Today is my first day at Kadic College in France. I'm an exchange student from the United States and my French isn't that great but I will manage. As the bus rolls down the road, creeping closer to the boarding school, I sigh and turn off my Walkman. Two hours on a non-air conditioned bus with nothing to do? You'd sigh too.
I forgot to mention, my name is Jamila Saleh Lucas, or just Jamie. Yes, my heritage is French, one of the reasons I have come to France to study. I am 15 years of age and in the 10th grade (AN: I don't know if the grades/years are different in Europe so just bear with me here!). With soft red hair that comes past my shoulders and dark blue eyes, some people call my pretty. But I don't see it. With my pale complexion, short height (only five feet thank you very much) and freckles dotting my cheeks and nose, I think those people are crazy.
People at my school back in Virginia thought I was a loner. That wasn't necessarily true. I had friend, though I didn't talk much, But they had their own cliques to worry about. I never really fit into a category. I love music and guitar (though I don't play) but I didn't hang out with the stoners and emos. I love to draw, one of my favorite things to do, but I wasn't an art freak. I like to play sports, but I wasn't a jock. Reading and school were things I enjoyed but I wasn't a nerd. As you can see you know what I mean that I didn't fit anywhere. So people took that as being weird. I took it as being unique.
The bus stopped suddenly and opened its doors. I grabbed my luggage and stepped off. Wow, this school was huge! It was definitely not how I pictured it. It was better. The school had a forest on one side and a running track and sports field on the other. A few trees and benches lined the pathway to the main building. A couple kids were there but one group suddenly caught my attention.
There were three kids. A Japanese girl dressed in all black with her hair cut just passed her chin, a short boy with blonde hair, high-water pants, glasses, and his face glued to a laptop screen, and a boy with brown hair and clothes in different shades of green and khaki. Then there was another boy. He had anti-gravity blonde hair with a purple splotch in the middle, a short purple shirt with another pink one underneath, and purple pants on. He looked over at me. I averted my eyes and looked straight ahead of me. Turning back to see the boy, the rest of his friends were talking to one another. Oh great, I bet they are talking about me, the 'new girl'.
Walking through the main building, I found the principal's office pretty quickly. His name was Mr. Delas and he has a daughter named Sissi that was in my class. Great. He told me that all the dorm rooms that had two beds for roommates were all taken, so he said that I would have to have a single room all by myself. And that was just fine with me.
Ager the principal showed me to my room, he told me I could have the rest of the day to unpack (which I was thankful for considering I had three other suitcases to unload). The dorm was decent size, just big enough for me. I unzipped a suitcase and started to empty out the contents on my bed. Taking out the posters to decorate my walls, I saw I had brought my Moulin Rouge movie poster, Pirates of the Caribbean (Johnny Depp!), and a Goo Goo Dolls music poster. I then hung up my calendar and took out my sketchbook, pencils, and crayons and stuck them neatly in a pile under my bed. After unpacking all my other luggage, it was time for dinner. The only problem: I had no idea where the cafeteria was!
So I walked out of my room and outside (wow that fresh air feels nice) to look for someone to point me in the right direction. Finally, I spotted a guy running towards me. It was the boy I saw earlier on my way in school, the one in purple! I walked up to him and pointed to my map. He stopped and looked at me.
"Excuse me, I'm new here and I cant seem to find my way to the cafeteria. Could you help me?" I asked. Purple Boy smiled.
"Sure! You take a left then a right then another left. The door is on your right and you can't miss it. I would take you there but I gotta bounce. See you around, Red!" And with a wink, Purple Boy patted me on the shoulder and took off running again. Red?
I found the cafeteria alright and dinner was okay. I headed back to my room after eating and called my parents from my cell phone to tell them how my first day had gone. I then changed into my pajamas and climbed into my bed to read a book. After a while I decided to call it a day and turn in for the night. Tomorrow was my first day of class! And I couldn't wait.