It was a long, long summer. Well, actually no it wasn’t. It was so short. Like Taylor Swift’s relationships short. Before I knew it, tomorrow is back-to-school day. Unenthusiastically, I went to sleep, or at least I tried to. I was unable to go to bed. I tossed and turned until it was two o’clock in the morning. Four hours of sleep was all I got. When six o’clock rolled around, I woke up, ate my breakfast, got on my school-clothes, said goodbye to my mom and brother as they saw me off, and went off to start the next chapter in the book I call school. Yay, I’m a junior!

One long bus drive later, I arrived at the school, surprised to hear loud band music playing. As I walked through the halls, cheerleaders in two different roes each on opposite sides of me and the other newly arriving students waved their pom-poms around welcoming us back to school. Seeing that display put a smile on my face. The two rows of cheerleaders led to the large commons, and there I went. It was crowded with students frantically moving about to either meet their friends or make their way to the desks to pick up their schedule. I saw some familiar faces, some who were friends, some who I never talked to but recognized from my last year’s classes, and then there was my best friend Barkley. Even though it had only been three months, he somehow looked different. His hair was only longer, but it still felt like I haven’t seen him in three whole months, because I haven’t. No doubt I was happy to see him. I wanted to approach him and catch up, but I had to find my schedule, so I turned the opposite way and headed toward the long line of people whose name ended in “G”. After I was finally in the front of the line, I grabbed my schedule and went. I noticed something a little off in my schedule. Instead of Theatre Arts, I had World Geography as my 7th period. Seeing that little error irritated me a little, but I figure I can talk to my counselor and get it fixed. I would have liked to try and find Barkley again, but an echoed voice from an AP with a microphone yattered and nagged that all students should make their way to first period. I mockingly mimicked her words with my hand and reluctantly did as she said. I headed upstairs in an attempt to find my first period class. I walked left and right and left again and right again, but no luck. I asked a teacher where I should go.

“You go this way then you go that way then when you get to there you go there and back around there then turn to over there.”

I said thank you even though I was still sure I wouldn’t find my destination and turned to the direction he was pointing at. However, as I turned I saw someone. Someone I did not want to see. Someone I don’t ever want to see, and don’t want to see me. Instead of going that direction, I turned the opposite way and I ran. I ran as if he were a zombie from The Walking Dead. I can only imagine the expressions on the person’s and the teachers face as they witnessed my behavior. As soon as I was sure I lost him, I continued my endeavor to find my first period class. Many directions later, I found it, my US History class. Woop-dee-doo! A young, personable lady in a blue dress stood next to the door’s entrance, viewing my new classmate’s schedule and welcoming them into her class. It was obvious that she was my teacher.

“Hello.” The teacher said as I approached her.

“Hi,” I casually said back as I handed her my schedule and introducing myself.

“Hi. Find your number and sit at that seat.” She said as she pointed at a sheet of computer paper with the students’ names and a number hanging on the wall. As I walked in, I saw a familiar face, my friend Mauricio. He was happily talking to his other friend, overjoyed to see they have the same class together. I don’t usually hang out or talk to him often, but we do enjoy each other’s company, and seeing a familiar face made me happy to not be totally alone.

“Hey Mauricio!” I said making my way to my assigned seat

“Oh hey man!” He greeted back in the same old way I remembered. More and more students entered the classroom, and not long after, the bell rang. Blah-blah blah rules blah-blah-blah no cellphones blah-blah-blah. RING! I made my way off to second period class, only to find I was going the opposite way of where I was supposed to go. Many directions from many teachers later, I found English III. RING! Blah-blah-blah snore-snore blah-blah snore-snore blah-blah-blah. RING! I was glad to be out of there. My teacher was so boring I struggled to keep awake, and not just because I only got four hours of sleep. Next was the absolute hardest to find, my third period. Many more directions later, I headed toward the right direction, only to be halted by a traffic jam of students cluttering up the halls and slowing the flow. It was like trying to make your way out of a giant ball-pit. I eventually made it out of the clutter and arrived at my destination, after completely passing it, got lost, and asking a few more directions. Here I was, Algebra III. I sat in a seat in the back of the room like the usual loner I am. Random student after random student entered. I sat with a stoic expression on my face as I didn’t really care about anything other than going through the day and going home. Random student after random student continued to enter one after another. Then a not-so-random student entered. It was Barkley. He sat just a desk behind the front of the classroom. I was glad to have the same class as him. I hesitated at first, but I grabbed my stuff and approached the seat right next to his.
“Oh hey!” He greet as he smiled, happy to see me again.

“Hey Barkley.” I returned as I pulled the seat to sit down. “Hey, why didn’t you return my calls or texts?”
“Oh I was focusing on my driver’s ed for the summer.”

“Oh.”
“Yeah, and that one time you called, I had a really bad stomach ache.”
“Oh. Well I just called to let you know that I’m going to try to be happy.”
“Oh, Okay.”
"Yeah. I know I was a total mess over some stupid reason."
"It's ok."
"I promise I'll be happier and I will keep."
"Well you don't have to but I want you to try."

RING! The teacher walked in a introduced herself and said the same things my previous teachers said, only she had a loud, prison warden that was hard to ignore. Still, I made him a promise and I will keep it. I didn't want him to see me a mess anymore. I know how it feels to witness someone I love breaking down as I sat watching, knowing there was nothing I can do about it. I don't want to make Barkley go through that anymore. RING! On to my 4th period. I knew excatly where that one was. One of my last year's classes was right next to it. I breezed through the hallways, and on my way there, I ran into another familiar friend.
"Hey... there." I said as I tried so hard to remember his name but failed miserably. "I forgot your name."
"Hey." He said. "No worries. I forgot your name too."

I laughed a little. "Okay then let's reintroduce ourselves." I told him my name.
"Dolton."
"Oh. I was thinking it was Dylan."
"That's my brother's name."
"Oh." I reached my classroom. "Well, see ya Dolton!" I said walking in.
"Later."

Here I am, Computer Science. RING! Nothing too special about this class. The teacher introduced herself. I was around people I don’t know. Then I started feeling overwhelmed. She was saying some things that did make me nervous. Again, I was overwhelmed. Very. I just didn't want to deal with school or deal with the people around me anymore. I wanted this day to end so I can just go home and take a nap. I guess those four hours of sleep were starting to get to me. RING! Next was lunch time. Finally I can catch a break and unwind. I made my way to the commons with a bunch of other students also gathering toward there. As I slowly but surely made my way through, I found all of my best friends gathered at the same place they had always gathered. I smiled at the thought of being able to join with the whole gang again. I quickly walked up to them. There they were, Brandon, making the same crude jokes he's always had. There was Antonio, who was a close friend of mine living in the same neighborhood, but didn't get to hang out as much when I moved. Orlando, Summer, Noey, Sarah, and even Barkley were also there. We were all joking around, laughing as we always had. It was so good to see them all again. Even though it was only three months, it felt like it’s been years since I’ve seen them. Yet, they’re still the same old guys that stood at the exact same spot last year. Nothing has changed.