"Marissa, wake up. It's time for your first day of high school." my mom called. I pulled the covers over my head, pleading for at least five more minutes of sleep.
"Mom…five more minutes." I whined.
"No Rissa, now! Get up now and I'll make pancakes." I sat up in bed and sighed. No one could resist my mom's pancakes.
I hated the fact that we moved just as I was going to high school. I hated the fact that I had to leave my friends behind. I hated that my dad was in the Army and we always had to move. But, I didn't hate life in general. I only hated the fact that I could never settle down in one place.
I looked at the outfit laid out on my dresser. It was a white tank top with a black skirt. Yeah, I know, kinda boring. To dress it up, I added my favorite banana earrings, my owl necklace, and my black knee high converse.
I smelled the pancakes from my room so I knew they were ready. My mom handed me a plate and I grabbed two. At least one thing didn't change; my mom's amazing cooking skills.
"Rissa, hurry up. You're going to miss the bus." my mom said as I ate. I was known to be a slow eater. I looked at the clock; I still had half an hour before I had to leave. Rolling my eyes, I shoved the rest of the pancake in my mouth and ran to get the rest of my stuff together.
Today wasn't just the first day for me, but for everyone else too. Unfortunately, most of the incoming freshman had gone to middle school together. I shoved my binder, notebook, lunch, and my copy of The Hunger Games into my bag.
My cat, Shakira, waltzed into the room. I reached down and picked her up, cuddling her and falling backwards onto my bed. "Kira, I really don't want to go to school. I want to go back to my old life." I said. Shakira meowed in response. I kissed her furry head and sat up.
"Gotta go Shakira. See you after school girly." I walked out of my room, leaving Shakira on my bed.
"Mari-oh, you're ready. Leaving for school?" asked my mom as I ran into her in the hallway.
"Yeah, see you later." I pushed past her and tried to leave the house.
"You know where all your classes are? And your bus number! It's twenty four! Are you sure you're okay? I can drive you!"
"Mom, I'm fine, really. I'm going to be late. Bye." Typical mom, always trying to be sure I was going to be okay. You would think after living in places like New York City and Chicago she'd be a little less worried.
I arrived at my bus stop quickly since it was only around the corner. I saw a small group of people, so I assumed I was at the correct location. Since I still had a good wait before the bus came, I pulled out my notebook and started doodling. Out of nowhere, I felt a tap on my shoulder.
"Hi, you looked lonely so I thought I'd introduce myself. I'm Lindsay, Lindsay Pearce." said a girl with hair so dark it looked black.
"Hi, I'm Marissa von Bleicken." I said quietly, not exactly sure what to make of her. Lindsay was pretty, with her dark brown hair and ice blue eyes. She was petite and her hair was curled, and like me, she wore a tank top and skirt. Her tank top was baby pink and her skirt was white.
"You don't look familiar. Did you go to Newhalen Middle? Because I went there and I memorized the yearbook and I don't believe you were in it. Oh, where are my manners. This is Ellis Wylie and Bryce Ross-Johnson." Lindsay pointed to the girl and boy behind her.
Ellis was shorter than Lindsay with light brown hair in a pixie cut and brown eyes. Bryce was African-American with dark curly brown hair and brown eyes. Both of them said hi quietly and turned to the other.
"Hi, guys. Actually, I just moved here from New York City."
"Oh! New York is amazing, I went there once. Did you ever go see a Broadway musical? I'd love to perform on Broadway someday." I could tell Lindsay was definitely a diva right away, and she loved to talk. If only there was a nice way to tell her to shut up.
"Yeah, I went to go see The Lion King a couple months ago. A few years ago I saw Wicked."
Lindsay gasped. "Wicked! You saw Wicked! Oh my gosh! That's my favorite musical of all time! Is Idina Menzel just as amazing live as she is in movies and on television?"
"Yeah, she was great. It really is an amazing musical. I'd love to be in it, but I was too young to audition at the time when they were casting."
Lindsay started talking again, but I blocked her out. I saw Ellis staring at me. She mouthed sorry and turned back to Bryce. Luckily the bus came and Lindsay finally was quiet.
"Linds, I wanna sit with Marissa on the bus. You sit with Bryce." said Ellis as she walked in front of us to get to the bus.
"Well, alright. See you around Marissa." said Lindsay as she searched for Bryce.
"Thanks Ellis. Is she always that talkative?" I asked as we slid into our seats.
"Not always, but she could've been worse. Sometimes she doesn't even let other people talk. One time, she went for a good hour just talking about apples! Who talks for an hour about apples?" cried Ellis.
"Apples? Really? What person would talk ab-never mind."
"Yeah, that's Lindsay for ya. What's your schedule?"
I pulled my schedule out of my bag, and handed it to Ellis. I heard her cheer and turned to face her. "What do we have together?"
"We've got World History together, and Choir, oh, and Geometry. Mr. Doyle is supposed to be really cool, so maybe we can sit together?"
"That'd be great! Hopefully we have lunch together too!" I found it really easy to talk to Ellis since she was so likable. I didn't have to pretend to like her and I knew we'd become friends quickly.
The bus pulled up to the school and everyone was in a rush to get out. Ellis grabbed my arm and pulled me into the huge line of traffic trying to get off the bus.
"Move it people! God, you're so slow!" Ellis yelled as she pushed people out of the way. I was shocked that a girl so small could have such a huge voice. Eventually, we got off the bus.
"Alright, that's done. Do you know where your locker is?" she asked me.
"Um, I think so. It's 234, so down the main hallway, right?" I answered.
"Yep, Mr. Schuester's Spanish II class will be a little farther down from your locker. I'll see you in second hour, okay?"
"Yeah, that's cool. Thanks Ellis!" I turned to walk into the building, searching for my locker. By the time I finally found it, the scene before my eyes was not pretty.