Chapter 8

       When I got home, my jaw ached. From talking too much. At dinnertime, I had a hard time chewing my meatloaf. Well, it could’ve been worse. I was reminded constantly to organize my stuff for school. I would reply defensively, “Well, I still have 29 days left!” Surprisingly, 29 days flew much too quickly.

       “Stephanie, wake up.”

       “Mmph.”

       “Today’s your first day of school,” said mom gently.

       “Boo-what?”

       I got off my bed and dressed quickly. My actions were very alert and rapid. The only problem was my eyes weren’t. My eyelids kept shutting. Naturally, the result was knocking into practically everything and saying─

       “Ow,” I said tonelessly as I bumped into the corner of the breakfast table.

       “I’m sure you’ll be all right,” said Sally when she saw me clutching my stomach. “Those butterflies of yours will go away in no time.” I smiled weakly. But the weak smile turned into a grimace.

       “I mean it can’t be that bad,” remarked mom as she plopped down to get some breakfast. “Even your sister isn’t feeling half as bad as you are.” I could hear Elizabeth talking to my dad.

       “I can’t wait to go to school! I hope they have hot chocolate!”

       I had to leave before my sister did because she was going to kindergarten. At the bus stop, I waited for Mary Anne. When she saw me, she automatically said, “Hi!” She was breathless. “Well, I woke up late!” she said defensively when I asked her. When the bus came, we chose seat number 13. We had a hard time picking. I wanted seat number 7 and Mary Anne wanted 19. Finally, Mary Anne suggested we pick number 13 because it was in the middle. “And plus,” she added, “number 13 is unlucky, right? So we might get to school late or something!” “Well, let’s keep our hopes up,” I said hopefully.

       When I got to school, everybody I saw was weird. “I told you I was ugly!” I heard a boy shout to another boy. I saw another boy staring at books asking himself, “I wonder which seat I’ll get?” Then I went to my locker and put the stuff I didn’t need for my first class in it. Then I went to math class. Luckily when I got there, I saw Mary Anne. I said, “Hi!” She nodded.

       At lunch time, I saw Mary Anne sitting with a lot of other girls. I took my tray and sat next to Mary Anne. After I sat down, Mary Anne immediately introduced me to the other girls. “Guys, this is Stephanie. And this is Maria, Lisa, Laura, Wendy, and Zoe.” Everybody said hi. I was starting to feel more comfortable. I heard a boy say, “Meet me at the G.R.A.P.E. club at 5:00.” “What’s grape stand for?” I asked. Zoe answered, “It stands for ‘Great, Respectable, and Awesome People of Erie’.” “Oh, I thought it stood for ‘Gruesome, Riotous, Arrogant, and Pesky Ears’.” Everyone had a fit of giggles.

       When I got home, Elizabeth was still at school because she left later than I did. When she came home, she said, “School was fun! But we didn’t get hot chocolate. I wonder if we will get chocolate tomorrow.” At this thought, she tried to look wise. Mom then asked, “I forgot to ask you how school was, Steph.” “Oh, it was good. I made new friends at least. I kind of like mi─” “I know! We are going to get hot chocolate!” cried Elizabeth triumphantly.