Upon Arrival In Stockdale….

I've never seen anyplace so dead. There aren't any tall buildings. No fast food restaurants. What's wrong with these people?

"Here we are!" Mom said as Dad pulled into a circular driveway.

"This is our house?" Jade moaned.

"Oh, shut up. It's great." I said in awe. My perspective of this town immediately changed. The house was gorgeous. A small, two story blue house with a red, barn-like garage. It reminded me of a doll house.

"Thank you, Mia. I'm glad that SOMEONE is grateful for what they have! I mean, we are VERY fortunate people!" Dad started.

Oh, jeez, here he goes again. Every time we move, he rants about how great we have it, and how grateful we should all be that we have an opportunity to see the country. But, this time, I wasn't listening to him. I was mesmerized by this small town.

"I'm gonna go inside with Mom." I said.

I walked up the concrete steps onto a small porch. It was closed in by solid, green plastic wrapped around black, twisted bars. Gorgeous.

"Mia, honey, your room is upstairs to the right." Mom said as she was unpacking the kitchenware. The walls were covered with ducks in bonnets and dresses. I stared for a few seconds before going to the stairs.

This house is even more charming on the inside! As I carried one of my boxes to my room, I admired the stairs, steep and narrow, and the cozy atmosphere of my new home.

"Wow." I breathed when I got to my room. Small, but nice, it has a slanting ceiling. Walls painted yellow, it gives off a bright, friendly aura.

I'm starting to think that things may be different here…

First Day Of School…

"Welcome to Stockdale Valley Central School! My name is Mary Ann Iris, and I am the K-8 Principal. Your 9-12 Principal, Mr. Bill Pritelli, couldn't be here today, but he'll be back tomorrow. If you two need anything, feel free to ask me." Mrs. Iris said to Jade and I.

"Thanks." We said in unison.

"No problem, girls. Have a great first day!" Mrs. Iris smiled.

"Umm…Well, see ya, Mia." Jade said, actually sounding human.

"Bye." I said.

Okay…locker 264…264….Ah, here it is. 46-35-30…Yes, I'm in. Cool, my books are here! First class: Earth Science. Ick.

I feel like an alien on a foreign planet. This school is so small! I mean, the classes must only have one hundred students all together. I laughed to myself. Knowing I found the right room, I slouched a bit and knocked on the door.

A tall, brown haired boy with freckles answered the door. "Who are you?" he asked.

"Ryne, sit down." I heard a man's voice say. "Come in, come in."

I walked in to see seventeen pairs of eyes staring at me. Seventeen kids? That's it? Perfect. Guess I won't be able to be invisible here…

"Ignore them. I'm Mr. Snyden. I'll be your Earth Science teacher." My teacher said. He is tall with piercing blue eyes and blonde hair. He's easily a foot taller than me.

"Hi." I said.

"Amelia Jeffris, right?" he asked.

"Umm…Just Mia, sir." I replied.

"Okay, Mia. Please take a seat next to Torell." He said as led me to the front of the classroom.

"Hi, I'm Torell Chires. Welcome to SVCS." the girl smiled as she introduced herself. She was short, shorter than my tiny 5'3" body, with a friendly smile. I actually smiled back.

I didn't even listen to Mr. Snyder as he droned on for the atrociously long eighty minute class. I jumped when the bell rang, mistaking it for a tornado alarm. This led to an uproar of laughter from the class. Only two people didn't laugh. My….friend Torell and an Asian chick in black. She didn't look like she laughed much anyways.

"That's just the class bell. It's okay." Torell said in the same soothing tone my mother uses.

"In Topeka, we have a lot of tornado alarms that sound just like that." I said, speaking for the first time about Topeka since I got to Stockdale.

"It's okay. We understand, right Kim?" Torell asked the Goth Asian chick.

To my surprise, she answered with a big smile.

"Yeah! Hi, I'm Kim Marsh." She introduced.

"Mia." I said to both Torell and her.

Suddenly, the bell went off again. I tried to suppress my wince and failed.

"This'll take a while." I said.

"We've got time. Let's go to gym." Kim said.