September 2, 2014

*beep beep*

I slowly opened my eyes, only to shut them immediately. The sun was way too bright today. I slowly opened them again to see my phone reading 6:30 AM. I groaned as I hit the dismiss button and drowsily got out of bed. I walked over to my mirror and took a look at myself. It's my first day of eighth grade. I'm extremely excited, but I'm also a little scared. Not because of the whole "first day of school" scenario, but because this is my last year at the school I've spent all of my middle school years. I started at CCA in sixth grade, and now here I am, at the top with the rest of my class.

I walked out of my bedroom and down the hall to the bathroom. No one was using it yet, so I bolted for it and locked the door behind me. I quickly took a shower and brushed my teeth. It didn't seem real to me yet, that I was finally in the eighth grade. I put on my bathrobe, slipped into my slippers, and walked back to my bedroom. I checked the time on my phone—7:00 AM.

Why do I have to wake up so early?

I walked over to my closet and pulled out my uniform, consisting of a gray cardigan with my school's crest, a blue polo with the school crest, and a blue and gray plaid skirt. I placed them on my bed. Wait... I'm an eighth-grader now, so I can wear the pants... I then pulled out a pair of uniform tan pants and set them next to the skirt on my bed. But I like wearing a skirt... After a bit of deliberation, I decided to wear the pants. I quickly put on my uniform and checked myself in the mirror. I smiled at my reflection. Looks good! Now to do my hair...

I pulled a comb through my long, curly pink hair and styled it into the two pigtails I had been wearing since elementary school. I took one last look at myself in the mirror. Good enough, I said to myself. I looked at the top of my head. Those stupid strands of hair that won't seem to lay down were standing up like they always do. I sprayed my hair with some hairspray and attempted to brush them down, only for them to pop back up again. I then used bobby pins to keep them in place. It worked, but I looked weird like that, so I took them out. I sighed in defeat and decided to let my hair be for today. I then went to my desk and packed all of my stuff for the first day of school. I ran through in my head what I needed to have in my backpack.

Looks like I have all of my supplies.

I zipped up my backpack and slung it over my shoulder. I grabbed a small purse from my closet and put my phone, earbuds, wallet, and cosmetics bag (even though I don't wear makeup that much) into my purse. I walked out of my room, closing the door behind me. I smelled bacon and eggs cooking downstairs.

I wonder if Taiga and Ryuji are up.

Taiga and Ryuji are my adoptive parents, but it's still taking me a while to call them Mom and Dad. I don't know why, though, since I have been living with them for almost half a year now. They adopted me when I was in the seventh grade. I used to live with a kind woman named Palutena, who fostered me and a few other girls that I had grown pretty close to. I miss the girls and Palutena. They were like family to me. Then Ryuji and Taiga came and offered to take me in. I was thrilled to have a new family, but that doesn't mean I don't miss Ms. Palutena and the others.

I walked down the stairs, put my backpack and purse down by the front door, and entered the kitchen. Taiga was sitting at the table, going through the mail as Ryuji cooked breakfast. "Good morning, Feldt," Taiga said to me with a smile. Ryuji looked up from his cooking and waved to me. "Good morning, Taiga. Good morning, Ryuji," I said to them as I sat down at the table.

They both paused briefly as a subtle expression of pain crossed their faces. "It's been almost half a year; you can call us Mom and Dad," Taiga said to me. I let out a sigh. "I know, I'm sorry," I said to them, "I'm still not used to the whole 'having parents' thing yet." Taiga—sigh Mom—reached across the table and grabbed my hand, giving it a comforting squeeze. "I understand," Ryuji said as he went back to cooking, "At least this school year will be better than last year." I smiled slightly at his words. "I really do hope so," I responded as I began thumbing through one of the magazines on the table.

Last year didn't go as planned, especially with... him. I spent my entire seventh-grade year in a stupid relationship and got hurt in the process. The time and love I put into our relationship were all in vain, and for what? A twelve-about-to-turn-thirteen-year-old shouldn't have to go through all of that. There are things that have been taken from me that I know I won't get back. I should have listened to Ella when she said things were only going to get worse from here. But, this year will be different. It's like what Palutena always said, "The best is yet to come."

I was torn from my thoughts when I heard someone call my name. "Hmm?" I responded. "I was trying to ask you, are you excited for your first day of eighth grade?" Mom asked me. "Oh, yeah. I'm super excited," I tried to respond with as much enthusiasm as possible. Ryuji—er, Dad—walked over to the table and set a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast in front of me. "Eat up," he told me. "Scholars need to have a lot of energy for their first day of school."

"Okay!" I said, preparing to dig into my breakfast. "Ahem," Mom cleared her throat at me. I looked up at her from my plate. "What?" I asked. Mom tilted her head to the side before folding her hands in front of her. "We pray before we eat."

"Oh, right," I said, following suit. Mom, Dad, and I said a quick prayer before eating. I continued to look through the magazine until I came across an article interviewing a student from a school in... Death City, NV? I became curious and began to skim through the article, which took up five pages, including the title page with a picture of the student in question. I leaned in closer to look at the picture more carefully.

He's kinda cute...

I must have stopped eating or something because Mom was trying to get my attention. I broke my concentration from the magazine and looked up at her. "Did you say something?" I asked. Mom glanced down at the magazine I was reading before looking back up at me and smirking. "I knew you would like that one," she said as she took a sip of her coffee. "Maybe I should get the subscription so you can get some more magazines like those." I nodded thoughtfully and continued to analyze the picture. "Is it okay if I take this magazine to school with me?" I asked as I closed the magazine and took another bite of my breakfast. Mom just nodded.

"Oh my God, thank you!" I said as I jumped up from my chair to hug her. She returned the hug and smiled back.

"Oh, before I forget, your friend Ella's mom called and said she can give you a ride to school today," she replied as she unwrapped her arms around me. I jumped back to my seat to finish my food before running to the front door. "Don't forget the bag with the classroom supplies for your teacher!" Dad yelled to me from the kitchen. "I got them," I told him as I picked up all my stuff and headed out the door. "Bye, Mom! Bye, Dad! Have a nice day!" I yelled back as I walked out the door. "You too!" I heard them yell back. "Oh, and don't forget to text us when you're on your way home," Mom yelled as I closed the door. "Okay!" I yelled back as the door shut.

Truth be told, my new home is only two blocks away from my old one. Can anyone say coincidence? I ran the two blocks to their house. I saw Palutena, Ella's mom, trying to get the other girls into the van before noticing me running up the street to them. "Hi, Feldt!" she greeted me with a smile. "Would you like to ride with us today?" I nodded my head with excitement. "Hop in," she said as she opened the driver's side door. Before I could even open the door, I was pushed to the ground and greeted by an all too-familiar voice.

"FFFEEEELLLLLLDDDDDTTTTTTT!" I heard my best friend, Ella, yell as she tackled me to the ground, giving me the biggest hug ever. "Hey, Ella," I responded back, hugging her even tighter. "Ready for eighth grade?" she asked, her excitement clearly showing on her face. "Yep!" I replied, this time with genuine enthusiasm. Chris, Miriam, and Alice ran towards me and grabbed me into a huge hug. "You ready for school?" Miriam asked. "This year is going to be so much fun!" Chris chimed in. "2K15, GET HYPE!" Alice yelled in excitement from inside the van. We all got in and started heading to school, singing along to the songs that played on the radio.

"By the way, did you hear? There's a new boy in our class!" Alice said, grabbing everyone's attention, including Palutena's. "Do you know what his name is?" I asked. "Nope!" Alice replied. I stared blankly at Alice for a few minutes, then glanced around at everyone else. "Did you guys know?" I asked. They all nodded, except for Palutena. "This is news to me," she said, not taking her eyes off the road. I nodded slowly, then switched my focus to Alice. "Did you seriously get me all excited just to say you don't know his name?" I asked her. Alice threw her hands up in defense. "Sorry, but I only figured that out at back-to-school night," she replied. "Daya told us."

"Oh yeah," Chris said as she face-palmed herself. "By the way, why weren't you there?" Ella asked. "Everyone was there except for you, and you didn't answer my texts either."

"Sorry, but I heard he was going to be there," I replied, slowly sinking into my car seat. "Who, the new kid?" Miriam asked. Ella rolled her eyes at Miriam and shook her head. "I'm pretty sure she means Tamaki," Chris said in a low whisper. "You all know who I'm talking about," I mumbled. "Feldt, Tamaki was told not to come back by Mr. Parry and Dean Owain," Miriam said. "But that doesn't stop him from hanging around," I replied. "Okay, chill," Ella interjected. "Tamaki isn't going to be here this year, so there's no need to worry. Let's all just have a great year! Okay?"

"Okay," I replied. It amazes me how fast Ella can change the tone of a conversation. We pulled up to the middle school entrance of our school (which we call I.M.P.A.C.T.) and got out of the van. "Bye, Mom," the others said as they got out of the van. "Bye, Ms. Palutena. Thank you for the ride," I said as I followed the others. "Bye, girls. Have a nice day!" she said back to us. We all waved one last time before heading in.

Ella and I were the last to enter the building, but I caught a glimpse of something black and shiny in the corner of my eye that caught my attention.