"Mary Anne, it's the first day of school," Sharon asked over breakfast, "Aren't you the least bit excited?"
"Just nerves, I guess." Mary Anne responded. Which was certainly true. Sharon just didn't understand the extent of her nervousness. Starting a new school year was hard enough, but trying to regain everything that she had lost was quite another.
"Well I'm sure that everything will be fine. You've always been such a great student." Sharon said. "Remember that your father and I are going to dinner and a play in Stanford tonight, so we won't be home until late. Why don't you have one or two of your friends over for pizza tonight?"
"That's a good idea," Mary Anne responded half heartedly. Sharon hadn't really noticed that Mary Anne's friends had slowly stopped coming over in the past year or so. Maybe this was part of her absent mindedness.
"Okay honey, I'm off to work. We'll see you tonight, if you're up. Have a great first day!" With that, Sharon left, and Mary Anne found herself alone with her thoughts.
She was certainly not looking forward to another night alone at home. Sure, she had Tigger to keep her company, but sometimes it helped to have someone who could talk back. While she was happy that things were going so well with her dad and Sharon, she wished that they would pay more attention to her. It seemed almost as if their relationship was so important, that they had forgotten what had come before it. Sharon hadn't even been that upset when Dawn and Jeff canceled their end of summer visit.
Maybe Mary Anne would call Dawn tonight, she would understand what was going on at home. After all, that was part of the reason that she had left for California. But she was usually so busy with Maggie, Sunny, Ducky, and Amelia that she didn't have much time to spend on the phone. Thinking of all this, as well as her anxiety for what was to come later that day made Mary Anne glad that she hadn't pointed out to Sharon that she was wearing two different shoes. If Sharon wasn't going to help look out for Mary Anne, then Mary Anne certainly wasn't going to look out for her.
Mary Anne looked at the clock, sighed, and headed out the door for school. It wasn't that long of a walk, but one that could seem like an eternity if one was making it by themselves. Lost in thought, Mary Anne was almost half way to school before she
realized she was walking right behind Claudia and Stacy. Claudia had toned down her outfits in the past year, and was wearing red shorts with three multicolored tank tops layered over them. She had no backpack, but instead what appeared to be a beach bag that held all of her school supplies. Stacy, on the other hand, looked amazingly sophisticated to Mary Anne, in a black mini skirt and halter top. Remembering the promise she had made to herself to try and reconnect with her old friends, Mary Anne forced herself to walk a little faster and become part of the conversation.
"Hey Stacy, Hey Claudia. How was your summer?" Mary Anne asked.
"Summer was good. Summer school wasn't," grumbled Claudia. High school had proved to be even more challenging than middle school, and though she disliked summer school, it was clear that she needed all the help she could get. Despite her self proclaimed "above average" intelligence, Claudia was already struggling to stay on track for graduation.
"Well my summer was awesome," Stacy said, interrupting Claudia. "Whatever time I didn't spend shopping in New York I spent with Sam. And we became a lot closer this summer, if you know what I mean. Which you probably don't."
As she said this, Stoneybrook High School came into view.
"We've got to go meet up with Cokie and Grace before the bell. See you later!"
With that, Stacy and Claudia were gone. Mary Anne was reflecting on the conversation when she heard Stacy call her name. Maybe they would ask her to come with them! Hopefully, she responded.
"Yes?"
"You might want to hit up the mall sometime soon. Just because something was cool two years ago, doesn't mean it's still cool today."
"Thanks," Mary Anne replied, weakly. She looked down at her outfit. Surely there was nothing spectacular about her jeans, tank top, and zip up sweater, but it had looked alright in front of the mirror this morning.
"Well," she thought to herself, "that certainly could have gone worse." Keeping up with Stacy was exhausting, but maybe there was some hope with Claudia. After all, they had been friends since they were infants. When Mimi died, she had wanted them to look out for each other. Maybe if she tried to talk to Claudia without Stacy present she would be reminded of their history together.
Ascending the steps into the school building, Mary Anne felt butterflies in her stomach. Even though she was not nearly as shy as her childhood self, she couldn't help but feel a little overwhelmed by all of the teenagers milling about the halls. And it was hard not to be intimidated by the seniors, who looked so much older than herself.
Mary Anne pulled her schedule out of her pocket, reviewed it, and then walked upstairs to her homeroom on the second floor. Looking at the seating chart, she found herself to be placed right in between Trevor Sandbourne and Krisy Thomas.
"Perfect," Mary Anne thought to herself, "If Kristy and I are sitting next to each other every morning for an entire semester, there won't be any way she will be able to ignore me." It would almost be like when they were neighbors, and their bedroom windows had looked right into each other.
Reminiscing, Mary Anne was reminded of all the good times that she and Kristy had shared before they had started growing up, and things had gotten so complicated. Sure, Kristy put on a tough, tomboy exterior, but inside she soft, and willing to do anything for her friends. Throughout childhood she had been Mary Anne's protector, and Mary Anne had done as much as she could to nurture Kristy. For many years they had been two halves of a whole.
Mary Anne was deep in though when the final bell rang, signaling the day to commence. Trevor sat beside her in his seat, but Kristy's chair was empty. Always punctual, it did not seem like to be late for the first class of the entire school year. Where was Kristy?