New Beginning

• Ella McIntyre, Grade 7
• Short Story
• 2020

Bang! I slammed the silver door, buckled my seat belt and took a deep breath. While I was thinking about everything that could go wrong my Mum was busy driving to this new, gigantic place called high school. After driving in a lot of circles, she finally found a park. Of course, she had to take a million photos because you know, that’s just what parents do. “In front of the gate, how about on this bench, now outside your classroom.’’ When she saw my fists clenched, my jaw shaking and my face as red as a tomato I think she got the message. Slowly, I stumbled into the room, trying to find my seat. It was a refrigerator in there! My legs were shaking furiously, and I had goose bumps running up my arms. Finally, I found my spot right up the back. When I sat down, I let out a huge sigh of relief.

I ended up sitting between Nicole and Annette, they looked about as nervous as I felt. The silence between us soon became unbearable, my heart about to explode it was pounding so hard. Until finally I whispered my name to them, and they whispered theirs back; the volume so low I had to move in closer, to hear them.

Year 7 gathered in the amphitheatre and all you could see was the black and white of our uniforms. I couldn’t think straight there was so much chattering. Then, like a flock of magpies we moved into the Presentation Centre and sat down in the sea of dark blue seats. For some unknown reason I was nervous again, so I stuck to Nicole and Annette like glue. Mrs Taylor introduced herself and told us we were going to do a scavenger hunt to get to know the school better.

I was jumping in my seat, and only then realised that I wasn’t sitting next to either of my new friends. When we were released like wild animals, I introduced myself to the girl sitting next to me. Her name was Robyn. – We walked around the school talking while completing the hunt. Unfortunately, we didn’t win a prize, but it made me think positively about beginning high school. That’s when it hit me. Everyone was scared, nervous and needing a friend. And that’s the moment I realised high school would be okay.