"You're going to have a great day, honey, and meet new friends and teachers!" my parents voice. I can't help but bicker with them as I lie behind the car window frowning. As I wander into Carleton Middle School, disoriented by the rowdy crowd of students chattering, I can't catch my own thoughts. Daunted by the ear-splitting commotion of students and the fear of becoming alone, I nervously ramble as I watch students stomp up and down the stairs. Several minutes pass as I rigorously hunt for my locker repeatedly. Soon, I begin to recognize the bodies in the hallway disappear one by one. I roam through one hallway, like a lost puppy, looking for locker #243. I hike up the stairs through another hallway, but I find myself in locker #563.
Defeated, I attempt to hold my tears away as I shuffle into the bathroom sobbing. I overhear a knock on my bathroom door. The girl says, "Hi, my name is Olivia. What's wrong?" Tearfully, I express to her that I'm lost. "Come on out. I'll help you find your locker and classes," Olivia announces. Slowly opening the bathroom door, I say, "Okay." When we leave the bathroom, I encountered a hallway that I had visited before. However, the only difference was that I had never gone down the third hallway. Glaring at the floor as we walk, she pries me into explaining what was wrong. Hesitant to tell her initially, I disclose that middle school is so intimidating that moving is so intimidating and that the big eighth-graders and new teachers are intimidating. I revealed to her that I am scared of losing the few friends I had in elementary school, that no one would be friends with me, and middle school would be too difficult. Olivia assures me that everything would be okay by relating to the same fears she had when she first came to Carleton Middle School.
After our discussion, I sense relief from my heavy shoulders. Olivia presented me with my locker, my classes, and her locker if I needed any more help. Overjoyed with the support that she offered me, I embrace her, and we journey our separate ways waving and smiling back at each other. Marching up the school bus staircase, I smile ecstatically at the new friendship I had just formed. Gazing out the window, I was confident Olivia and I would be best friends forever.
Defeated, I attempt to hold my tears away as I shuffle into the bathroom sobbing. I overhear a knock on my bathroom door. The girl says, "Hi, my name is Olivia. What's wrong?" Tearfully, I express to her that I'm lost. "Come on out. I'll help you find your locker and classes," Olivia announces. Slowly opening the bathroom door, I say, "Okay." When we leave the bathroom, I encountered a hallway that I had visited before. However, the only difference was that I had never gone down the third hallway. Glaring at the floor as we walk, she pries me into explaining what was wrong. Hesitant to tell her initially, I disclose that middle school is so intimidating that moving is so intimidating and that the big eighth-graders and new teachers are intimidating. I revealed to her that I am scared of losing the few friends I had in elementary school, that no one would be friends with me, and middle school would be too difficult. Olivia assures me that everything would be okay by relating to the same fears she had when she first came to Carleton Middle School.
After our discussion, I sense relief from my heavy shoulders. Olivia presented me with my locker, my classes, and her locker if I needed any more help. Overjoyed with the support that she offered me, I embrace her, and we journey our separate ways waving and smiling back at each other. Marching up the school bus staircase, I smile ecstatically at the new friendship I had just formed. Gazing out the window, I was confident Olivia and I would be best friends forever.