I looked up at the sky - the clear blue was pretty to look at. The white fluffy clouds rolled by as I tried to pick a shape the cloud resembled. That's how I usually spent my free time. I was in a tree staring at the sky, wondering where all the clouds went. I was a small fifth grader, about to enter sixth grade. I lived in a small town in Nebraska. It was the end of August, soon to be September. My grandma told me I had nothing to worry about, I was just entering middle school and more drama was going to happen. She told me to be myself and I would be fine.
I sat on the tree, wishing life could be as easy as this - enjoying the peaceful quiet, feeling the warm sun beat on my skin, listening to the breeze slightly shake the leaves - but I knew that it would never stay like this. I knew that once school started up I was the mysterious girl whose parents ditched her for romance in Paris or where ever they lie to each other. I was the pretty girl who would stick up for the ones who got picked on. I was the girl who could magically disappear. I was the girl who had nothing. I was the girl who had everything. I was the girl who now one knew. I was the girl who no one understood.
I sighed as I realized my grandpa was probably grooming the horses. The one thing I loved about the farm was the horses. I could ride whenever I wanted and where ever I wanted. It was nice to have privileges as such. I clambered down from the tree and ran to the stables. I raced through the wide open fields. I jumped over the small little crook that ran through the middle. I skipped and laughed as I reached the stables. My grandpa turned around and gave me his signature smile - big and warm. He was an old man; white hair, skin and bones - your typical grandpa. He had a white mustache with a sun hat my grandma and I made him three years ago for 'father's day'. My grandpa had blue eyes with a special gleam in them, as if he was always a step ahead of the world. He wore his olive green and dark red checkered flannel shirt with his blue denim overalls. His boots came up about mid shin.
My grandma looked almost the opposite of him. He was always outside, out and about - but she was inside most of the time either cooking or cleaning. She would come outside often enough, but you knew that she was more of an inside person. She was a small chubby lady. Her round face flushed red and her lips always curved up in a smile. Her white hair was always tied back into a bun on the back and she always wore a dress with an apron. But that didn't matter. They were the closest thing to parents I had, and I loved them both.
"Well Cammie, how are you today?" he asked me formally.
I gave a smile back and replied, "Just great!" He chuckled at me and I saw the familiar gleam in his eyes.
"I think Grandma needs help in the kitchen," he told me with a wink. Before he could say anything else I was out of the stables and in a blur. I heard his laughing trail behind me, but I was high tailing it to the kitchen. I smiled as my hair danced behind me. I reached the kitchen and came to a skidding halt. I saw my grandma turn away from the sink and this time she was the one who gave me a loving smile.
"Cammie! What brings you here in such a hurry, dear?" she asked me teasingly.
"Grandpa said you need help in the kitchen," I replied smoothly. She laughed and pointed toward the table. On the table were about three pies. I raced to the table and sat down. "Can I have some?" I asked, eager to dig into my grandma's apple pie. Just before my grandma could reply the doorbell rang.
"I wonder who that could be," she mumbled, quickly whipping her hands on her apron before bustling out of the kitchen. I sighed. School started soon, and by soon I meant tomorrow. Grandpa then came in moments later.
He stood around for a second, surveying the scene before asking where grandma was. I pointed toward the front door and he swiftly walked toward the door. I was worried for a second, usually they both didn't go to the door, but I brushed it off as soon as it came. After a few more minutes my grandma came in and cut me some pie. I ate my pie and she told me to go read a book in my room before dinner. I sighed and went up stairs. After a while grandpa called me back down and we ate dinner in silence. Something was weird, and it must've been the people who were at the door. I didn't bring anything up though, because I knew if it was something serious they wouldn't let me eat downstairs. After an awkwardly quiet meal I went back up into my room. I heard my grandparents quietly discussing something, so quietly that even I couldn't hear.
I crawled into bed and tried to get to sleep. After an hour of aimless thoughts I was finally able to get some sleep.
I bolted up as a very noisy alarm clock woke me up, one I hadn't heard for the whole summer. I sighed as I realized school was here, and I was about to go start today. I went to my closet and slipped on jeans, a shirt, and a sweatshirt in case it got cold. I went downstairs and I smiled at the breakfast.
"Morning Kiddo," my grandpa said coming from behind me, patting my head. I grinned and sat down. There was everything - from pancakes to bacon to waffles to eggs to muffins to EVERYTHING! I smiled as I started eating anything in my reach.
"Don't eat too much now, Cammie," grandma warned me, but I couldn't help but stuff myself full.
Grandpa chuckled and asked, "Now are you going to be able to walk to school?" I stared at him wide eyed. WALK? After THIS?
Grandma laughed and told me it was my fault for not listening to her warning. While grumbling I grabbed my backpack and headed out the door. It was probably a solid mile or two until I got to the school. No wonder they woke me up thirty minutes more than usual. I sighed as I started my walk towards the city. Oh, did I mention I lived on a farm? I thought it was pretty obvious by my grandpa's occupation… and the horses…. But whatever.
I was walking down the dirty road to the main road when something strange happened. A car went whipping past me towards the road. From my house. I stared at the car and realized that I was memorizing the license plate. '55 25 39'. It kept circling through my head for some unknown reason. I frowned as I kept pondering why the numbers were stuck in my head. Suddenly I got the strangest idea that it meant: 'go, go, chuckle, thank you'. My eyes widened. How did I get THAT? I shook it all off and pretty much shut down my mind (not the greatest thing when you're about to go to school) for the rest of the walk. I let my eyes travel anywhere, while trying to shove the whole license plate thing in the way back of my mind. Before I knew it I was already walking in town. Who knew staring at leaves could do that to you?
I paid more attention here in town. I hardly ever came here so I needed to make sure not to get lost. I walked along the sidewalk that had signs directing to school. I was looking in a window when I saw two girls across the street. I stopped as I watched the girls through the glass. They were staring back, but it wasn't as obvious. They looked around my age - one of them had dark hair and tan skin. Well tanner than tan I guess. She had dark hair and dark eyes. She was really pretty, the way her hair fell down her back, the way she strode so confidently. She wasn't skinny though. She was muscular and I wouldn't want to be on her bad side I suppose.
The other girl was much prettier than the other girl once I saw her. She stood straight with confidence, as if nothing to tear her down. Her black hair shimmered straight down her back and her blue eyes stared straight, although flickering glances at me. I watched them pass on the other side and quickly walked again. I had never seen either of those two, but I didn't want to stick around and find out. I decided that I wanted to disappear and I quickly found a crowd to merge with. I walked in between people and even beside people. I made it to the school and I had at least 5 minutes before classes started. I decided to go straight to homeroom and learn everything I could. I didn't want to look like an idiot, even though I already knew that I was going to get picked on. I sighed as I walked normally to class.
Not one person said 'Hi' or "Good morning' or even 'Cammie'.
I walked into the classroom and the teacher didn't look up. I looked into the row of desks and found 'Cameron' on one of the desks. That would be me. I walked over and put my stuff near my desk.
"CAMMIE THERE YOU ARE!" startled I looked up to see Sam and Francie run through the door. Sam was an athletic girl who was a little short. She had cute, a little past shoulder length light brown hair that was straight then at the tips curled slightly in towards her face. Her bangs fell loosely to the side and she had a very light scatter of freckles. She was wearing the uniform pants with a sweatshirt that was about a size or two too big. She was skinny but well built. Her arms we skinny and her stomach flat, but once you got to her thighs they were larger than most. But it was all muscle, and everyone still thought she was beautiful. She was strong and she stuck up for me. She was one of my best friends.
Francie was probably the prettiest girl in the school. Her blond hair was unpredictable, but it always looked cute no matter what. Her light blue eyes always had a gleam and her smile could brighten anyone's day. She was petite, and even smaller than Sam. She wore her plaid skirt with Sam's sweatshirt. Francie always wore Sam's sweatshirts, they were pretty much sisters. Francie was skinny but not a toothpick. Most girls envied them, and hated how they were always talking to me.
I was probably the nobody of the school. The girl who no one would see unless someone called my name or was hip and hip with me. I didn't care though. I loved not being seen and brought into the drama of 'the middle school'. Francie always told me people hated me because I stuck up for the kids who got picked on. Sam told me I ruined other people's fun that way, but it was the right thing to do and that someone needed to stick up for them. I sighed. If Sam and Francie didn't talk to me, or treat me as nicely as they did, I would either a: be dead, because everyone would pick on me; b: be unseen; or c: be miserable as can be with no friends. I smiled as they attacked me with hugs, asking me about my summer. I just told them it was the same old thing, but they just laughed. It was as if they knew something was happening that I didn't. They were always one step ahead.
I sat down and they crowded my desk. They kept going on about a resort they went to and how they went to the coolest restaurant in America. They dubbed it the 'number one most fun restaurant' and it was some sort of spy restaurant. I half-heartedly listened to them go on about their awesome summer. Those two were always together, almost inseparable. They kept trying to add me in on the fun, but I always declined. I had fun staring at the sky. But part of me was pleased they always tried to include me. The other part always thought it was strange and they probably just pitied me. So I just went along with them and their words. Before I knew it there was a crowd around my desk, listening in on Francie and Sam speak about their summer. I glanced around and saw a full circle around my desk, people even behind me. I sighed. I wished I could just disappear in these situations. After Sam finished talking, she realized how much people were crowded around her and freaked out. See, Sam has this thing about small closed in spaces. She was claustrophobic, but she never told us why. Everyone backed up and gave her space as she collected herself. Francie just laughed at Sam's outburst. Sam stared at me and I had to crack a smile. She just looked so freaked it was silly. After she saw me smile, she cracked a grin and chuckled a little bit - obviously breathless.
The bell then rang and everyone scrambled to their seats.
First day of sixth grade, here we come.
"Hello class, my name is Mr. Nathan," the teacher announced. He was a tall man who was fairly young. He had a smile on with blue eyes. He glanced around the classroom before he continued. "As you are probably aware, this is your first day of middle school." I stared at him. No duh. "You will remain in this classroom until the bell rings. Then you can go where ever, bathroom, talk with friends in other classrooms, whatever. There will be a five minute warning bell halfway through the ten minute pass time. There are five periods, not including lunch or homeroom. During lunch you can go to the cafeteria to get your food, then you will return to your classroom to eat. Or you may wander the halls or eat in other classrooms. Lunch generally lasts thirty minutes, but you have to be in your classroom in that thirty minutes. A five minute warning bell will go off again to tell you that you have five minutes left. It is up to the teacher whether to let you in or not if you are tardy," he concluded. He smiled and then started handing out the books we would need for the day. They were all thin, paper back books, but they were brand new. We put our names in them so we wouldn't mix up whose was whose. We were allowed to take notes in the books and do whatever we wanted with them. The desks were ours and we could put whatever we needed in them. There was a hook on the side of the desk so we could put or bag on the hook and keep it near us. During the winter if we needed other coats we had hooks and hangers in the back. We each had our own little 'cubby hook' thingy. Our names were labeled on them so that no one would get mixed up.
"Your subject order is on the board," Mr. Nathan kept instructing us. "Hope you have a great day!" With that the bell rang and he disappeared. I realized that we had be looking around and learning for about twenty-five minutes. I looked up at the board to see the schedule: homeroom, English, Math, Spanish, World History, and lastly Science.
Suddenly the door burst open and another young looking man came in. "I'm Mr. Perkins," he announced cheerily as he made his way to the desk. "I'm your english teacher!" I rolled my eyes. Well I better get used to every teacher announcing their subject field. He droned on about his policies and then remembered to hand out syllabus. The first day was basically learning our classmates names. Ah, the easy sixth grade so far. It may have taken the whole forty-five minutes, but by the end I was pretty sure I knew everyone in my class. The ten minute bell rang and Mr. Perkins was out the door. I wasn't sure if it was because we were a 'bad class' or if he needed to get to the other side of the school.
Everyone crowded around Sam's desk, since Francie went to her desk this time. Everyone remembered to give her space. I was one of the ones who didn't go over to her desk. There were a couple other people who didn't go, but they were considered 'rejects' and 'nerds' and such. Before I knew it the ten minutes were up and everyone was back in their desks.
Another man came in. He had blond hair and some hair at the bottom of his chin. His blue eyes were so clear that it was mesmerizing a little bit. "Hello, Mr. Crede," he said from the desk up front. "Math teacher, obviously," he spoke as he noticed the subject order was up on the board. He handed out the syllabus and went straight to teaching math. He was nice and helpful, and we reviewed what we learned last year. Once he saw he had a good grasp on the material he started to teach from our new book. It was fun writing what I wanted in the book. Obviously I took notes, but it was still cool. We spent time going over the lesson, then he let us begin our homework. Yep, homework on the first day of school. Awesome. It was fairly easy though and I finished in class. I spent the rest of the time doodling and looking through my new book. The bell rang again and generally everyone flocked Sam's desk. Again. I stayed in my seat and noticed that other people came into our classroom, some of my previous classmates even. Most of them went over by Sam's desk, but some of them were the "outcast's" friends. I hated using that term. It was almost degrading. No, it was. I called them others, usually. I just needed a better word for them. It would com sooner or later. After the warning bell the other kids who came in left, so that it was just our class. Then our teacher came in and everyone went back to their seats. She shut the door and I knew that she was serious about her teaching. She was an old lady, skinny and fragile, but she still had a certain sharpness about her.
"My name is Mrs. Culnane," she said. She told us her expectations and went on to teaching us Latin. It was sort of weird at first, because on our schedule it says that we were supposed to learn Spanish, but I pushed it aside. Latin wasn't that boring. She made us learn the conjugation for 'is' and the 'first declension'. It was really confusing at first but we just wrote it down and memorized it. She went around pointing at various people as they were supposed to say the next conjugation. But that didn't work very well. She sighed and made us recite the two conjugations over and over. It was annoying how some kids just couldn't understand it. But she kept pressing on them instead of those who knew it already after the first eleven times we recited it. I suppose she just wanted everyone to understand it, but whatever. Who knew if that was going to work. After a while she sighed and told us our homework was to memorize those declensions, otherwise there were going to be consequences tomorrow. Trust me, I wouldn't want to get a consequence from her. The bell rung just as she left the room. Start early leave early maybe? It didn't matter though.
Soon enough Mr. Nathan came in and he asked us how the day was so far. We told him it was good *cough cough LIE for some of us cough cough* and then he dismissed us for lunch. I always brought my lunch and I pulled it out of my bag, just as Sam and Francie pulled up some chairs next to me. They went on about school and everything, I just listened. Every once and a while they would ask for my input and I would answer them honestly. They smiled and went on about me then, how I was so honest and kind. But then they changed subjects again and I just couldn't keep up with them. Lunch was over soon enough and we had world history next.
"Mr. Bonser," a man told walking through the door. He quickly got settled and then started a memorization game. The same one Mr. Perkins did. We easily rattled off each other's names to a surprised Mr. Bonser. He sighed and left us talk for the rest of class, not planning anything else. So that class whipped by and then we were at the last subject of the day. Science. Mr. Gurrier walked in just as Mr. Bonser was leaving. He took the extra ten minutes to learn our names before setting stuff up. As soon as the ten minute bell went off he started class. We were learning about physical science this year and he showed us how the science book was set up. We read the first section out loud. After we were done reading we did the section review and he gave us a mini-quiz on our firstday. I got one hundred percent, because I pay attention. But I'm pretty sure that some people in the class failed the quiz. It wasn't particularly hard, if you listened and read along you would be fine but some people weren't. after the quiz we were free to do whatever until the end of the day.
That's how my first school day of sixth grade went.
If you're confused leave a review (not anonymous obviously) or PM me. I know it's going to be a little confusing, since I'm basing the school off of Japanese school systems. Wanted to try something new I suppose. I'll get back to you and hopefully you'll be… LESS confused.
So, hate me for not updating my other stories? Well review the one you want updated most after this one. I'm sort of updating which ever one comes to me right now.
MY LAPTOP WAS TAKEN AWAY FROM ME! :'( so that's why I haven't been updating as frequently. My home computer's mouse is broken so that's useless. Right now I'm typing away on my madre's comp as she is away at work. :) so REVIEW QUICKLY and let me know which story you want updated so I can write on that one.
Okay, I do realize that my writing is pretty bad, and this may just end up being a dud. It's a pretty boring chapter, but review?