On a scorching day of summer, we had to wake up with misty eyes as the rays of the sun rained through the window to say hello. I forced my heavy eye lids open for my year of eight grade was about to get in action. Everyone was getting their belongings ready and straightened for the first day of the long roller coaster ride throughout the year. Once ready, the big yellow monster that passed off as the bus, would be bowing at your feet, ready for you to get in and make your way over to one of the seats you were destined to choose. There were so many choices, I admit this is true.
Then, I saw... I saw the warm, smiling face of my best friend, Felicity. She sat there waiting as my feet made their way over to where she was sitting. We said hello and our conversation was very long and explaining what amazing experiences and new things had happened to us this summer. Most importantly, we had much information we had to catch up on. Already I got to see a familiar face that filled me up with warmth as I saw that friendly smile. But then...another friend came along, making an angry face at me. I searched in the depths of my mind as I tried to crack the code of why she was acting that way and giving me a face as if she had just eaten a lemon. Oh no, I thought, maybe this is the part of the roller coaster where I have to hold on as we scream as it slowly, yet quickly made its way down.
It was now time to escort to homeroom where we would be able to see new faces or old faces. The first day of school was full of running around and having new students, the difference was that this time it was our time to shine as the leaders. As I dragged my feet all the way to homeroom, with Felicity slowly strolling by my side, we got lost, you think we wouldn’t since we have been in the same long, yet narrow hallways, we would know where to go. We did not. There in the distance was an old friend, leaned against the locker in a casual stance. When she saw us, she quickly strolled to where we were standing with a dazed look on our faces. She then pointed us to where we would want to go. When she did, our faces turned tomato red for the lost and mysterious classroom we couldn’t find was right in front of our faces! After realizing we had passed it a million times when we strolled, we moved our feet quickly to choose where to sit out of all the anonymous seats to choose from.
When walking in, I realized something...a new name. Who could it possibly be? For the rest of the morning after going through all of the introductions and wishing I was at home buried in a mountain of dreams, I noticed that there was a girl who sat staring into the distance concentrated deep into her thoughts. She sat very still with a glare with no expression. There she was, casually sitting with her short, blonde hair pulled into a tiny twisted braid that swung over her shoulder and rested there. The strands of hair traveled here and there, winding down and held together with a delicate tie. I had not recognized her. This made me quite curious to whom she was.
Later, opportunity struck. There was an important assembly where we all got escorted. It was only the beginning of the rest of our lives and already we were getting lectured. There she was! That mysterious girl with the winding braid, sitting next to me. I wasn’t quite sure what to say. She was very quiet and I was longing to know just who she was. I then turned my head slowly to her and I said hi. From then on, we kept our conversation going. Who knew that just a simple hi would be lead to so much conversational words? I wanted to know more about her and so then I asked a magical question. I questioned her to see where she was going to sit with during lunch. She said no one had talked to her but me so far and she didn’t know where to sit. I made the decision to tell her to sit with me and my friends. She was very quiet and hardly said a word unless we addressed her. My so called best friend wasn’t too happy with me and her. She especially didn’t like that Felicity and I were so close now. She has been apart from me and I have not heard much of a word from her. The mysterious girl, I heard a lot from her.
From that day on, that mysterious girl with the braid has been my best friend. We share many jokes that make us both laugh until our tears are about to leave the rim of our eyes. I’m not glad that I said hi to her. I know that’s something I will never regret, talking to her was an amazing experience. Now I found someone that my troubles can be told, someone who can never say a peep about my secrets, and most importantly, a friend who I can always look to. The girl with the winding braid who used to be so unknown to me may now know me inside and out.