Nothing Lasts Forever In The *** Scene

I groaned and rolled out of bed, completely understanding that I had school today.

The first day of seventh grade. And it was probably going to be hell.

I had a quick shower, letting the icy water wake me up as it pelted against my back. I shut the water off, hopping out onto the short shag rug and drying off in a hurry. As I wandered back into my room, I turned on my stereo while I got dressed into my new school uniform.
St. Patrick's uniforms were pretty bad. The dress for summer was plaid light and navy blue, the edges of the sleeves maroon. And there were three layers of clothes in winter - a blouse, jumper and a compulsory navy blazer that had to be worn to and from school all the time. I didn't want a skirt - my legs got too cold - so I went for the navy slacks.
I checked my reflection in the mirror before leaving my room, grabbing an apple from the kitchen, quickly packing my bag and trodding off downstairs.
My parents were already at work, so it was just me and my grandparents - my parents and I lived upstairs while my grandparents lived downstairs.

I pulled the door open and headed through the hall of my grandparents' house. I could hear my Nonna whistling out the back, so I ran back the way I came and out the back door to say goodbye. I had to catch the bus, so I was a little hasty.

"Bye bye, Nonna!" I exclaimed, running up to her and giving her a quick hug.

"Bye, sweetie," she replied, giving me a kiss on the cheek. "Have a nice first day!"

"I will! Where's Papa?"

"Inside somewhere, I think."

"Okay, bye!"

I jogged back inside and around the house until I found my Papa sitting at the dining table having breakfast. He looked up as I came pelting towards him, and held his hands over his head, knowing what I would do.

"Bye, Papa!" I called, rushing up, giving him a big hug. He was tricked; he put his hands down back onto the table. Before I rushed out the door, I shook my hand on his head, messing up his hair. I was walking down the driveway when I heard them both conversing.

"That kid, she mucked my hair," Papa complained.

"It's her first day, let her have some fun," Nonna laughed.

--

The best thing about St. Pat's was that two of my best friends had been accepted too; Erin and Grace. They'd been my friends since the first day of kindergarten, and sure, like any friendship, we'd had our ups and downs, but they'd been overcome and it was all good.

I clambered onto the bus, and the bus driver didn't even care that I didn't show my pass. I'd forgotten it in my rush. I immediately saw Erin sitting on the front seat, so I plonked myself down next to her.

"You excited about seventh grade?" I asked.

"Meh, a little. I guess it's good to have to get back into work and stuff," she replied nonchalantly.

"So how were your holidays?"

"Pretty good, we went to the snow."

"You're lucky. I've never seen snow before!"

"Hey, I wonder who we'll meet this year," Erin wondered.

"Yeah, maybe some cool people," I replied.

We kept talking about what we thought we were doing during the year, and what we did during summer break. By the time we'd reached the school, we'd gone back and forth about six times. We bounced off the bus and wandered in, trying to work out where to go.

"It says here that we have to go to... Lower Nagle...?" I said, reading the small sign at the entrance.

"Oh. Um," Erin paused and looked around, then pointed to the buildng to our left. "There. See? 'Nagle, West Campus'," she replied. Mystery solved.

We walked across to the grounds until we found a whole group of people who looked around our age. We stopped and looked around. I spotted Grace on the other side of the playground, looking just as clueless as us, and I waved like a madwoman until I got her attention and she came over to Erin and I.

"Hi!" I said.

"Hey," she replied. "Hi, Ez."

"Hey," Erin replied.

"So, what's going on?" Grace asked.

"I've got no clue," I said, looking around, trying to find some source of information.

"I think we might have to go to a hall or something," Erin said.

"Oh, okay," I replied. "What hall?"

"Um, I'm not sure," Erin replied. "They might tell us over intercom or something."

"Yeah," Grace and I agreed at the same time.

Just at that moment, a lady's voice could be heard ringing through the grounds.

"Could all year seven students report to Rice Hall at the first bell? I'll repeat; all year seven students to Rice Hall at first bell. Thankyou."

Then the bell rang, and everyone started walking to the opposite side of the school.

Seventh grade had officially begun.