ADRIENNE PARKER

FIRST DAY

" Well this should be fun." I said sarcastically, as I stood outside the high school as my older brother, Tyler, chuckled. " You'll be fine, Dre. Isn't this your fourth new school in five years?" He asked me. I sighed. " Yes, but... those families didn't plan on keeping me. You guys are working on adopting me and that means this place is my forever home. I never tried to make friends, after... something that happened a few years back." I sighed. " What if everyone hates me?" I asked him. I have lived with this family for almost three months and I haven't ever felt more like part of the family than right now.

" Don't worry about it, Dre. They will love you, I promise. Now, I'm going to be late for work if I don't get going." He gave me a side hug and kissed my forehead. He's one of those people who treats everyone like family, so he became the one I got the closest to, pretty quickly. " Have fun, kiddo." He said before getting in his truck, and leaving. I sighed. Alright. . . I got this. I walked inside, and to the front desk. The woman behind the desk looked up at me and smiled. "Hi sweetheart. How can I help you?" She asked. " Yeah. I'm new here." I told her. She nodded. " Ah, yes. Um, Adrienne Parker, correct?" She asked.

I nodded. She typed a few things on her computer before the printer started making noises. She grabbed some freshly printed paper from it and stapled them together before giving them to me. " Alright dear, that is your schedule, a map of the school and your locker number and code. Now, your first class is English, so let me give you a little word of advice. Mr. Hynes. Youngish. He's twenty-five. But, he is going through a rough time right now, so he's bit snippy. Just... Don't upset him, okay?" She asked. I nodded.

She smiled. " Alright. Have an great first day, hun." She said. Nodding, I left. Finding my locker, I unloaded my backpack into it. I then grabbed what I'd need for class, and closed my locker as the bell rang. Sighing, I walked around until I found my class. Taking in a deep breath, I opened the door and everyone looked at me. Teacher wasn't in yet, so I took this as a chance to sit before he asked me to introduce myself. As I sat down in my seat, in the back, a few people looked at me. " And who are you?" One of the guys asked.

" An alien." I said, sarcastically. He chuckled. " Oh... You're a joker." He said. " Listen dude, I really have no patience for guys like you, so if you'd never talk to me again, that'd be great." I said. He was going to say something else when the teacher walked in. " Brent, leave that girl alone." He said, without even looking at me. Everyone else returned to their seats and then, the teacher looked at me. He looked... Tired. Stressed. Exhausted. " Okay... Before we get started, I'd like our new student to come up here, and introduce herself and tell us a little bit about herself." He said. I internally groaned. Getting up, I walked up to the front of the room.

" Okay. My name is Adrienne Parker. I'm from... well, I know. I'll just say everywhere. I'm seventeen, almost eighteen. And... I play volleyball." I said. The teacher gave me a nod of approval before allowing me to go back to my seat. " Well, welcome Adrienne. I'm Mr. Hynes. Okay, class, please pull out you homework and pass it up and then I will explain what we are doing today." He said. Everyone but me, handed in their homework. " Alright, today, i am going to assign each of you a partn- where's Holt?" He asked, looking at the player that was hitting on me earlier. " Don't know, teach. Wasn't in the parking lot this morning." He said.

He sighed. " Alright, so, you'll be split into partners, of my choosing. The project will be about getting to know your partner." He started. Everyone started asking questions all at once. " Calm down. The reason for this project is so you know those around you. Everyone leads a different life and there are some people in this room, especially, don't quite understand that it's harder for some than others. So, the person i put you with, is gonna be your new best friend for the next month. You'll learn the simple things about each other, and you'll hang out like you've known each other your whole lives and by at the end of this project, you'll turn in a two page paper on how this person has affected your life and why." He finished.