She Had a Name

Sammi held the paper in her hands with a vise grip as she walked down the hallway. Lockers lined the hall like prisoners during role-call. I am now a prisoner she thought. Every step brought her closer to room 231. She tried to control her breathing. They are going to know how much of a freak I am. They are all going to know about my parents. They are going to call me bozo or some other ridiculous name. She was now in front of the door. She touched the cold silver knob and opened it. A medium-height man with coal black hair and chocolate brown eyes was standing in the front of the room. His face was average-looking and just by looking at him she could tell there was nothing average about him at all.
He gave her a welcoming smile and the class turned around to stare at her, Sammi shifted in her grey converse and moved a blonde lock out of her face, "You must be Sammi Parkins," the man said.
"Yeah," she half-whispered.
"Well welcome to North High. Class say hi to Sammi," a couple of people grumbled at her as she awkwardly waved, "So, have a seat in any of the empty desks and just relax," he winked.
She found a seat near the middle and sat in it, folding her hands across her lap, she chipped at her finger nail polish and tried to calm herself down. Her ears were burning she could tell people were staring at her. She wanted to dunk down and hide from their greedy gazes. They are just staring at you because you are new. Come on Sam, you've watched television, youve seen how High school is.
The class ended long after the stares subsided then she darted around students in the hallway and found her way into the next class. She introduced herself to the teacher who was a short blonde lady with big green eyes. Then, she sat in the back, hoping not to be noticed. The students that were in there when she introduced herself stared at her but not many others in the class did. So, she found a way to lose the awkwardness.
When lunch came around, a girl with long curly brown hair and aquamarine eyes approached her with a warm smile. She was wearing skinny jeans and an Atreyu t-shirt, "I'm Amber," the girl said, smiling at her.
Sammi smiled back at her, "I'm Sammi."
"You are the new girl, right? The one who was home-schooled?"
"Yeah," Sammi moved another lock of hair out of her face nerviously, How do people know about me?
As if Amber could hear what she was thinking she said, "Dont worry, everyone knows everything at this school. We all gossip. So you want to set with me at lunch?"
Sammi nodded, figuring she didnt have any other option.
They sat at a table full of strange people. Alot of them had crazy hairdos, they all wore skinny jeans and they were all discussing the latest episode of Americas Got Talent. Sammi tried to shrink into the background but Amber made it a point to interrupt them all and introduce Sammi. All five of them looked at her with warm smiles. There were three boys and three girls. They included her into the conversation and she found her first friends.
"So why were you home-schooled?" Stefanie, a girl with long black and purple hair, asked.
Sammi tried not to look at her extreme makeup and lip rings and said, "We moved alot."
"So your parents aren't crazy God freaks then?"
"No. Almost the opposite," she shrugged.
"So why did you move alot?" Adam, a guy with dreads asked.
"My parents are trapeze artists."
Everyone at the table seemed to get excited and they began to ask her all sorts of questions, they made sure to make it a point to say that her family was pretty bad ass over and over. Sammi answered them kind of shyly and she couldnt help but to notice that Adam wouldnt stop staring at her. It made her feel kind of awkward but flattered.
By the time she was home, she was in better spirits and she was proud of all her new friends. Most of them had at least one class with her and she had four classes with Amber.
The last time she had told anyone that her parents were in the circus, they all called her a freak and shunned her. Sammi was in the circus as a tight-rope walker and when she was little it brought in lots of money. Now that she was older the money seemed to lesson. So, her parents couldnt afford to keep her home-schooled and had to put her into the public schools.
When they had moved into their new house, the neighboors watched in awe as their stuff was unloaded. They had their own tight-rope. They had many wacky statues and all of their furniture was custom made to look like it was part of a fun-house. Sammi liked the circus life but she was also emberassed by it. Many people pushed her into the background when she told them what her family did for money. She was not used to people taking it as well as her new friends did.