New Country, New Culture

• Nimmy Pantheluckaran, Grade 9
• Short Story
• 2017

My legs were shaking as I tried to get words out of my mouth about my life in India.There were so many unfamiliar faces staring right at me, it made my heart race. I stuttered a little but finally finished talking and walked down the brown wooden stairs as they creaked when the tip of my heels made contact. Not looking where I was going, I tripped over my sari and fell face forward in front of the whole class. I saw a hand lend me help as I lifted my head slightly off the freezing cold wooden boards. There, right in front of me, was him again. I knew I had seen him somewhere before, but where? I tried not to blush but through the polished shoes he was wearing, I saw my cheeks getting pinker and pinker as every second went by.

I got hold of his warm hands, stood up and stared into his sparkling eyes for a moment but no more. With a cute smile, he said,“my name is Drew, are you okay?”

I nodded and sat down on a spare chair which happened to be right next to him. The welcome party was pretty fun but really embarrassing since the few dreadful incidents earlier. After a while, the teachers finished off welcoming me to this new school and then dinner was ready. I helped myself and so did everyone else. I was very happy to see proper Indian food for dinner since the airplane had given out steamed chicken and peas, but I started eating with my hands as I normally would only to find everyone laughing and mocking me. I picked up the spoon and fork beside my plate as tears filled my eyes… Memories of eating dinner with my family, huge smiles on our faces.Everyone telling jokes, sometimes even sad jokes told by Dada and Aron, my younger brother. That night my tears were all just memories of what life was like in India, even the last drop of tear that slid across my cheek and then to the pillow was full of laughter with my family.

The day I walked into my new school, which I was hoping would be fun. The door swung open which was so close to hitting my face as three girls walked past with their hair following the breeze of the wind. Abbey was standing next to me as she explained who they were and if you get in their way they will crush you like lemon squash. For the first time that day, I had a huge smile on my face as she asked me if I wanted to have lunch with her. Words came rushing out her mouth like a closed force of water

“Yes! Yes!”.

She rushed off to her first class and told me to meet her at the cafeteria.

The cafeteria was packed by the time I got there. It took me a while to find Abbey sitting with her group but I found her and started heading towards them when Drew bumped into me and invited me to sit with him. I refused and said another time, he frowned and walked away with no response. I sat down and Abbey started to introduce me to her friends who were so welcoming and super nice. The whole lunch was spent with laughter and great smiles.