My First Day of School

My new school seems so big compared to my old school.

The main hallway was littered with handwritten signs with arrows pointing to where we had to go. But I was clearly not ready to do this. Finally I ended up asking one of the teachers walking up and down the halls. "Sixth grade?" she asked in between chews of gum.

"Yes, m'aam," I replied in my politest voice.

"All the sixth graders are meeting in the auditorium."

"Where's that?"

"Down the hall and take a left. You can't miss it."After thanking her, I tramped my feet toward the mass of kids crammed in one room like sardines. I had never seen this many people in my life.

Suddenly I felt smaller and younger than ever. These girls were a bunch of perfect-looking Hannah Montana clones. How was I going to compete with them?

A slender teacher in a pant suit with a short brown hair walked up to the microphone that had been placed to the front of the auditorium. She began arranging us all in ABC order.

"If your last name begins with the letters A through G, go with Mrs. Banks. If your last name begins with H through M, go with Mrs. Martin..."

Since my last name is Hotchkiss, I would have to first, find Mrs. Martin and second, find the group that was going with her.

I heard a boy behind me whisper 'Four Eyes' as I walked past. I knew he was talking about me because he pointed his finger.

"Your homeroom teacher will have your locker assignments, your locker keys, and some other things you need to know about our school. Welcome to junior high."

Welcome to junior high, indeed.

I followed the line of students to my new classroom. I found myself sitting in the middle row of the classroom, behind a girl with long black hair and a purple sweater, half-listening to the teacher call roll and talk about class assignments and school supplies and locker assignments. Before I knew it she had passed some papers along to me that my dad would need to sign and that I would need to read carefully.

I heard the door open. Coming through it was the blondest girl I'd ever seen. Her long silky hair fell in soft waves past her shoulders. She must have been one of those rich girls in the big houses on the other side of town. She just oozed cool.

"Name?" asked Mrs. Martin, peering through her glasses.

"Meredith Hopkins."

"Don't make being late a habit, Meredith."

Meredith flipped her blond hair back as she took the empty seat next to me. The way she looked at me, she looked like she could crush me like a bug.

I felt smaller than ever.

The girl in the purple sweater turned around again, and I looked at her. Unlike most of the other girls in the class, she had dark skin and huge brown eyes. "Meredith gets away with murder," she confided. "She's the most popular girl in the entire sixth grade."

I stole another look at Meredith, who was applying makeup with a mirror and flipped open her cell phone. Three other copycat girls immediately crowded around her. I felt a small pang of jealousy. Was this what junior high was going to be like for me?

I had trouble finding somewhere to sit for lunch, too. At my old school I just sat anywhere I wanted, but here, everyone had a certain table. It was weird. Then I heard a group of girls yelling my name. "Haley!" they shouted.

I turned around, and there was Meredith in the middle of the pack.

"Hey, Haley, did you catch the wrong bus?" she asked.

Added another girl, "Yeah, isn't St. Thomas Aquinas on the other side of town?"

"What wrong bus?" I wondered.

"Well, with the plaid skirt and all," said Meredith, tossing her blond head around, "I thought, you know, maybe -- maybe you were supposed to catch the bus there."

All the kids at the table burst out in laughter. Meanwhile, all I wanted to do was disappear.

The rest of the day seemed like a blur. I don't remember what classes I was in, or who was in them, or even how many stacks of papers my teachers gave me. All I know was I was glad when three o'clock came.

Meet Haley!

When I look at myself in the mirror, I don't see a junior high school girl. Neither do I feel like one. Sure, I've been told that I'm 'cute,' not pretty. I have the thinnest, regular brown hair that falls just past my shoulders and light blue eyes that seem gray at times, and I have freckles across my nose and cheeks. During the day, I wear gold eyeglasses. And I'm just a little bit chubby.
All in all, though, I still look and feel like a little girl, not an eleven year old about to start junior high.
Just the mention of the words junior high sends chills down my spine. At my old school I was known as simply "the brain." I was the girl whose test papers everyone used to copy off of.
Just last year I was playing with Barbies. Now I'm in junior high. How things change.

I've spent the last three days picking out the 'perfect' outfit for me to wear on my first day of school. And I think I've finally settled on this plaid skirt with a satin blouse, some tights and some suede slip-ons. I figure it's gonna be cute enough without looking dorky. But then again, I'm the world's biggest dork anyway, so I don't think it's gonna matter all that much.
I'm not gonna sit here and lie and say I'm not nervous. Because I am. I'm very nervous. I always manage to screw these first days up, either by saying or doing something I've got no business.

My name is Haley Hotchkiss. Haley Elizabeth Hotchkiss, to be exact. The last time I checked, I was eleven years old. And the last time I checked, I stood eighteen inches tall and was made of plastic and cloth. But I also like to think I have half a brain, too.
I live in a little town in Louisiana, and I'm told it's fairly close to New Orleans -- yes THAT New Orleans. Though, it's not the New Orleans Venus says she remembers from childhood. You see, three years ago there was a hurricane to hit there. It was pretty bad. There was TV coverage of it even when I was living in Pennsylvania. Venus says the city hasn't quite been the same, although they've had stuff going on there.

Hmm, let's see what else I can say here. I'm an only child, but I live with a few other AGs like myself.

I have a cousin named Nicki, for example. Her full name is Nicole Alexis Fleming, but she hates the names Nicole and Alexis and prefers being called Nicki. What can I say about Nicki except -- she's weird. Part of the reason she's weird is because she's from Colorado. That's a long story because her mom and my mom were identical twins. But her mom married a rancher and my mom went to college and became a high powered lawyer. The only thing Nicki and I have in common appearance wise is, we're the same size, we both have blue eyes and freckles. I think she's actually way prettier. For starters, she's got a tan from riding her horses and spending most of her time outdoors. Then, she's got this long gorgeous curly hair. Mine is usually stick straight.

Nicki says she thinks she can 'feel' me. She says it's because her mom was my mom's twin sister. But our mothers are nothing alike, and neither are we.

Nicki thinks she's special because she was named 2007 Girl of the Year by the American Girls Society. Don't get me wrong, Girl of the Year is a big deal. But it's not the be all end all.

Another thing about Nicki: She LOVES animals. Sometimes I think she likes animals more than she likes people. She trains service dogs. What I mean by that is, her family trains dogs to help people. They also raise pigs for slaughter. Sometimes I wonder if our mothers had switched places, how our lives would be different.

So, when Nicki showed up to visit me right before school started, I was excited -- to a point. We had been IMing each other for the last few months, ever since she got her internet. Her mom says she's happy that we're getting closer, especially since she and my mom hardly speak to each other.

Nicki thinks she's my older sister, even though we were born a few months apart. Then again, Nicki thinks she's everyone's big sister. If you listen to all the stuff she does, it might seem like she's perfect. She helps her kid brother with his homework, her parents around their ranch, and was on the planning committee for her school dance. I asked her once, "Do you, like, do anything normal kids do?"

"Well, I like going shopping," she said.

Shopping? I HATE shopping, especially in Walmart. There are these long lines and every other thing in there has a Hannah Montana print on it.