[pirate witch]: 524.Contest Entries.Interlocken

Freshman Orientation. Sixty kids who don’t know each other stuck in some campsite in the middle of nowhere. Nowhere to escape to. Why did I apply to private school again? Oh yes. Because at the public high school, I would only get into trouble. I took a deep breath and stepped onto the bus, holding my sketchbook very close to me. It would be my only friend for the next two days.

A junior-soon-to-be-senior sat next to me. She was friendly enough, but I knew that she only told me just how much fun I was going to have because it was her duty. And since I obviously didn’t have any friends, she would grace me with her presence. I told her that I didn’t want to get old, that if I died I wanted it to be dramatic. It was a miracle that she didn’t get up and leave right then.

After our welcoming speech at good ol’ “Mountain in the Middle of Nowhere,” the headmaster told us to get better acquainted with our new classmates. A cute looking girl with a bright green ribbon in her hair sat next to me right away.

“Hi! I’m Whitney! You were on my bus I think. Sam and I are swinging. Do you want to come?”

“No.” I didn’t want to swing with this Whitney girl. I was a highschool freshman. If I was going to swing at all, it would be on my own time. I left her there, not wanting to see how she would react to my bluntness, and sat down on a boulder. I was surrounded by trees, on the edge of this little bee hive of excited students. I smiled for the first time the whole day when I breathed in the scent of pine trees. I began to draw a picture of a bat.

At dinner, I sat with the only person I knew. Tristan had gone to my Elementary schools and my Middle School. He was the closest thing I had to a friend. We talked about Middle School, and how this couldn’t possibly be worse. We hoped.

My cabin had six girls in it, and one Upperclassmen. I didn’t like four of the girls right away. They were putting on makeup all the time. We were in the woods! Were the squirrels going to judge them? One girl was an international student. The only other girl was Sam, the girl Whitney was swinging with.

“I saw you today. What were you drawing?”

“A bat. But it turned out very badly. It looked more like a flying beaver.”

“That’s cool. I can’t draw bats either. But I like to draw. When we get back to school, do you want to see some of my drawings?”

I did. But I just smiled and climbed onto the top bunk and tried to sleep. The bunk bed squeaked all night, and I didn’t sleep at all.

The next morning, I ate breakfast with Tristan again. Although I liked Sam quite a bit, I didn’t want to have to go through the traditional “making friends” routine. I just have this habit of saying ridiculously morose things sometimes.

By the end of the second day of orientation, I had become much better at drawing bats. Now they looked like cats with wings, which was an improvement at least. I had also been talked into playing a card game with some upperclassmen and freshmen. My team won. I had no idea what their names were.

That night, we boarded the buses again, to make the trip home. I sat by myself, but in the back this time. Whitney and Sam sat near me, two seats over. I talked to them for a few minutes, chatting pointlessly about the food at the camp. When that subject got old, as all subjects do, I stared out the rapidly darkening window for the remaining two hours. I had finally figured out what was wrong with my bats. Their noses were too big. I resolved to fix that someday, maybe then I would show Sam.

We got off the bus at 10 pm. My dad was waiting for me as I stepped off and grabbed my backpack from the belly of the beast...bus. He gave me a hug.

“How was orientation?” He asked me in the car, I had been drifting off, beginning to get tired. The lights of passing cars were lulling me to sleep, dream like on their own.

“Lovely.” I replied. “I am going to have a fantastic year. I fit in really well with these kids.”

My father smiled. “Good. I’m glad you applied for private school.”

My sardonic grin was hidden by the darkness. “Me too dad.”