by Emma Knight
Rachel looked into her palm, at the four, moist dollar bills. She realized they wouldn’t go far in this school, and bypassed the hot food line as her stomach growled.
Rachel reached for a bag of Fritos and a cookie, paid the cashier, and exited through the opposite door.
As she left the lunch line and entered the large cafeteria room again, it had gotten much more crowded. All the tables were full, and everyone was already eating. Apparently it wasn’t cool to buy hot lunch at AHS. Everyone had brought their lunches from home, and she looked at the array of wraps, salads, and freshly made deli sandwiches that spread across each table.
As Rachel looked at all the kids, she couldn’t help but feel like she was part of a cliché teen movie. New girl in the cafeteria, with no friends, having a hard time finding a place to sit and eat.
She continued walking, looking for a table to sit at. She passed a table full of nerdy looking kids, all with their laptops and schoolbooks out.
At another table Rachel saw a group of grungy, punk kids with baggy pants, chain wallets, streaked hair and dark black eyeliner.
At another table sat a group of pretty girls, and Rachel could hear them going over a cheer. Rachel assumed they were cheerleaders. This reminded her of her plan to try out for her old school’s cheerleading team. She took another look at those girls, and felt deflated, and she didn’t feel like she belonged on the same team as them.
At the table next to the pretty girls sat Greene, in his #80 jersey. He was sitting there with about ten other jock types: some in their football jerseys, and others looking sharp in preppy clothing.
Rachel came upon a table behind Greene’s, with a few random people scattered at it. Nobody was talking to each other and they were all looking down, quietly munching away at their lunches. She found an open seat and sat down.
Nobody even looked up to acknowledge that she had joined the table. Rachel felt an overwhelming feeling of solitude, and quickly ate her Fritos lunch. She didn’t want to sit in that cafeteria feeling anonymous and alone any longer than she had to.
As she scarfed down her chips, she couldn’t help but notice how cute Greene was.
“Hey Rob, check this out,” a boy sitting at Greene’s table said, and handed Greene something.
Rob Greene Rachel thought to herself. Now she knew his first name, too.
Rob was one of the hottest guys she’d ever seen. His wispy blonde hair swept over his green eyes as he brushed it back with his fingertips. Rachel wanted desperately for him to notice her. Her heart started beating faster and she realized she had her first crush at AHS.
Rachel’s mind was racing, and she suddenly remembered her Pennsylvania crush, Alex, who she’d been lusting after for all of 9th grade. He was nothing like Rob. Alex had dark brown hair, brown eyes and didn’t dress nearly as well. It was safe to say that Rachel didn’t have a specific “type.” She was attracted to all her crushes for various inexplicable reasons -- not even she could understand it.
Rachel grabbed her cookie and took it with her as she walked out of the cafeteria. She looked at her watch: twelve more minutes until seventh period. She began to roam the halls aimlessly, feeling alone and shy.
She came upon the girls’ gym locker room. On the wall outside the locker room hung a large bulletin board, with news, announcements, a calendar and fliers posted to it. Her eyes drifted to a picture of the AHS varsity cheerleading team. Below the picture read:
Tryouts – September 9th @ 3pm in the Gymnasium
Rachel took a flyer and read it closely.
“Only a few spots remain. Do you like football? Do you like dancing?” In pencil someone had written, (Do you like hot boys in uniform?) “Do you have AHS school spirit?
If so, come to tryouts tomorrow!
Coach Glass”
Rachel folded the flyer up and put it into her Filofax. The thought of making the team gave her the chills. She knew she had to go to the tryouts.
Rachel checked her watch again: five more minutes until lunch was over. She paced up and down the empty hallways. She passed by the cafeteria and saw groups of friends chatting and having fun. Rachel wished she had found a friend-- just one.
Rachel passed the office receptionist in the halls.
“You finding everything OK, Dear?” the receptionist asked in a sweet, comforting voice.
“Yup, just heading to the bathroom,” Rachel said, trying to make it seem less obvious that she was pacing the halls alone, with no destination.
Finally, the bell rang and swarms of kids flooded the hallway.
Two more periods and I’m done, Rachel thought to herself. It gave her a sense of relief knowing that the day was winding down.
The remaining two periods went by painfully slowly. She coasted through each class, her mind wandering. She wondered what Dana and all her friends back in Pennsylvania were up to. She imagined them having a fun first day of school and planning their weekends together.
DING DING DING. The loud speaker came on. It was the end of the day announcements.
“Welcome back AHS! We hope you all had a great first day of school and we are so happy to see all of your smiling faces. Don’t forget tryouts tomorrow for all sports at 3pm. Check the bulletin board for tryout location. Have a great rest of the day and don’t forget your homework!”
RING.
The final bell sounded. Rachel was done. She felt a rush of freedom fill her body as she darted out of her classroom and into the hallways. She collected all of her things in her locker and headed outside to her mom’s car.
On her way out, Rachel passed her brother Mark, who was happily walking along with two other guys. When Mark saw her, he waved and then looked around her. Rachel could tell he was wondering why she was walking all alone.
When Rachel got outside, she saw her mom behind the wheel of the Station wagon. She was first in line, parked right out front of the school. Her mom beeped the horn twice, rolled down the windows and started waving to Rachel and Mark. Rachel was mortified.
Rachel hopped into the car with her hand covering her face, hoping that nobody was watching. The car sat there and a few seconds later Mark got in. Rachel’s mom pulled up a few feet to park the car to wait for Sarah to come outside. A few long minutes later, Sarah came out the front doors, smiling and exchanging cell numbers with her new group of friends.
Rachel was flooded with jealousy. Was she the only one that didn’t make a friend?
Sarah opened the car door and said, “I’m gonna grab a bite with the girls. I’ll be back later-- they’ll drop me back home.”
“Ok, Honey, have a great time. So happy you made new friends!” their mom said, as Sarah shut the door and headed back toward her new friends.
Why couldn’t that be me?
Chapter Four
