Just get to class, Mel. You can do this. Just pretend like you don’t see them all pointing and laughing at you. God, my knee really hurts! My thoughts were running rampant as I stopped in front of the door and checked the number above it with the one on my paper. A wave of relief washed over me as I walked into my second period classroom. I plopped down in a desk near the back. My first day at Nelson High wasn’t going exactly as I’d planned. I shuffled my papers and books, trying to make myself look busy and hide the grimace I could feel forming on my face. My knee really was starting to ache. The humiliation replayed over in my head. Somehow, on my way down the stairs from my first period class, I had managed to trip over something and tumble down the last few steps. I felt my knee scrape across the anti-skid surface as I fell to the ground. My books and papers scattered across the tiled floor. Everyone around me turned to look and laugh. Now, sitting in the back of the classroom, I tried to hide and pull myself together. I looked up as other students started to trickle into the room. A lively group walked in together and I looked down to avoid eye contact. Seeing the comfortable way they interacted made me homesick for my old friends. I’d tried hard not to think about them since the move, but at times like these, it was too hard not to.
