...where after a few photos were taken inside my new classroom, my dad took his leave, saying. "Have a good first day, Nathan! Mom will be here at 12:25 or so to pick you up!"
I watched him go, then looked around Bowditch. Everything was so new to me, like the office down the path and the drama room across the way.
"Nathan!" cried a familiar voice.
I turned and saw Mowgli and Shanti coming up to me.
"How great is this? The three of us back together again!" Mowgli said while wrapping his arm around me.
"Uh, Mowgli? We're not in this class with him. We're over there." Shanti said, pointing at the othe classroom, which was next door to where I am now.
"But we're technically in the same building." said Mowgli. So that's still great, right?"
"Yeah, swell." I said, freeing myself from Mowgli, only to hear a loud voice call. "NATHAN! HOW I MISSED YOU SO!"
I turned and saw Ed (from "Ed, Edd, n Eddy") wrapping his arms around me tightly.
"Ed!" I gasped.
"Hello!" greeted Ed as he spun me around.
"Ed!"
Hello!"
"ED!"
"Hello!" Ed repeated before Eddy pulled him, saying. "What are you trying to do, Ed, cut off his oxygen?"
"Whoops. Sorry, Nathan." Ed said, finally letting me go. "Guess I don't know my own strength, huh, guys?"
I gasped and coughed for breath while trying to get me up.
Thankfully, Edd a.k.a. Double D came to help.
"Please excuse Ed, Nathan." he said while adjusting my jacket and brushing the dirt off me. "He's just as excited about the new year as I am."
"I can tell." I said.
"And may I also add what an absolute treat this is." Double D went on. "The four of us altogether in a whole new school. Isn't this exciting?"
"No." I said, much to his suprise.
"You're still hung up with that old school of yours, huh?" guessed Eddy.
"What do you think?" I said. "Foster City School was like...it was like home."
"Well, maybe this can be like home too." said Double D.
"FAT CHANCE!" shouted Eddy.
Double D just rolled his eyes, then turned back to me, saying. "Just give Bowditch a few days' time, Nathan. By then, you'll learn to love it."
"HEY!" called another loud voice.
The Eds and I turned to see Kevin march toward us, wearing a hall monitor sash.
"What are you dorks doing outside of class?" he asked.
"What? Can't a couple of guys enjoy a few minutes of fresh air?" Eddy asked back.
"No, you can't!" barked Kevin. "The student body president wants everyone to stay in their rooms during school hours. Nothing in between!"
"Tell your student body president to MIND HER OWN BEESWAX!" snapped Eddy.
"Uh-oh!" Kevin said gleefully as he pulled out a clipboard, on which he wrote a note, which he handed out to Eddy, telling him. "You just got yourself a detention and on the first day of school, pal!"
"Of all the rotten…" Eddy mumbled as he took the note.
"Oh, be fair, Kevin." pleaded Double D. "Why start the new school year with a detention slip?"
Unsympathetic as he is, Kevin just shoved two more slips at him and Ed, saying "Because I can!"
Double D looked at his slip. "What? Me?! But I've never had a detention!"
"You can't do this!" I said.
Kevin turned with a cold stare, asking. "Do you want detention too?"
"No." I said, shaking my head.
Kevin walked towards me menacingly, saying. "Then, I suggest you get back to where you belong. INSIDE! NOW!"
His demanding holler was enough to send us running into our assigned rooms.
"And, you…" Kevin said to the Eds, holding out a hockey stick, which he swung at them.
"No! Stop! Wait!" pleaded Double D as he dodged the swinging.
"I HATE THIS SCHOOL!" complained Eddy.
Kevin laughed cockily as he chased after the Eds.
Not far from Bowditch, at the Beach Park Plaza, there lived a girl named Odette (from "Barbie of Swan Lake"), who worked in the family bakery with her father and sister, Marie, who was about to leave for college on that same day.
"Are you sure you have what you needed?" asked the baker.
"Of course, Papa." said Marie. "Everything's been checked and accounted for."
As she hugged her father, Odette handed out a small satchel, saying. "Thought you might want breakfast for the road, Marie."
Marie took the satchel and look inside.
"Apple muffin, juice. You're still gold as ever, Odette."
She hugged her sister, then got on her horse and rode away from the plaza, calling out. "I'll see you both soon!"
"And there she goes." said the baker.
"Just like the rest of them, Papa." added Odette. "Off to school like the wind."
The baker looked at his daughter, adding. "You could be just like them too, Odette."
"What do you mean?" asked Odette.
"Well, there may be some hirings over at Bowditch." said her father. "You should go over there and check them out."
"In the middle of the first day? I...I couldn't."
"Ah, well, you can try tomorrow when it's not busy."
"But what about you, Papa?" asked Odette.
"Don't worry about me, Odette. I'll manage on my own for a while." assured the baker. "And if you find a position that suits you best, I'm sure you'll feel the same way too."
"OK, Papa. I'll stop by Bowditch tomorrow." Odette said finally.
"That's my girl." the baker said, hugging his daughter when he smelled something burning.
"Oh, cornbread's ready!" he said, rushing inside the bakery with Odette.