These are the times when my knees buckle.

I tremble as the bus nears my stop. I'm standing in skinny jeans, a BYU jacket, a pink tank top with navy blue stripes, and a navy blue long-sleeved shirt underneath. I grip my small backpack that's stuffed with unnecessary school supplies tightly. The bus is coming closer and closer. I stand next to my neighbor, Olivia, who is also going into 6th grade, and we both wait with our legs shaking and our teeth clenched. We are both more nervous than we ever thought we'd be. Finally the big yellow vehicle stops with a noisy screech right in front of the curb. While the others at the stop run after the door, Olivia and I slowly make our way into the old gray seats. We sit next to each other and stare out the window. 

"Are you nervous?" Olivia asks as she takes a deep breath.

"Yeah, are you?" I reply.

"Uh-huh."

"I'm worried that I'll mess up my combo, or the food will be disgusting and I'll starve, or that I'll forget something, or that my teachers will be rude," I explain admittedly. 

"Same here."

Shortly after, the bus driver pushes on the brake with all his might and we make a hard stop right in front of the doors leading to the 6th grade hallway. We jump off the bus and trot inside, our stomachs suddenly lurching with butterflies. We meander towards our lockers (Olivia's is far from mine) and put all our supplies in them. Then we greet our teachers and sit at any desk. I sit next to quite a few people. Since I don't move at all for three periods and homeroom, I watch as people come and go. I take a seat next to someone different every period. I made a few new friends, but really it wasn't much of a social day for me.

The morning lags on. Mrs. Walling is explaining the locker rules, and we're all desperately trying to fill out all the papers she's handed us. Finally it's time for lunch. I put my binder in my locker (more like shove it in) and head to lunch with my homeroom class (otherwise known as my advisory class). Since I forget to bring a sack lunch, I snatch a slice of pizza from the cafeteria, a bottle of chocolate milk, and a few other foods, I sit down next to a few girls who I know from my elementary school and begin eating. It isn't terrible pizza at all; I would prefer something better, though. I finish my lunch and walk outside with Savanna who is in the class next door to me for her morning periods. All we do is walk around; there is nothing else.

After talking with almost everyone from the whole 6th grade, the bell rings and we all make our way to class. Now I'm with Mrs. Williams for two periods. We do a scavenger hunt where I finally get to sneak away and talk with my 7th grade friends. I truly wish they would let us hang out with them and not keep the youngest students away from the older grades. We go back to class, invest ourselves with large amounts of Jolly Ranchers, and figure out the last two periods.

My seventh period is with Mr. Slayden, one of the two gym teachers. All we do is sort ourselves out and go over the rules like all the other classes. Then a few students and I rush up the stairs to the seventh grade hallway where I will attend a keyboarding class with Mrs. Long. Finally school ends at 2:35. I sprint to my locker, grab my belongings, and I'm out the door towards bus number 407.

Olivia and I meet up at the bus. We had separate classes the whole day, but we saw each other now and then. Luckily we are some of the first people to be dropped off; we're through the front door before 3:00. Now I'm home, exhausted and wanting to go to bed.

Things I would change after experiencing this first day of middle school? The food, the privileges of who you can and can't hang out with, the teachers, the size of the lockers, and the schedule. 

But I did enjoy the boys...

 ♥ Abigail ♥