The thing about school that was different this year, though, was that a part of me (a VERY small part of me) was actually excited. I would be going to school with people from the past, present, and possibly even future! I couldn't wait to meet other kids who time traveled or had parents who did, and was also beyond excited to time travel to important events in history. Actually experiencing something will be so much more fun than reading about it in a textbook!
That morning, I slipped on my blue summery dress, knowing that it may be the last time I wear it this year. I threw my matching shoes in my bag, and double-knotted my roller skates before heading for the door. Right before I left, Mam snapped a picture of me with her phone.
When I arrived, Kaya and Josefina were waiting right outside the MTTB's rusty steel door. "Hey!" I called as I came to a stop in front of them. "Have you been inside the classroom yet?"
Josefina glanced down at her feet. "Yes, and it's very nice, but..."
"But we're the only students!" Kaya interrupted. My heart sunk. We wouldn't be meeting kids from other time periods, or any new kids at all?
Josefina noticed my disappointed expression, and quickly started to explain, "But, there's one girl from the 19th century who's stuck in the middle of a war right now. Her parents have been looking for a way to keep her safe, and a few of the 1800s scientists are trying to convince them to let her come to school here. The teacher said that she may even be here by November!" Josefina's enthusiasm and genuine smile raised my hopes a little bit. November isn't THAT far away. It's already almost October!
"Well, I guess that isn't too bad..." I said reluctantly. "Have you met the teacher yet?"
Kaya rolled her eyes. "He's been WAITING for you to get here! Can we please go already?" She grabbed both my and Josefina's hands, and pulled us inside.
We passed the front desk and headed left towards the wing marked "Present". Down the hallway we went, until we finally reached the very last room.
One side of the room was entirely made of glass, and the rest of the walls were an artificial white. Four rows of four desks took up most of the room, with black counters in the back and on the right side. In the front of the classroom was a large, messy desk and soft twirly chair, with a spotless whiteboard behind it. A balding man with a thin sole patch, no older than forty, was writing on it in big cursive letters. Wellcome! i'm Mr Linch.
The three of us noiselessly sat down in the first row. "So you must be Saoirse?" He asked in a pleasant voice. When I nodded, he pointed to the whiteboard. "Quick! Name something that's wrong with that sentence."
Surprised, I panicked and looked for the most complicated error I could find. "Umm...you need to put a dot after 'Mr'."
Mr. Linch turned back towards the whiteboard and corrected his sentence so that it said, Wellcome! i'm Mr. Linch.
Next, he turned to Josefina. Calmly, she said, "Welcome should only have one 'l'."
Mr Linch corrected the sentence again, and it now said, Welcome! i'm Mr. Linch.
"Kaya, your turn." He said in a tone that matched his smile. Kaya squinted at the board. "You spelled Linch wrong?" She offered.
Mr. Linch shook his head. "I think I know how to spell my own name right!" He exclaimed.
Kaya sighed. "Well I don't know, it looks like you didn't know how to spell 'welcome'..." She stared at the sentence for another few seconds before shouting, "Capitalize the 'i'!"
Mr. Linch gave her a high five and changed the sentence. Welcome! I'm Mr. Linch.
After school let out, Kaya, Josefina, and I discussed our first day in the parking lot. "So Kaya, is it possible that you may have actually enjoyed school today?" I teased.
Kaya shook her head stubbornly. "I'll admit that it's better than last year, but there's no way that I'll ever, EVER, like school. Ever."
"Well, you still have 10 more months to change your mind!" I taunted. Before she could react, I skated down the road at full speed, not looking back. Kaya may be fast, but no one's faster than I am on roller skates!
Slán!
~Saoirse
Salut, Saoirse!
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like your first day went well. Your teacher sounds interesting, to say the least.
You look so cute in that dress, and I'm jealous of your skates. I've always wanted to roller skate, but I'm a danger to myself with stuff like that, so I'll stick to my bike.
Bisous,
Sabine
Dia duit, Sabine!
DeleteI agree, he does seem very, erm, interesting. The past week he's been making up songs with our names in them, and even brought a guitar in and sang about Newton's Laws. This year is going to be very strange! ;)
Thanks! When I first got my roller skates, I was the same way! I kept running into walls and scraping my knees. Sometimes I wonder if I should have gotten a bike instead. You can probably go a lot faster on your bike than I can with roller skates!
~Saoirse