I've never been one of those kids who is terrified at the idea of starting a new school, but if I had ever been close to scared, it was my first day in high school. I had been friends with high school kids for a long time, but the idea of seeing them on a day to day basis made me a little nervous. I spent about 3 hours picking out my outfit on that sleepless night before I would start my four years at King George High School. I wanted to make a good impression. The high school was also where my current love interests were. I thought that if I looked beautiful, they would would love me. Little did I know, the people who love you don't care about what you look like.
My first day of classes was crazy. I had Ryan Allen to show me where my classes were. Leah was still in school then, and we had lots of fun. I made friends, and we staked out a place in the hall to hang out before classes. We chose the pit outside of the auditorium. It was a nice place because you were out of teachers view.
Ninth grade was the year everyone went crazy. For some reason, they decided to stop incorporating color into their wardrobes. They walked around sporting Marilyn Manson shirts and dog chains. I thought that was a bad fashion move and veered away from that trend. Thank goodness I did, because most of those people regret it now. Classes were a little awkward at the start. This was the first time my classes had included students of different grade levels. I found it strange that a student, who'd been through 3 more years of school than I had, could be as ignorant at something as I was. It was okay though. I befriended the older kids. The classes were harder, but I made out okay. I wasn't lazy my freshman year and I recieved good marks.
Some parts of ninth grade were less than memorable. Many of my good friends moved away because of the military. I entered high school with the ambition of joining many clubs nad activities, and I succeeded in joining these clubs but only attended that first meeting. Singing was a large part of my life. I had aspired to become a Broadway singer. I felt that the character Eponine from
My classes were fun though. Sign language was a very funny class. It was the first year that it was taught, and I was one of the two freshman who signed up. I was still rather shy during this time, but sign language required me to intteract with lots of people. Among the nicest people in the class were Krystal Ball and Alyssa Hall. Ridge Turner became the object of my affections after his hilarious number story. I'm fairly sure these people dont' remember my name but I will remember theirs because they helped me realize that the popular kids weren't all mean.
My other favorite class from ninth grade was Mr. Moyer's Earth Science. The man is hilrious. He would be giving notes on volcanic rock and suddenly realize that the overhead was one that his ex-wife had written. This would get him started talking about his ex-wife and then he would start singing, "Memories.. its all about the memories." It was a laugh and a half. I looked forward to going to his class each day.
My tenth and eleventh grade years went rather smoothly. During 10th grade, Leah dropped out of school. She just got bored with it. I think this was a horrible decision, but it was hers to make. School didn't change very much during those 2 years. I was a little more comfortable with the atmosphere, but the classes only got more difficult as I moved up the ladder. NOthing really challenged me at the high school except for math. I've never been able to grip the concepts of Calculus and Trigonometry. My forte lies in language arts. After 10th grade, I went to France. Eleventh grade was spent wishing I was still there. I thought I'd left my heart in Frejus and was not happy to be stuck in the United States.
I had lots of friends during 11th grade. I also had several relationships. This was a nice change, but I still didn't find my Prince Charming. 11th grade was the first time I actually felt like a grown up. This wasn't a happy, natural change though. It occured at one of the worst times of my life. I had just come home from school, and was rushing off to my voice lesson, when my father stopped me in the driveway. I thought he was going to give me some money to get dinner with, but he looked really frightened. My mother was on travel and I was afraid something had happened to her. Dad ran up to my car and motioned for me to roll down the window. "Where are going?" he asked. I told him that I was going to my voice lesson like I do every Thursday afternoon. "Well Nanny's over there dying. I'm trying to get ahold of your mom but she's in class." This was a total shock to me. Nanny had always been a very special person in my life. I knew she'd been sick because I'd been staying with her in the evenings from time to time when her nurses couldn't keep her. I never thought she would die. She'd been feeling better after all. I decided not to go to my voice lesson. I instead went to Nanny's house. She was unconscious. My dad stayed at our house to continue telephoning my mom. I walked into her house. There were people I vaguely recognized there. I think they were Nanny's nurses, the pastor, and Nanny's best friend. I didn't know what to do. I felt as if my heart had been ripped out of me and I had no where to go. My mother wasn't there. I had to figure things out for myself and with the help of these people who I didn't know. Helplessness is the worst feeling. They asked me if I wanted to see her. I stood in the doorway to her bedroom, where I'd spent the night so many times as a child. I glanced at this woman, who loved me so much, adn I saw her laid there, fighting an internal battle to stay alive, and I sobbed. The nurse went over to nanny and told me that she had died. I didn't know how to react. She'd been alive just moments ago, and now she'd died right in front of my eyes. The strangers came to comfort me, but I didn't really want their help. I just grieved in my own way by crying my eyes out. My dad arrived about a half hour later. He still hadn't reached mom, and when he heard that Nanny had died he became too choked up to speak. It then became my responsibility to call Nanny's sisters and brothers and let them know that their sister had died. This was the worst part. I didn't know what to say. This is when I felt like an adult for the first time. I was helpless and I just wanted my mother. I couldn't be strong on my own, but I survived. I called people, and explained to them as sensitively as I could that Nanny had died. I, then, arranged her clothes for the funeral. My mother finally called, nad found out that her mother had died. I think my mother felt helplessness then. She was in Los Angeles, and she hadn't been there to say goodbye to her mother. She felt horrible. My cousins arrived later, and my mother finally made it home. It was a very sad time in my life.
My junior year wasn't all sad though. There were happy moments also. My favorite part of 11th grade was Dawson's Creek Night. Dawson's Creek Night came to be when I realized that my satellite did not get the channel that my favorite show Dawson's Creek came on. Well, this would not do. I had to find a way to watch my favorite program. I decided to go to my cousin and good friend, Julie's house. Soon everyone heard that I went to Julie's house and decided to come too. Mike, John, Zack, Ryan, and various others invaded Julie's living room each Wednesday night. Pretty soon, it was too loud to watch my beloved Dawson's Creek but I didn't care because I was having a party! Julie tired of Dawson's Creek and proclaimed that it would no longer be at her house. What was I to do? My favorite night of the week was about to be no more. I decided, much to my parents' dismay, to move Dawson's Creek night to my house! It was a lot of fun. More and more people showed up. Pretty soon, I didn't know half of the people who were sitting on my porch, trampoline, or couch. Then, as soon as school started for my senior year, Dawson's Creek night ended. There was no time for fun and games. I had too many things to do.
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