Marjorie

The wind whistles through the trees creating ghost-like howls. The sky is blue and the leaves are already turning orange and brown as I walk to school. Its the first day of school and Ive only been walking for about five minutes but I already wish I could be back in bed, sleeping the day away. Im dressed in my best blue jeans with my mustard yellow knight sweater and black and white converse. Yellow is my favorite color and I try to include at least a little bit of it in every outfit.

”Marjorie! Hey! ” My best friend Amelia shouts from across the street. Amelia lives a block away from me so weve known each other our whole lives since her family moved in when she was four. I still distinctively remember running around her backyard, jumping in my pool, making fairy houses, and doing whatever else little kids do.

I jog over to Amelia, hug her, and say, ”OMG Amelia, Ive missed you so much! It feels like school just ended yesterday and now we have to go back to this hell hole already! Im glad your back though. ” Amelia laughs and agrees with me that the summer was too quick.

She spent her summer on the beach in Hawaii with her parents and older brothers while I stayed here in Oregon, sleeping all day while Mom went to work. I was a little jealous at first when she told me that she was leaving me for Hawaii but besides her being gone, I do enjoy staying home and having a low-key kind of summer.

As we walk into school, Amelia tells me all about Hawaii and all the cute little shops she went to, and the surfing lessons she took with one of her brothers. I can tell she spent every minute outside in the sun because her light brown skin looks even more darker and gorgeous thanks to a tan. Even though I swam in my pool every day, Im still fairly light with no sign of a tan anywhere. Curse my Danish heritage!

”So, are you planning our usual ice skating and hot cocoa birthday hang out for your 16th birthday this year? ” Amelia asks me, as we head to our lockers before the bell rings. Ice skating and hot cocoa with Amelia is my birthday tradition since I can remember. She usually does something different for hers each year but I like to stick to the same thing. She also likes to invite a lot of different people to her parties whereas I am only friends with her. I wouldn say Im that shy but Im not as outgoing or talkative as Amelia and our other classmates.

”Of course I am, ” I answer, ”But my birthday is not for another 3 and a half months so I don even have to think about that yet. ” We grab what we need, double-check our new schedules, and head in opposite directions for first period.

”See you at lunch Mar! ”

”Bye! ” I yell over my shoulder as she skips away. I head towards math which is my worst subject. Not only do I hate it, but I can seem to ever understand it, and to make matters worse, Ive heard rumors that the teacher this year is mean and sort of a pedophile. So that doesn help.

I walk into the classroom along with a group of kids, all shouting and talking about their amazing summer. I inwardly roll my eyes. This isn just a random group of kids, its the popular, fake, and basic group of our Sophomore class. Amelias had some drama with some of the girls in the past but I try to stay out of it, Im not even sure they remember I exist which is fine by me. I pick a seat in the middle of the class, not in the back where the trouble makers sit but not in the front where the teachers pets and nerds are.

”All right gang, settle down, settle down. ” The math teacher, a large, grey-haired old man says. His name is Mr. Holland and he refers to us as gang a couple more times as he tries to start class. I zone out a little bit as he talks about his rules for his classroom, what material well cover this year, and all that other boring first day of school stuff.

Instead of listening I look around at who is in the class and spot a boy Ive never seen before. Wait… is that Ian? As in Ian Zander? He looks so different I have to really study him to realize Ive known this boy since 2nd grade. He has died his brown hair jet black and he wears baggy jeans and a black hoodie and at his feet, behold a skateboard. He then turns his head and looks directly into my eyes. In response, I quickly look away and blush. I can believe he just caught me staring, thats so embarrassing! I try to brush it off and not let my humiliation ruin the rest of my day, but I can help but think of how I felt when we locked eyes. There was a queasiness in the pit of my stomach that made my hands feel shaky and out of control.

By the time lunch rolls around, Im starving and already done with school for a lifetime. I meet up with Amelia at our usual spot behind the trees in the field and we discuss our classes so far. We only have one class together and its History directly after lunch. Its a big adjustment from last year when we had almost all our classes together.

”So, tell me about Ian! Is his hair actually black now? ” Amelia opens a bag of Doritos and scoots closer.

”Yeah it is and hes like in a lot of my classes too, not just math. I think hes in my Chemistry and English too. ” I tell he