Meaghan

Finally, lunch time! The first day of school is always the same, and always a pain. The teachers all talk about the same thing; this is what you will be learning in this class, blah, blah, blah. It gets old after the first class, but to have to suffer through it four times in one morning? Completely ridiculous.

At least Kathy seemed to be enjoying herself though. I will admit that I was kind of worried about her this morning because I know how harsh some of the people can be on new students, but she seemed to be holding her own with the many people who have come to talk to her since she got into the cafeteria. She was heading towards the table I sat with me and my friends, she had changed out of her track pants into a cute pair of jean shorts.

When she sat down, I asked, “Aren’t you cold?”

Kathy shook her head, “Should I be?”

“Uh, yeah,” my friend Isa answered, “It’s kind of cool outside.”

Kathy laughed, “It seems so warm here though, I couldn’t imagine not wearing shorts in this weather.”

My friends and I shook our heads at how crazy and out there she seemed to be, even though I could tell that her laugh seemed to cover up her being a little nervous. You would think someone who was here on scholarship would be a little snobbier and more stuck up, but Kathy was the complete opposite. At least… she was when compared to all the other jocks at our school. We talked over lunch, making sure to include her in our conversation so she didn’t feel left out at all. It can be hard being a new student sometimes, so we didn’t want to make her feel worse than it already was.

Soon, Kathy stood up to throw away her trash, claiming she had things she had to take care of before lunch was over, when drama queen “French” junior Tara walked by. The two accidentally bumped into each other and Tara screeched, “Excuser-moi?” Her trademark French phrase.

Kathy looked at her and gathered the trash that had fallen on the floor, she said, “T’es excuser, mais c’étais ma faute, je ne t’ai pas vue.”

My friends and my mouth dropped to the floor at the sound of the perfect, flawless French coming from Kathy. The French even sounded… better, coming from her.

Tara was so shocked that she switched back to English. “Well duh!” she said with a flip of her hair, “Just don’t do it again.” She then turned and stalked away.

When Kathy turned back to our table, my friends and I burst out laughing.

“That was amazing!” Whitney cried, “I’m in French too and I am not nearly as good as you are! And Tara is the best in the whole school.”

Kathy looked doubtful, “Really? Because she really isn’t that great.”

My mouth ended up hanging open again, “She spent an entire summer in France.”

“And I bet she didn’t understand a thing,” Kathy said sadly. “Now I really do need to get things ready for after school. I’ll see you guys later.”

While Kathy left, my friends and I sat at our table, shaking out heads and laughing. That girl was one surprise after another. With a few puzzles mixed in.