Elaine walked through the halls of her new school.
"How unfortunate." She said to herself as she walked to her locker. Even though she knew she was being irrational, she felt like every single pair of eyes was watching her, staring at her, silently judging her.
She looked at the new locker she had, grateful for being on the top. She looked down to realize the locker on the bottom was unoccupied. Breathing a sigh of relief she cautiously opened her locker surprised at how spacious it was. Usually, the lockers Elaine had in the past were small, but she fit her book-bag inside and closed it the door shut.
The bell rang and Elaine headed for her new class. As she entered, she knew she was rational this time. Everyone stared at the new person who was entering their class. She chose her seat at the back of the class and slumped down her chair. Hopefully, the teacher won't introduce me, she thought. When the teacher, Mr. Smith, entered the room, Elaine felt her hope chest burst into a thousand little pieces.
"Class, today we have a new student joining us, so let's all welcome Elaine!" Mr. Smith said to his class. Elaine shuffled out of her seat and dragged her feet to the front of the class.
"Hi, I'm Elaine," She began, "I'm from-" She was interrupted by someone sitting in the front row.
"Nobody cares!" They said loudly. A few people nodded in agreement, some laughed, or murmured. Others just zoned out or didn't pay attention at all. Elaine felt a burst of anxiousness and looked at Mr. Smith.
"Now, class. I'm sure you all remember your first day, so give Elaine a break, and pay attention." He lectured, "Go on, Elaine."
Elaine was about to tell Mr. Smith she was ready to sit down, when, to her greatest relief, the bell rang and everyone rushed out of class.
Elaine rushed to pack up her things and followed the crowd out the door.
Just before Elaine walked into second period, she passed by a window. Looking through it, she saw a small courtyard in the middle of the school buildings.
There was an oak tree that was planted in the center. Around it, lay four stone benches with small inscriptions from all the years. There was a rack of bikes, which belonged to students. Elaine longed to go sit on one of those benches, eat her lunch, finish some homework. It would be perfect. The bell rang again, and Elaine tried to brave her next class.