Sea Wolves

My alarm clock buzzed loudly sometime in the early morning. I could feel Jojo start in surprise beside me, and with one of my fingers I gently rubbed his chin to reassure him. Then I rolled over and blinked a couple of times to clear my vision. The clock's digital numbers read 5:45. My hand found the snooze button and the alarm fell silent as I hit it.

This was the day. The day I would step foot in my new school and fall into Washington's teenage society at last. But would they accept me? Like I had predicted, the days leading up to this one had been absolutely terrifying and stressful, and no amount of reassurance from my parents could get rid of the butterflies breeding in the pit of my stomach. Thoughts ran endlessly throughout my mind: what would my classes be like? Would I like my teachers? Would they like me? Where will I sit at lunch, and who will I sit with? Would I be alone? You get the idea.

I lay in my bed unwilling to get into the shower. My mind went over what I would be wearing today; truthfully I hadn't put a lot of thought into my wardrobe. I guess I would just throw something on. With a groan I finally slipped out of bed and trudged to the bathroom. Once in the shower, I sprayed myself with ice cold water to wake myself up, then turned the knob until the water was warm and the steam rose up like a cloud around me. My hair didn't take long to blow dry, and while I had my straightening iron heating up I hurried back to the bedroom and started searching through my clothes. After some consideration I selected a pair of skinny jeans and my favorite long-sleeved hooded shirt with black and royal purple stripes. I changed quickly, then hurried back to the bathroom and started on my hair. I ran the iron through sections of my raven-black hair until I was satisfied. Then I moved to make-up. I don't mean to overdo it, but today I applied quite a bit more dark mascara than I'm used too. But whatever. I thought it looked good.

Downstairs I found an envelope containing the school information my mom had left for me on the kitchen counter. Tossing my backpack on one of the chairs surrounding the dining table, I opened the envelope and scanned the papers. One of them contained my locker number and combination. It was a habit of mine to write down important things on my arm, so I grabbed a sharpie from the drawer next to me and scribbled down the things I knew I would forget down on my skin. It was a lot easier than shoving all those papers in my pocket. And besides, my sleeve would hide anything on my arm so no one would ask questions about it. Although I knew they probably wouldn't. I'm sure I'm not the only teenager in the world who likes to jot down things on a part of their body.
I wasn't really hungry for breakfast, so I just grabbed an apple from the fridge. When I'm nervous, I don't eat. And I was really nervous today. But in spite of that I was a little hungry (I kind of just contradicted myself in saying this) because I hardly ate any of my dinner last night. I just hoped I could stomach something as big as an apple.

The bus would be arriving soon. I grumbled at the thought of having to ride it to the school. I could drive; I had my license. I just didn't have a car. Or a job to get a car. I did have a job back in California, and it paid pretty well, but I didn't exactly have enough saved to buy a car of my own, and back in Cali I didn't really need one to drive to school because it was in walking distance of my house. And when I did need a car I just borrowed my parent's, or walked to my destination, which really wasn't far.
But that wasn't the case here in Washington. I had to ride the bus or else miss my first class in the time it would take for me to walk to the school. As I grabbed my backpack and slung it over my shoulders and headed out the door, I made a major mental note to find a job here ASAP.

It wasn't rainy, but the sky was overcast and the gray clouds looked like they would produce a drizzle at any moment. And I didn't want to be caught outside when that happened. I walked briskly down the street, searching for the entrance to our neighborhood where the school bus would be waiting, my arms hugging my body as I shivered against the chilly air. The roar of the bus's engine sounded just when I reached the road; it was already pulling to a stop in front of the neighborhood.

Once I boarded, I immediately looked for an unoccupied seat where I could sit alone. Luckily I found one and claimed it without hesitation, scooting over to the window and pressing my body against the wall of the bus in case someone wanted to sit next to me. I hoped no one would. I wanted to be alone for a while so I wouldn't feel overwhelmed before I would feel overwhelmed when I got to the school. Fortunately there weren't too many people on the school bus this morning.

I was listening to soft music on my ipod when we arrived at the school. My eyes drank in the site of the large, dark-bricked building and the green lawn surrounding it. Flocks of teenagers were scattered across the school yards, some just arriving in their cars, headed towards the school, or in groups as they delayed going inside. I was surprised at how many kids were going to this school - I had expected a smaller number of them. And it only made me even more nervous.

I exited the bus slowly, hugging my body again to keep warm and my eyes downcast, hoping no one would notice me. Unfortunately a couple of them did. I heard a few friendly hi's aimed in my direction, but I didn't look up as I crossed the lawn towards the school's entrance. Well, so far so good at not being noticed at least. But I'm sure things would get uncomfortable as soon as I entered my new school.