Lost and Found

Lost and Found

“The first day of high school is never easy.” People have always told me this but I didn’t understand what that meant until now.

The halls of the school were dark as I wandered through them. No one was in the halls. Class had already started. Luckily for me, it was lunchtime. Still, I had completely no idea where I was going. I snuck a glance of clock hanging from the ceiling. I only had a half an hour to eat. I had spent ten minutes walking. What a waste of time.

I knew what my parents would say about wasting time in school. The first thing they told me before I got on the bus was: “Study hard. What you do in these next four years will be essential for college.” They left me with those words of advice. No words of encouragement or love; just a warning of the possible impending doom before me if I continued to waste time.

“Where was that darn, cafeteria?” I muttered to myself. The school was built like a maze. One wrong turn could send someone to the opposite side of where they needed to go. It was so easy to get lost. Great, lost on the first day. Just what I needed. 

I continued to search for the lunch area. On my way, I passed the athletics wing. Was I going to join the soccer team this year? Would it be worth it?

I began to wonder what this school had for me. I was told that their educational system is high ranking. Their sports teams were nothing to laugh at either. Most of the teams make it to championships. The walls are lined top to bottom with plaques of their achievements. It was as if this place expected nothing but the best from their students. No wonder my parents wanted to move here over the summer. They wanted me to “be the best” too. What if I couldn’t live up to their titles? Would I forever be a failure?

The walls seemed to becoming longer and smaller. I definitely was not going the right way. I was utterly lost with no one to help me, at least no one I knew. This was hopeless. I was supposed to get through high school when I can’t even find the damn cafeteria!

I stopped walking. There was a dark corner at the end of a locker bank. It was small and no one would see the tears rolling down my eyes.  It felt so tempting-

“Excuse me?” I turned. Two girls were behind me. I immediately recognized them. They were from my freshman advisory group.

“Hey.” I said, trying to keep my composure. I couldn’t let them see me have a mental break down. Not on the first day of school. How embarrassing would that be?

“You going to lunch too?” Her group walked up to me.

“I was but I can’t find the lunch room.”

One of the girls gave me a weird look from behind her glasses. “The lunch room? It’s on the hallway on the right.”

It wasn’t until then did I hear the laughter of students echo down the hallway. I looked around the corner and immediately felt like an idiot. I had past this hall without knowing. I’d been walking around in circles! I must have been so in thought that I hadn’t noticed.

“Wow.” I muttered in frustration.

“Hey, aren’t we from the same advisory?” the girl who called me asked.

I nodded. “Yeah.”

She had seen my aggravation. “Why don’t you eat with us? We got lost too and have no idea what we’re doing either. Maybe we can figure this out together as a group.”

I was taken back for a second. Someone asked me to join them. It was usually such a simple request but at the moment, it was … beautiful. 

“Sure.” I managed to answer.

She gave a big smile. “Great! Let’s go.” 

The group walked past me and I took a place behind them. The walls seemed to have more color to them. It was as if the world had suddenly become brighter and livelier.

Maybe I could get through high school. Besides, I’m not lost anymore: I’m found.