Tales of Freshman Year (summer edition)

My school hasn’t started yet,

(Yes, we start in the middle of the week. It’s abnormal. I know.)

but a lot of freshman year related things have already happened. Some were beyond good. Some were not so good.

You’ll see.

What a Let Down

Monday, July 31. approximately 9:30 PM
I was sitting on my bed reading Shoe Dog, ready to go to sleep soon, when my parents came home from walking. My mom called upstairs that there was a package for me. Immediately, I got a bit excited. Getting things in the mail (that aren’t junk or ads) is like Christmas.

I went downstairs and opened the box and THERE WAS A BUNCH OF BOOKS INSIDE. Obviously I was super pumped and thinking to myself, “Who is this awesome mystery person sending me books out of the blue?” Out loud, I kept repeating, “THIS IS SO WEIRD!”

We tried to solve the case for a bit but finally decide to wait for the gift-giver to step forward and confess. But then I noticed the tiny print on the slip of paper that came with the package. Typed underneath the list of each book title were the following words: 9th class- HE.

HE, as in History/English. As in FOR SCHOOL. Turns out, the awesome mystery person is not even a living, breathing human being. It’s an INSTITUTION. Whose awesomeness is debatable. (Sigh.) I take that back. I love my school.

But still.

I am so disappointed.

Gah.

Hey, Being Social is Kind of Fun

Tuesday, August 1. approximately 6:30-9:00 PM
A couple of amazing moms got together and organized a surprise party for a former classmate who is changing schools this year. It was at a pizza place. We sat waiting in a separate room, ducking our heads until she came in. “SURPRISE!” we yelled. Which she was. Her mom had told her she was meeting girls from her new school.

We ate several plates of complementary garlic bread and shot down the waiter’s best efforts to convince us to order appetizers. Sorry, dude, but I mean hello, delicious free food trumps delicious not-free food every time.

Then with a medium amount hassle, we figured out our orders. The pizza and pasta and salads came. We ate food. I did not feel awkward. We had interesting conversations. I did not want to be somewhere else. We laughed a bunch. I did not feel lonely.

The crazy thing is, the twelve of us were all from different “friend groups,” but because my school is smaller, we still know and like each other. We still had a GREAT TIME. At least I did.

During the summer, I hibernate from my classmates. But this reminded me that WOW, being around school people can be SO MUCH FUN. Which is such a dumb realization.

Sidenote: I gave my friend who’s leaving What Do You Do With a Problem? and Fish in a Tree. And a very rambly letter.

Hey, Frozen Yogurt is Kind of Delicious

Wednesday, August 2. approximately 3-4 PM.
After the second day of volleyball tryouts, five of us freshmen went to Yogurtland. Before that, I hadn’t froyo in YEARS. I got pineapple and coffee. It was great, but the hanging out part was EVEN BETTER.

Same lesson from the previous story.

Sidenote: The volleyball courts in my school’s gym are really close to the walls. When you hit out, the ball sometimes hit’s the wall, which prompts one of the junior setters to scold the hitter, “IT’S NOT WALLBALL.”
We also had to run the Big Three. Duhn duhn duhn. It’s where you have to run down and back the basketball court under 12? seconds. Then run down and back twice under 24? seconds. Then run down and back three times under 35? seconds. Then twice again. Then once again. If anyone in your group didn’t make it, you had to do it over. It was not fun.
During varsity’s season last year, they did this thing where they tried to throw a volleyball into the basketball net while making a deal with the coach that if they were successful, the team got to end practice or not run or something. It’s silly and just for fun, but one time someone actually made it and practice was cut short!

If you’ve read any of the books my school sent me, were they super good/mindnumbingly boring/just okay? A Tale of Two Cities is so pretty and has tricked me into wanting to read it. Ugh, the things good packaging will do to you. I’m trying to keep a positive attitude going in. I would dearly appreciate any information or advice you have. I CAN’T BELIEVE I’M GOING INTO HIGH SCHOOL. AAAAAAH.