Author's note: This is my first story.
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It was a new school year in Elwood City. The sun was shining, the birds singing, parents getting their children ready for school. It would be a new year for Arthur and his friends; they were entering the 4th grade.

Over at the Read's house, Arthur was gathering his new school supplies and placing them in his bag. "I wish summer wasn't over," groaned Arthur. Arthur was getting ready to leave the house early since he made plans with Buster and the Brain to meet before going to school.

Arthur made his way to the Sugar Bowl and waited. He waited a few minutes til he noticed Buster's ears. "Hey guys!" Shouted Arthur. "Hey Arthur," replied Buster and the Brain. As they were walking, they were talking about their summer.

"I went to Japan this summer," said Buster "it was pretty sweet. I tried eating with those wooden sticks.."

"Chopsticks," chimed in the Brain.

"Chopsticks, but it was hard. Also, they had cool technology. There was this vemding machine that served French fries! French fries!!!!"

"Cool! That seems sweet." said Arthur.

"I went to space camp," said the Brain. "It was great, but it would have been better if we could actually go to space."

"All I did was stay home and watched re-runs of Bionic Bunny. And played outside." said Arthur.

They finally reached their destination, Lakewood Elementary School. They already knew what class they were going to be in. They would be with Mrs. Thomsin, a new teacher. All of Arthur's friends were going to be in that class; Francine, Muffy, Fern, Buster, Alan (the Brain), Binky, Sue-Ellen and George.

The bell rang and they all piled into the classroom.

Arthur sat with Francine, Buster and Muffy. Behind Arthur's table say Sue-Ellen, George and the Brain. Across Arthur's table sat Fern, Binky, Jenna and some other girl. Other kids piled into the room and sat at the different tables, but no one sat beside the Brain.

Mrs. Thomsin came into the room.

"Hello everyone, my name is Mrs. Thomsin."

"Hello Mrs. Thomsin."

"Since I am new here, it will take me awhile to get used to things around here, such as your names."

Mrs. Thomsin introduced herself and where she came from. "I come from South Africa, where I taught English as a second language. It was hard for me to leave but its nice to be back home."

As Mrs. Thomsin kept talking, Arthur whispered to his table "its such a relieve that we don't have Ratburn." Everyone else nodded.

The day went on and it was a very slow day. Mrs. Thomsin didn't teach them anything since it was just the first day. She wanted to get to know each student by playing multitudes of games.

"This is so much funner than Ratburn's class!" Buster whispered excitedly. Just as they were about to play another new game, there was a knock on the door. Mrs. Thomsin went over and opened the door. It was Principle Haney with a student. A little cat-girl with pigtails. She looked into the classroom and her eyes shone with excitement. However, no one ever noticed her before in the city of Elwood.

Mrs. Thomsin closed the door and put her hand on the new girl's shoulders. The new girl was tiny, had brown hair and big brown eyes. You could tell that she was of asian decent. Her nose was a cute pink button.

"Okay class, I guess I'm not the newest person here," smiled Mrs. Thomsin. "This is

Jacky Lennox, and she is a new student here."

Everyone looked at the new girl and she smiled back to the class.

"Why don't you tell a little about yourself," said Mrs. Thomsin.

"Hello, my name is Jacky Lennox. I was born and raised in South Korea. I am half Korean and half American. My dad is a Navy Officer, who was stationed in Korea where he met my mother. I've travelled the world with my mom since she was a travel writer for a well-known magazine in Korea. My dad finally got stationed here in Elwood City and now I am currently here." She said it in a formal way.

The class replied back by saying hello.

"There is an empty desk beside Alan, why don't you go sit beside him."

Jacky looked around the classroom, and noticed the empty desk beside the boy who was staring outside. She walked over and took her seat. She sat down and looked at the people at her table – there was a cat girl with pom-pom hair, a moose with large antlers, and beside her, well she didn't take a good look at him. She flashed a smile at her new acquaintances.

The rest of the day finished, and soon after, the school year was finished.