Being the “new kid” at school is even worse than it sounds. My dad recently got a job in North Carolina working for a large government agency. My family had to move from Nebraska, where I’d lived in the same house, with the same neighbors, and gone to the same school my whole life.



This is the middle of my sophomore year and you have no idea how hard it is to make friends. I’m the type of girl who’s into soccer but all the girls around here only play beach volleyball. Back where I’m from, we wouldn’t even consider that a sport.

Brrrrrrrring, that sound signals that the school day is starting and my happiness is ending. First hour is biology and my partner is Abby, Miss Popular. Today in class we’re dissecting a frog and of course she won’t even go near the frog, let alone dissect it. Instead, she just sits on her phone texting, who knows who. Personally, I don’t enjoy doing this either but it has to get done, and Abby’s obviously not going to be the one to do it. From what I can tell, Abby doesn’t care about grades in any of her classes. In my house if I don’t have good grades then I can forget about soccer. Abby raised her hand at one point during class today and told Mr. McGee, “I don’t feel so good, can I go home?” He said sure and she pranced out of the room, giggling to herself. Yep, I’m definitely all on my own now.

The next few classes are a blur to me, I don’t really pay attention to them. Finally it’s lunchtime. For most kids, this is the best part of the day, a chance to hang out with friends and eat. But for me, it’s a lonely, socially embarrassing time I dread. I’d rather be back in biology class dissecting that frog. When there’s nothing good in the house I buy lunch, that’s what I’m doing today. I take back what I said before, there is one good part about lunch. The lunch ladies are really nice and give me extra food. They’re kind of like my friends. Today they’re serving chicken noodles soup which is my favorite and usually cheers me up a little bit. Not today though, on the way to my table, Luke Green purposely stuck out his foot trying to make me trip. He succeeded. I fell face first into my soup, burning hot by the way. It was total embarrassment, not like my reputation is that good, that’s if I even have one, but I was just hoping that Connor Donohue, my crush, didn’t see. With my luck, he was right behind me and the soup splashed him. With a weak attempt, I tried to tell Connor sorry, but I don’t think he heard me because I was halfway out the door on the way to the girls’ bathroom.

I stayed in the bathroom for the rest of the lunch hour. Class was starting so I couldn’t stay in there forever. I made it through the rest of the day without embarrassing myself any more, but there’s always tomorrow. On my way out, something caught my eye. It was a poster reminding everyone about the school dance tomorrow. At first I was excited by this idea, then it struck me that I had no one to go with. Back home I wouldn’t have thought twice about it. I told my mom about the dance, she of course thinks I should go, she thinks it’ll be a fun, exciting way to socialize and meet new friends. I on the other hand think this will just be another way for me to embarrass myself. The idea of going shopping to buy a new dress is pretty tempting. So I decided that tomorrow I would work up the courage to ask Connor to go to the dance with me. My mom had heard of this great dress shop downtown called Bia Mella. Whoever told her it was great, they were right.

After about an hour of trying on dresses, I found the one. It was Mardi Gras purple and was covered with a layer of lace and tied with a black ribbon at the waist. The dress was knee-length and flowing. I bought shiny black heels to match. My outfit was complete and it was perfect. Now the only dilemma was getting Connor to say yes.

The next day at school, I tried to approach him during third hour, but Abby got to him before I could. I was close enough to her their conversation and I overheard Abby say, “So Connor, you got a date to the dance tonight?” Connor, looking startled, said, “Not yet.” My opportunity was closing, I knew I had to act on it, so I walked up to the two of them and complimented Abby on her outfit to get her off topic. It worked. Class started before Abby could get back on topic to ask Connor. The only time I could get Connor alone was in line to buy lunch. I had to time it just right so I could get next to him. I didn’t waste any time for small talk, I got right to it, and I asked nervously, “Connor, do you want to be my date for the dance tonight?” He looked stunned but pleased, winked and said, “I’ll pick you up at 6.” I was thrilled, things are finally starting to go my way.

I woke up in a cold sweat, realizing I was still in Nebraska and that all of this was just a dream. It seemed like it was so real, I just wish I still had that dress!