My Odyssey: Chapter Two

*

[ chapter one here ]

Elementary School eventually ended. I kissed a boy on the last day. His name was Billy and an alarm went off when our lips met. No, literally, one of my classmates pulled the fire alarm and we all went crazy. That summer Billy moved away and that was that (and I didn't kiss another till I was 19). I also got glasses that year, and felt really excited! I was the first girl in my class to wear glasses, I was becoming a little different and I welcomed it :)

While I still in Grade 6, my parents met with my new teacher for Grade 7 and my Dad pulled a hero move :) He spoke with the teachers and said, "Please don't put my daughter in the same class/team as Lisa and Nikki." And that's when I knew things were going to change :) That summer, I anticipated what my new school would be like. I was going to be in band and chose to play the Flute (purely because it was silver and I could carry it in my backpack). My middle school promised to have double the students in my grade because two elementary schools were directed into our middle school and I hoped I would make a friend.

Clearly in Chapter One, I longed to be accepted. Since my parents really valued strong academics and polite & kind young people, I made that a priority (i wanted to be good at something for them/impress). Booksmarts and memory retention never came naturally but I pushed myself hard to get my best grades possible; I liked the satisfaction and approval of a good report card and it made me feel normal (plus, my sister is a natural brain and i wanted to keep up).

Summer passed and I walked to school with my flute in my backpack, the combo lock that I'd practiced opening all summer (I lost sleep worrying about getting locked out of my locker), labeled binders, gum and a super nervous & excited stomach... change was coming :)

My class had a few familiar faces in it, but it was mostly new kids... I worked on my assignments and kept watch for a friend opp. It didn't happen right away, but the class environment was already so much better, the days were getting easier. I realized though that I was really naive and had become accustomed to letting the girls walk all over me. I was still desperate to fit in, and my eager beaverness was 'not cool'. I started protecting myself, avoiding those clicks and faked sick when history started repeating itself with the new girls.

So here's what happened in Grade 7 & 8!

To fill the time where my 'uncoolness' was clear (breaks and lunchtime), I volunteered in the School office, like a mini-job. It was my dream situation!!! I got to use the PA, take calls, write on the message sheets and I was around adults instead of the girls. I dorked out!! :) It passed the time and started me off on my passion for administration and business :)

Middle School also introduced 'Shops' classes. School was no longer only academics; once a week, we were learning creative skills, innovation and design :) I freaking loved it!! This was the best thing school ever did for me and I finally enjoyed it! I took sewing, plastics, photography, woodshop, foods, electronics and screen printing. I usually threw away the project instructions and made my own version or raced through the required assignments so I had lots of freetime. My curiousness always got the best of me... "what if I do it this way" and "what would happen if..." took over and I couldn't resist thinking outside the box and figuring it out myself. Plus, having all those supplies and tools available gave me endless possibilities! I'd discovered my inventor side, I was giddy, obsessed and I felt alive! A few teachers noticed my passion and unique qualities and put me on a team of young inventors and problem solvers. We went to symposiums to compete and were given challenging tasks to solve. I loved being the one to write down the teams ideas/details because it allowed me to stay quiet (i was shy), still be involved and piece the details together like a puzzle!

Funny Story: One day in Plastics Class, I was engraving my initials into the back of my cassette Walk-Man with an electronic dremmel tool. The tip was a spiral shape like a corkscrew and I got curious... "Would this curl my hair?" ...instead of thinking it through, I just tried it. With my classmates around me, I didn't want them to tease me for curling my hair with a dremmel... so I staged it "like an accident". I hung my hair down and let the corkscrew drillbit hit my permed hair. Duh. In one second, I'd instantly attached the dremmel to the top of my head, secured tightly by my tangled hair, a tool hanging off my head-- and I couldn't get it out!! I called my teacher, "Mr. Masi?"... he came over, perplexed and tried untangling my hair, but pretty much had to cut that section off. Lol, I have so many stories like this! Caught my homework on fire "by accident", sprayed my finger with a car powerwasher to see how strong the pressure was (it took my skin off), poked a Bull in the butt for a photo opp (thought it was a cow, till it turned around mad at me), etc, etc ;)

Further on in Grade 7, I started hanging out with a girl named Melissa. She had a pool in her backyard and I loved going to her house (i'm shallow when it comes to pools. pun)... we got along and it was fun hanging out with someone who was so nice :) Sometimes her friend Michele from our class would come along too, and we'd all play with Melissa's dogs and go swimming. The dogs often humped Michele's leg, and Michele thought they were hugging her. Michele was just as innocent and naive as me... we were perfect for each other!

At the end of Grade 7, Melissa had to move away and Michele and Melissa were no long automatic class partners. Michele and I teamed up on a 'no smoking campaign' for school and we had a sleepover. It was my first ever, and we did homework all night long... and we loved it :) That's how perfect Michele and I were for each other and we quickly became best friends!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :) We did everything together, people thought we were sisters, we loved school work, we were in band together (Michele played Baritone) and we didn't really care about boys or regular girl stuff. We were just so happy being friends and I was finally a real kid :) People who knew me could probably tell something had changed in me, the improvement was that drastic :)

I had all I needed. I got to give my friendship to Michele & trusted her completely and she gave me back the same thing :) Michele gave me life!