile and say 'yup, I agree' when it feels right. My music is all I can hear. It fills the silence, besides Marie's voice, on the quiet school bus.

Thinking about school now, I can't tell if I'm even ready to be in middle school. There are more classes and more kids in the middle school. It's not just the same kids from our little elementary school, but kids from all over our huge town are coming to the middle school. That triples the amount of students we had in our elementary school, which was less than seventy kids. I don't know if I can handle that many kids. More people means more classes, which means more separated kids. Separation means I won't be able to see all my friends every day like we used to. This is terrible! I'm not the best at making friends because I don't like to talk much. Not because I hate talking, but because I like being alone sometimes. The silence is soothing compared to the noisiness of people, with Marie as an exception. Nevertheless, what if I don't have anyone I know in my classes? What if I can't make any friends? I'm practically hyperventilating right now with all the anxiety I'm feeling.