“Honey. Wake up.” My mom said. Slowly pushing me side to side to try to wake me up.

“Why?” I said, My voice groggy, from just waking up.

My mom giggled. “It’s the first day of school silly!” She said.

I remembered, and suddenly adrenalin starting pumping through my body. I hadn’t seen anyone! Or at least, barely anyone since May, and I couldn’t wait for the day to begin.

“What do you want for breakfast?” My mom said.

“Eggs and Toast,” I responded.
I popped out of bed and brushed my hair, doing it extra special for the first day of school. I got dressed in a colorful Pink and Orange skirt, with white leggings.
My heart had been beating all of that morning. making me get the feeling when your really excited and you get weird butterflies in your stomach. We rode our bikes to school that morning. It was only 5 blocks away, and I wanted to make sure to get there on time.

The building was a big brick building with red and orange bricks, building up what looked like a farm silo at the front. I had gone here since kindergarten, and every year it was the same. The same people. The same place. Yeah each year we had a couple of new people, but none of them were my friends, and I intended for it to stay that way.

My brother and I biked that morning, the wind swooshing up my hair so it stuck up out of my helmet at funny angles. We arrived. I rode up the sidewalk ramp and parked my bike, by my favorite tree.


“Have a good day sweetie!” My mom had said that morning when she kissed my cheek.

I walked into the front door of the school. It even smelled like a new beginning. The waxed and polished blue, orange, and yellow tiles in their strange pattern shined up. These were the same tiles last year that I had pretended, that the blue ones were the ocean and in order to survive i needed to stay on the orange and yellow ones.

I knew i wasn’t late. I had checked the clock to many times at home. That even though i had no watch, i was sure I wasn’t. I walked past the front office, passing the principle’s office and the yellow bright lights inside of it. With each step I walked past the classrooms full of children sorting school supplies, as they greeted each other. With each step I grew more filled with excitement. My heart bat and soon I was at a slow jog, not caring if I got in trouble the first day.

I opened the door, and hung my backpack up. My mom, who had been walking with me the whole time, handed me my school supplies.
“Who’s that?” She said. She was pointing to a girl with olive skin and black puffy hair.

“I don’t know.” I said.

The board said to put your school supplies in the different boxes all around the room. I started to. Putting everything in the right spot, and carefully separating the pens from the pencils.

“Caley, could you come over here?” It was Marcia my third grade teacher this year. Why was she asking me to come to her? Was I already in trouble. The girl with the puffy black hair was standing by her.

“Sure one minute.” I put in my last box of crayons and walked over. Marcia was sitting in a chair, but one of those that are made 3rd grade size, so here knees were unaturally high.

“Caley, this is Sofia.” I looked at her. Her eyes were staring at me brown and deep like chocolate. She wore a white sweater and a blue t-shirt. She bit her lip like she was nervous and didn’t know what to think.

“Hi.” I said. My voice didn’t sound the way I wanted it to. It sounded like I was hopeful we could be friends, that wasn’t what I was going for.

“Sofia’s new this year, and since most of you have been at odyssey for at least a year, I want you to look out for her today. You know show her around.” Marcia added on to what she had said earlier.

“Hi.” Sofia said. She said it quietly like she was not quite sure what she wanted to say.

“Thank you so much Caley!” Marcia said. “I’m sure you two will become best of friends!” What Marcia didn’t know what that in fact what she was saying was true, but not right away. Not till lunch.

It’d been like any other first day of school. Except for Sofia. We’d played name games and gotten to know each other. Just like how it’s suppoused to work on the first day of school. Sofia wasn’t that bad though. She was quiet and didn’t talk much, except for and occasional question. It was like having a living shadow.

“So...” I said as we went outside.

“We should be best friends forever!” She said and it was the loudest she’d spoken all day.

“What!?!” I said. “I mean sorry. Umm sure.” I said not sure how to respond to this sudden out break of enthuseasum.

“B.F.F.S. need to have a secret hand shake!” She said. The sun shining on her soft light brown skin.

“Okay.” I said. I didn’t know if I necessarily wanted to, but it was better then going and playing red rover and getting clothes-lined like my friends were doing. I really wanted to go play. I was about to ask if we could do it tomorrow actually. But then I saw Sparrow run across and fall getting grass stains all over her jeans. “Lets do this!” I said.

“Okay here’s how it’s going to work your going stand like this and hold my hand like this...” She went on saying until we figured out an intricate plan that involved a lot of jumping hand shaking and laughing. This was nothing like I had expected I was not wanting a friend. Because I wanted to be “Normal.” But that day i discovered sometimes. It’s better not to be normal. Sofi taught me that.

That’s the first thing i remember from Sofia or Sofi as we now call her now. That funny little girl who decided to be friends with me that early fall day has changed me forever. Like a sisters we laugh, and like a good friend she always is there for me.

Now that I look back I made a great friend that day. Someone who I’ll never forget. And I’m so happy i chose to make a handshake instead of play red rover. It was The parchment was ready to be written on. So would I rather have left it blank, and abandon here, or like now have so many stories on it. It’s overflowing. I think I can skip out on red rover just that once.