A Flowers Enigma

2- New School, Same Me

Being the new kid to a large school was always so terrifying.

Especially in a school full of rich influential people. If nobody knew you, you were instantly somebody that they wanted to know. Like a mystery lollipop, they're so excited to unwrap the candy paper until they find out it's a root beer sucker. That's how I felt everyone was viewing me. How they'd eventually see me.

I stood by the entrance of the school, right next to my mom's car. Everyone was looking at me, whether they actually weren't or were. Analyzing me. 'Who is she?' 'Are those nails cheap?' 'Did she get some work done?' was all the questions I could read from their face. Because really, who am I? To them, I'm an alien. To people that have known each other for years, I'm foreign and different.

The usual pretty girls, giving me either dirty or interested looks and the boys... You already know the story with that one.

"Just go inside, honey. I'm sure everyone will be nice to you, your a beautiful baby." I look down to my mom peering her head out the window.

Little does she know beauty doesn't go such a long way in high school. "T-thanks ma. Bye." She waves me off, a big smile on her chocolate drop face.

Sometimes growing up I thought my mom was a human Hershey's kiss. She was sweet, and gave me lots of energy whenever she encouraged me. Her skin was soft and flawless, thanks to her 10 step makeup routine. She always decorate herself with shiny jewelry, and smelt so good. As she drove away, my burst of confidence grew. She's right!

"I can do this." I whisper. My legs shakily take themselves to the entrance.

I hope I didn't forget to shave. It'd be embarrassing to wear a skirt with hairy legs. I hope I didn't over shave, too. Because then I'd be wearing a skirt with knicked, bloody legs. Double embarrassment. To be sure, I glanced at my wobbling legs. They were absolutely drenched with cocoa lotion. So I'm pretty sure I looked like a glazed donut. It's probably why I got a couple of awestruck stares, mixed with hateful ones.

The office isn't far from the entrance, with big signs leading into it. I go into it, the smell of coffee and ink overwhelming my nose. There was one other kid in the room, curled in a ball fast asleep. The little plump lady sat at the desk typing furiously. It felt almost illegal to clear my throat and stop her from working. Her long lashes fluttered as she looked up at me irritably, red lips curled.

"How can I help you?" She nearly snarled.

"I've come to get my schedule, miss." She raises her eyebrow.

"Iris Mays." I say soon after.

Her long fingers type furiously on the keyboard as she searches for my schedule. While she searches and prints, I sit next to the sleeping kid and take my breathes. I even tie my shoes repeatedly, making sure my fresh new Jordans were clean and crease free.

"Here you go." Says the lady. She slides me the paper, which I take happily.

"Thank you." I offer her a smile, hoping her bad day is somehow resolved.

I know how it is to have bad days. It's only to be expected that she snaps, just like everyone else. This seems to lighten her up, a small smile lifting on her lips in return. See what one smile can do for a person? I peek at my schedule, instantly groaning. Who wants to go to Geometry for first hour?! I make my way to my locker number, hiding the anxiety of being stared at for all of my 10 minutes here.

In my peripheral vision, I see a group of kids walking down the hall in my direction. Instantly I sidestep all of them quickly, as if I was never there. In public school, there was three rules to walking in the halls. One. Never walk slow. Two. Never randomly stop in the middle of the hallway. And three.