“Let’s go! Penelope,  it’s your first day, you don’t want to be late. Heather is waiting outside!” , called my Aunt Amber.

Although, I’m the worst morning person ever, I woke up early this morning and am now rushing through the penthouse looking for my scarf.  Today I am full of nervous butterflies because it was not only my first day of school, but also my first time attending a regular school.

When I was 6, I lost my mother to cancer, and began traveling the world with my billionaire father. About a month ago, my father decided it would be best if I spent a year attending a normal school and having a normal life, so he sent me to live with my Aunt Amber.

“Hey Penelope! Are you excited?”, asks Heather, my next door neighbor who is in the same grade as me,, as I rush out the door.

“Well, yes and nervous of course.” , I reply out of breath.

“Look! The car’s here!”, declared Heather as a  sleek and shiny black Tesla pulled up to the curb.

The second we got in the car, Heather begins  talking about our school, but I’m too nervous to listen and only catch snippets of what she is says.

“ Everyday, the car will pick us up and drop us off at school. Also, beware of Ms. Bailey the math teacher, she assigns a lot of homework.” Heather rattles on. She sure is a loquacious person but she’s also my first and only friend here at the moment.

“ We’re here! Today, after school I can introduce you to some clubs,that you might want to join. On Friday, there’s debate club and the golf team. Oh wait, did I mention chess club?”, continued an exuberant Heather.

“Wow, that’s a lot of activities and clubs. “ , I say anxiously.

“So, we have first period language arts together and our teacher is Mr. Campbell. It’s in room 12 on the 2nd floor. We better hurry or else we’ll be late.” rambles Heather. I quickly grab my backpack and hurry to the elevator.

As we enter the room, Mr. Campbell says, “Everyone please welcome our new student, Penelope! Please tell us a little about yourself.”

“Um... well I recently moved here and this is my first time going to a regular school .”, I answered rather quietly. Afterwards, I quickly find an empty seat and sit down.

“ Okay, class. Please take out your kindles and go to chapter 3 of War and Peace.” instructs Mr. Campbell as he walked around the room, taking attendance. When he passed my desk he dropped off a kindle along with a packet. It‘s probably full of boring stuff like information about his class and permission slips.

My next class is science with Mrs. Johnson in room 5 on the 1st floor and just like in language arts she makes me do a painful introduction and gives me 2 textbooks and another packet. After 2 periods, there is a break called “brunch”. This is so different from when my  private tutors would come and homeschool me. It’s kind of like the movies about kids with normal lives, I used to watch and imagine what it would be like.

Suddenly, I spot Heather with 2 other girls standing by the elevator door and wave to her. They walk over and she introduces them. “ Penelope meet my friends, Emma” , as she pointed at a tall girl with blonde hair “ and Ava.” , as she pointed to the other girl who had fiery red hair, which reminded me of Ginny from Harry Potter.  They both seem really nice and welcoming.

“Wait, you seem familiar. Where have I seen you before? Maybe dance class?” , questioned Ava.

“How is that possible, Ava? Penelope, here, just recently moved to New York.” stated Heather matter of factly.

“ So do you like your teachers so far? Can I see your schedule? ”, Emma asks politely.

“ Both Mr. Campbell and Mrs. Johnson seem really nice.” I reply as I show Emma my schedule.

“Look, we have 2 periods together, math and drama, with Ms. Bailey and Ms. Edwards. Lucky, you have Mrs. Taylor for P.E. She’s the best, I had her last year.” , says Emma while she peers at my schedule.

“ Brunch is almost over, we better get going. Penelope, how about we meet at that table by the window at lunch?” , continues Heather seconds before the bell rings signaling students to go to their 3rd period classes.

Emma and I walk together to Ms. Bailey’s room which is all the way on the 4th floor and we barely make it through the door in time.

Like my previous teachers, she makes me tell the class a bit about myself. While Ms. Bailey takes attendance she said,“Everyone, you’ll be receiving your test from last week and I happy to say that our class average was an A.” Starting school in the middle of the year was indeed strange, but soon I’ll adjust to the swing of things here, I hope. Before, I left for my next class, she gave me another textbook and an ipad, and another packet. My backpack is going to weigh  so much more than me by the end of the day.

My next class is social studies  and it happens to be with Ava. Our teacher Mr. Hamilton is extremely welcoming and hands  me a laptop, another textbook, and another packet, which probably adds  another 10 pounds to my backpack. Clearly, I’m not cut out to be an olympic weight lifter or even a regular weight-lifter.  Thank goodness for the elevator because climbing the stairs with all that weight on my back would probably involve me tripping a couple hundreds times.

By the end of fourth period I am starving, but, I still have  to get through French with Mademoiselle Allaire. Luckily, I speak  a little French since I spent 4 months living in France  and was able to introduce myself in the French language , like my teacher asks me to.

Finally, it was lunch, which meant food! After dropping off my stuff at my table, I walk over  to the salad bar which seemed to have the least people waiting in line and grab a caesar salad and some chicken noodle soup. Unlike described in the movies, the food isn’t revolting and doesn’t make me want to puke. When I get back to my table Heather, Ava, and Emma are already there chatting.

“Have you finished your renaissance brochure yet?” Emma interviews.

“No, not yet. Wait a minute, oh my gosh! Penelope are you Jacob  Everdeen’s daughter? Yes, that’s where I know you from.” , interrogates Ava as the epiphany hits her.

“ Um… yes. Please don’t be too loud. Can it be our secret? “, I plead.

“So, your dad is the Jacob Everdeen, like the billionaire entrepreneur on Sharp Tank? How could I not have known?” says an exasperated Heather.

“If you’re staying with your aunt, doesn’t that means she’s one of the major designer for Penel ?” continues Ava.

“ When I moved here, I didn’t want people to know who I am because they always treat me different, so now that you know please don’t act differently around me.” I whisper.

“There’s actually a lot of famous children in this school like my father owns the electronic company Peach. The school however isn’t allowed to advertise that though, due to to privacy concerns.” declares a genuine Emma.

“ Don’t worry your secret's safe with us. Bet you didn’t know, my mom has a talk show. You’ve probably heard of it, it’s practically named after her. It’s called Ally.” , adds Heather.

“Wait I met Ally yesterday?. She’s your mom?  And Emma, I love your dad’s company’s products!”, now it is my turn to be shocked.

“ Ava’s mom is a dancer and a judge on So You Want to Dance.” , Heather announces.

“Well there is honestly nothing for me to hide here.”, I reply relieved and embarrassed.

My first day has been amazing, I made new friends,  and I honestly had no reason to hide who I was.