New Girl

Welcoming others with kindness and inclusion

I have had multiple good and bad times at Glenshire Elementary School. One of the most important things at Glenshire is friendship, which goes with my first memory at GES, my first day of second grade. I was new, and didn’t have a friend in a hundred miles.  A tear poured down my face as I got in line and headed into the classroom. But, about an half an hour before lunch a girl with bleach blonde hair came up to me. 

“You’re the new girl, right?” she asked.

“Um, yeah,” I responded.

“My name’s Raelynn, What’s yours?” Raelynn questioned. 

“Maddie,” I replied quietly. 

“Wanna hang out at lunch, Maddie?” Raelynn asked , hopefully.

“Yes!” I replied, excitedly . At lunch time, me and Raelynn walked out of the classroom happily chatting, when  our teacher- Mrs. Cooke- called me back in. She told me to go to Lunch Bunch with the rest of the new kids. I was about to say okay when I remembered my promise to Rae. 

“Do I hafta?” I asked. 

“Only if you want to,” Mrs. Cooke told me.

“So, I can go to lunch?” I clarified. 

“Yes,” She answered. I jogged out the door to find Raelynn waiting for me. We went to the cafeteria (the gym and auditorium with portable lunch tables in it), and she dragged me to a table full of girls our age, with two empty seats. I sat down and Rae introduced me to the other girls. Their names were Izzy, Ellery, Gretal, and Harley Jean. 

“Where did you move from?” Izzy asked me.

“Colorado,” I told her. Ellery, who was sitting at the other side of the table, heard something different.

“Avocado?!” Ellery exploded. 

“Colorado,” I corrected,” I’m from Colorado,” Ellery shook her head. 

“No, Avocado, you are now Avocado” She declared.

“Did you live on a leaf or something?” Gretal joked.

By now the whole table was cracking up with laughter, even me. It felt like we only had lunch for a couple minutes when the principal, Mrs. Kramer said lunch was over. At recess, I hung out with Raelynn, Ellery, Izzy, Gretal, and Harley Jean, instead of being by myself.

We played Grounders, which was my favorite game to play with my friends back in Colorado. For the rest of the year, we hung out together.

I also met some other friends, Makenna, Hadley, and Lyla from soccer. Over summer break, me and Rae hung out almost every weekend. Close to the end of summer, we found we both had the same teacher – Mrs. McKechnie. Even though we were in different cohorts, we still found ways to communicate with each other.

When we were all at school together again, she introduced me to  a new girl she was friends with. Her name  was  Francie. First it was kinda awkward, I felt like she was stealing my best friend. But, me and Francie did GOTR (Girls On The Run) together, and we soon became friends.

But, on the last day of school, Rae told me some heartbreaking news. In August,  she would be moving to San Diego, until middle school. It still feels weird not seeing her at school. When fourth grade came around,  me and Francie weren’t in the same class. But, Makenna, Harley Jean, and Hadley were all in my class.

At snack, a girl with strawberry blonde hair came over. She told us her name was CJ. A couple months later, we formed a group called the Girlskis. Rest of fourth grade is a blur of weirdness, and fun.  Like when Juneao called Hank “Mom.” Also, on the way to Coloma, me and Harley Jean were eating pistachios. 

“Pistachios taste weird,” Hank said blankly.

“You taste weird!” I responded, confidently, before I thought about what I was saying. On the first day of fifth grade, I felt excited to be at the top of the school. So far, it has been a blast, even with all the drama.

With everything that happens, good or bad, you always end up with a good story. I hope for more happy, sad, funny, strange and of course, weird events next year at Alder Creek Middle School.