This was it; my first day of Jr. High. Was I excited? A little. Nervous? A lot. Never had I ever been in such a big school without my best friend, Alvery. Ever since she moved back to France, things have been so lonely. We still keep in touch, thankfully, via letter writing. She always tells me in her letters that Paris is sunnier than London, which I always argue, is not at all true. London is by far sunnier, but she never seems convinced. London is quite the beautiful town, with rich architecture, history-sunrises, too. When I try to tell her all of this she always argues that Paris is by far more superior. We have these “debates” all the time. They’re all in good fun, though.

I’ve always envied Alvery. She always has the answers to everything. Any question I asked her, she answered perfectly. Except for question, for why I love the sunrise. She didn’t answer wrong, but she didn’t answer right. She would always just smile a soft smile, and say “That, Yayoi is a question only you can answer.” Yayoi is the nickname she gave me. When we were little, one day, we were playing at the park and I fell of the swing set hard to the ground. The noise I made, Alvery says, sounded like the Japanese name “Yayoi”, and has been my nickname ever since. Only Alvery calls me that. Everyone else just calls me Aurora. Aurora Nowakowski. Plain old Aurora. Boring old Aurora. Nothing special Aurora. Aurora who will never be good at anything than being an isolated weirdo. That’s pretty much me in a nutshell.

The school I am attending, Saint Matilda Academy, is a very high standard school, so much that you have to test into it for even the slightest hope of attending. It’s very old as well, and has a much respected status. Every student who attends there graduates, none have ever failed. Talk about pressure. The uniforms are quite odd, too. Girls where a one pieces red dress that falls just above the knees with puffy white sleeves, and two yellow stripes running down the left and right side, accompanied by a row of buttons. The boys where something similar; a red jackets with the same button/stripe scheme and white pants. These uniforms show just how old the school really is. I’m very nervous about attending here, since I have never been at a school that expects so much. But if I passed the entrance exam, I should belong there, right? I shouldn’t feel awkward about being there, right? I never was good at convincing myself. I wish Alvery was here…..

I must go to school now. Let’s hope I can survive the first day.

*****