September

A CD of forest sounds gently lulled Winston "Winnie" DePuh out of dreamland. It can't be 6:30 already, he thought as he woozily opened his eyes and stared at the display of his clock-radio. "Yep, it is," he then murmured aloud as he hit the "stop" button and rolled, still sleepy, out of bed and wandered toward the clothes he'd set out the night before. It was his favorite outfit - a simple red T-shirt and a pair of yellow pants. Paired with Winnie's golden complexion and blonde hair, it looked great. And today, of all days, Winnie wanted to look his best. It was the first day of Winnie's sophomore year, and he needed to set a good example for the freshmen.

Winnie trotted down the stairs and into the kitchen, where his mother had set out a plate of scrambled eggs for him. He discreetly slid into his chair, grabbed the honey bottle, and began to drizzle the contents over his meal. Winnie loved honey in every way, shape and form, and it had to be included in every meal he ate. Both his mother and father found this habit strange, but put up with it anyway. As Winnie began to hurriedly devour the eggs, his mother asked over her shoulder, "Did you sleep well, honey? Don't want to fall asleep in class today..."

"Yeah, I slept well. What time does the bus get here?" Winnie asked his mother. "In about half an hour," she replied. "Plenty of time to get ready, so eat slowly, Winston, please!"

Winnie muttered, "Please don't call me Winston, Mother," and finished his breakfast more slowly. After putting on a pair of loafers, he went over to the bathroom, where he did a few exercises in front of the full-length mirror - mainly touching his toes - and tugged a comb through his bedhead. After packing his lunch, a PBH - peanut butter and honey sandwich - with a few carrot sticks and some yogurt and making sure his backpack contained all his notebooks and an after-school snack, Winnie said a quick goodbye to his parents and headed out the door to the bus stop. On the way, he composed a piece of poetry, as he so often did, specifically for the occasion. It went something like this:

Although the summer has been fun,
It's time for school once more.
With teachers, classmates, books, and tests,
It sometimes feels a chore.

But there are also fun times, too,
Like dances, games, and fairs.
The other schools cannot compete,
But we don't put on airs.

It wasn't exactly Longfellow, but Winnie liked it. He arrived at the bus stop just as the bus was pulling up. Joining the small crowd, Winnie boarded the bus, found a window seat, and mentally recited his poem the whole way to school.

Ashdown High School was your typical high school, hosting ninth through twelfth grade. Winnie swept through the double front doors of the school, searching for the principal's office. During the course of his freshman year, he had memorized the locations of all the important places on campus, including the place he was looking for. As he headed down the crowded main hallway to Principal Milne's office, Winnie was suddenly knocked down flat and found himself looking into a familiar face.

"Winnie! How ya doin', ol' pal?" said Winnie's attacker excitedly. Winnie grinned and responded, "Nice to see you, too, Tyler." Tyler McBounce was the same age as Winnie, and the two were best friends. Most bystanders couldn't understand how the overly energetic and uber-athletic Tyler and the quiet, artsy Winnie had ever become friends, but the two both had a fondness for the sort of "everyday adventures" that so often occurred at Ashdown High. Tyler was on every sports team Ashdown High had - he was a Tiger through and through, although he often mispronounced the teams' names as "the Tiggers".

Dressed in an orange-and-black track suit, Tyler helped his friend up and asked him, "You goin' to see ol' Prince Apple to get your schedule?" Winnie responded, "Why, yes, I am! Would you like to come with me?"

Tyler didn't answer verbally, but dragged Winnie towards the principal's office, his fiery red hair looking like a meteor among the other clumps of students. Winnie was out of breath by the time they found the office, but Tyler was as jumpy as ever. The two sophomores joined the line extending outside the office and waited for their turn.

It took the longest time, but eventually, Winnie and Tyler found themselves standing in front of Principal Milne's desk. The principal greeted them warmly - "Winston! Tyler! Did you two enjoy your summer?" Winnie spoke for both himself and his friend when he responded, "Oh, we did. Anyway, we need to pick up our schedules."

"Oh, yes," said Principal Milne, pawing through a file cabinet. "Let me see... Ah, here they are. Winston DePuh and Tyler McBounce. Looks like you share a few classes this year - and you both got the electives you signed up for." Handing Winnie and Tyler each a piece of paper, the principal sent them off with, "Have a good year!" and a wave.

Looking over their schedules, Winnie and Tyler discovered that they were in the same math and science classes. Winnie was also enrolled in a fine arts class, while Tyler had chosen P. E. as his elective. Tyler then ran off to his locker, calling back to Winnie, "TTFN! Ta ta for now!" Winnie waved at his friend, chuckled, and headed off to find his own locker.

Once Winnie found his locker, he opened his backpack and began to place his notebooks and folders inside. Out of the corner of his eye, he noticed Edgar Thistleton, a fellow sophomore, with a small student, likely a freshman. Winnie knew Edgar well, though the two weren't exactly friends. Edgar was the pessimistic type, always focusing on the worst in other every person and situation he encountered. Winnie, who was more of an optimist, now stepped toward the two students to see what was going on.

"You don't seem to be in the right wing of the school, little freshman," Edgar, wearing baggy grey clothing, was saying to the pink-clad freshman, who was clearly shaking in his shoes. Winnie knew where this would go, so he interrupted, "Well, Edgar, why don't you show him over to the freshman lockers? I'm sure our little friend here would be glad for the help." Edgar's eyes opened wide in surprise, but the black-haired student didn't say anything. Instead, he stepped away, mumbling something to himself.

Winnie turned to the freshman and said, "Edgar's like that all the time; don't worry about it. Would you like help finding the freshman lockers?" The freshman replied, "Y-y-yes, I-I-I would," but didn't say anything else. As the two walked, they shared some light words. Winnie learned that his new friend's name was Percy Squealer, that he was very bookish and had few friends, and that he lived at 5555 Beech Lane, just a block or two away from Winnie's house at 4132 Sanders Way. The two arranged to meet in the library during lunch to chat some more and do what homework they had received by then. Once Percy had found his locker, Winnie waved goodbye to him and headed back to his own locker.

On the way back to the sophomore lockers, Winnie noticed a girl surrounded by other students. Winnie hadn't seen her before, but she looked to be about his age. The girl wore a silvery fur coat over a white blouse and a gray velvet skirt, and had long, luxurious brown hair and piercing golden eyes. "My name is Lottie von Rivers," she said to the crowd. "My family is very rich, and we know all of the best people. I have high expectations for my experience here at your little public high school." I certainly hope she's not in any of my classes this year, thought Winnie. She's too stuck-up for my liking.

Winnie's first period was science, taught by Mrs. Austers. She was an amazing teacher, helping any student who needed it. Both Winnie and Tyler liked her immensely. Next was literature with Dr. Strigiform - extremely boring; Winnie found himself only paying attention to about half of what he was saying (mostly about himself and his famous family). Third period was math, and the teacher was the strict Mr. Bunton. Both Winnie and Tyler found themselves disliking this teacher, as did Lottie, who happened to be in this class as well, to Winnie's distaste.

After eating his lunch, Winnie met with Percy, as the two had planned. The two chatted about their days thus far. Percy had met a very nice girl in a few of his classes, named Kessie. However, he was too shy to get to know her. Winnie, in turn, told him about Lottie.

After lunch was a language class - in Winnie's case, German. Then came his favorite class, fine arts. Winnie immediately liked the teacher, a Ms. Hedgeting, and her method of asking what the students' "specialties" were. After fine arts was history and Mr. Robin. Lottie was in this class, too, and attempted to butter up the teacher, but Mr. Robin didn't care. He didn't even mind Edgar being excessively negative. Winnie knew that this was a good teacher.

After the final bell, each student was given a handout about extracurriculars and community service. As Winnie read the handout, he decided on Poetry Club for an extracurricular. Well, he thought as he stepped on his bus, this is going to be an interesting year, I can tell!