The first day of school is always challenging.
It is even more complicated when it’s the first day of Middle School and even more so when you’re the new kid in town. Cassie didn’t want to move away from her old house, but when her dad promised her that his new job meant more trips to Grandma’s house, it softened the blow.
Her backpack was packed full of pencils, notebooks, and the rest of the first-day ensemble when she looked up at her clock. 7:34, the small diner-style analog clock said. She wondered why she kept that thing, all the clocks at her old school were digital, and there was no doubt the new one would have the same. Yet, she couldn’t betray her six-year-old self, who picked out the clock from the outlet store; there was just something about the pastel blue that she loved.
After an emotional goodbye with her dad at the student drop-off spot, Cassie headed into the first day of her pre-teen life.
Her first two classes had gone smoothly; a gaggle of syllabus reads and get-to-know-you activities were easy enough to weather. As it would seem, her third-period science class would be the same way.
“Psst. What time is it?”
Cassie turned her head from the teacher, struggling to get the video board to turn on.
“Are you talking to me?” she responded to a girl with glasses and frizzy blonde hair to her left.
The other girl sneaked a quick look to make sure she was safe to talk, “Yeah. Do you know what time it is?”
And for the first time all day, Cassie looked at the clock on the wall. She smirked as she thought from the morning reveled in revenge. The clocks in this school were analog.
“It’s 9:52,” she responded, not trying to sound like a know-it-all.
“Woah,” the frizzy-haired girl exclaimed, “you can read that? That’s so cool! All the clocks at my elementary school were digital.”
As the girl entrenched Cassie with questions, she could only think of her pastel blue diner clock and how it was why she made her first friend at her new school.
