Introducing Myself

Thankfully, Matthew let me know I was about to be picked. But as soon as I wake up, I notice that the guy next to me in the fourth row is now going back to his seat, and that means I’m next. Holy shit, it’s my turn now… How??!!!... Oh no, I’m so nervous… Ok, wake up, you need to give a good impression, this should be simple… - I panic a little for a second, but I don’t have time to think more. Miss Alyssa just called my name, and I can’t do anything but walk to the front.

While I walk to the board, I look at the whole class around me. I’m really nervous, mainly because they are all staring kind of weird at me. I see that Matthew keeps talking to his friends, and then I glance at the group of cute girls in front of me -- I think Daisy is whispering something to May, but I can’t hear what it is. I’m just standing there awkwardly, since the teacher doesn’t ask a question until half a minute later, and it’s painfully uncomfortable -- but I try not to let it get to me.

“Tell us all about you” - the teacher tells me, but she looks a little bored, or more distracted. I understand why she is tired of listening to every student, and I almost think that the whole class feels the same. I fear that no one is going to pay attention to me, or even care for what I have to say, and I honestly don’t blame them. But as I gather some courage to introduce myself, I notice that the cute girls seem eager to hear me speak, and that’s what encourages me to talk. I clear my throat, stand straight, and tell everything about myself.

“I’m André Price, I’m 18 years old… I just moved to this city a week ago so I’m fairly new and don’t know much about this place, like at all… I did hear that this school is really good so now I’m here to get a quality education for my future…” - I respond, holding my composure, but trying really hard not to look at anyone. I avoid getting embarrassed, but then I notice no one is paying attention to me -- except for Matthew’s group, and the cute girls. But as I know I have to give a good first impression, I come up with an idea on the spot, so I can answer the remaining questions, while also showing some of my personality -- which I’m hoping will work, or else I would be humiliated like that Dylan guy.

“What can I say about myself?... Well, to be honest, I don’t even know how to answer that… I’m basically starting a new life from scratch in this city, and everything has changed for me to the point I don’t even know what to do, or who I am… However, I see this change as a good thing… Now that I’m starting from zero, I’m able to reach new goals, and explore more about myself and my surroundings… There are so many opportunities now that it would be impossible to tell you everything I can do… So if you ask me to say something about myself, why don’t you come and see for yourself?” - I follow up, with an unexpected burst of confidence, which I honestly didn’t think I had in me. I keep smiling at the whole class, as they all seem to be looking at me now, but it might be for the wrong reasons -- maybe they think I talked too much, or I’m a huge idiot for trying to sound poetic.

I have to admit that I tried too hard to say something meaningful, and I probably should have kept my answer short, and been precise. But as I keep looking around, I see that the pretty girls in the 4th row seem to be amused by me. I’m not sure if they want to laugh at me, and I do believe I’m smirking like an idiot right now, but it looks like they at least find me likeable, or so I hope - Gosh, that was so corny… Why don’t you come and see for yourself… Really?? André, come on, you are better than this…

Apparently the teacher likes my answer, and so do the girls in front of me. Scarlet seems impressed for some reason, Daisy looks curiously at me, like she wants to hear more of what to say, and May just smiles, but she gives me a safe feeling, and makes me feel a bit less awkward for standing in front of the whole class. It’s cool to see that they like me, and I even think everyone found what I said a bit enjoyable, but probably half of the class is asleep, and no one really cares - Hey, but at least they are pretending to listen, so that’s good… right?

Since I don’t have anything else to answer, Miss Alyssa just calls the next student to come to the front. I walk back to my seat, but I keep smiling, because I believe I did pretty well. In reality, my answer wasn’t anything special, just pretentious bullshit I always do to seem likeable to people -- but at least I got a couple of smiles from the cute girls, and that is more than enough for me.

I still feel good for my introduction, and even Matthew gives me a high five when I return to my seat. His friends also nod at me, like they are giving me recognition for my actions. I do think I was brave to say so much about myself, but maybe I talked too much. I don’t know, but I’m sure I at least got the attention from the cute girls, so I can only hope they will want to talk with me soon - I need to make at least one friend from this, how can I say that stuff and then no one wants to talk to me?... I mean, it does make sense, but still…

After my hopefully memorable introduction, Matthew’s friends are next to go to the front, and I finally get to hear their names. It’s weird, because I literally sat next to them for an entire hour, and I didn’t even ask their names a single time -- but I’m glad I get to learn a bit about them now. One of them is called Caleb, while the other is Quincy. They are both dark skinned, like Matthew, but they seem pretty cool -- although I can tell that they were not that popular.

When they go to talk, I pay as much attention as possible, but I can’t say the same for the rest of the class. My classmates are paying less attention to them than when I talked about myself, and while it makes me feel good, I feel like they don’t like them for a reason - Maybe it’s because they already know them and I was the new guy? Everyone should be new here but I’m a complete stranger so that’s why they wanted to listen to me… I don’t know, maybe it was just my long speech.

Caleb and Quincy finish introducing themselves, and then we reach the last 3 students -- they are pretty forgettable though, so I don’t regret not remembering anything about them. Matthew’s friends didn’t say much about themselves, so I guess I will have to get to know them in person. I’m glad that I get to talk with them, but I can’t help but feel like I need to talk to other people - I don’t know, maybe they are like the weird guys… I don’t want to be the weird guy… At least they are not Thomas, but still…

“Well, thanks to everyone for sharing… Now it’s time for recess, so go out there and do whatever you want, really… I don’t care, just go” - Miss Alyssa announces enthusiastically, and she seems even more bored than the rest of the class. She looks more tired than ever, and I understand why. But as everyone is already leaving for recess, I try to approach her, and maybe talk a little with her -- although she seems not to be paying attention, she is just leaning on her chair, looking mindlessly at the ceiling.

“Hello Miss Alyssa, how are you doing?” - I ask slightly nervously, because I never know how to interact with teachers. I just know that I need to befriend them, because it’s always useful to have your teachers as friends, even if you don’t like them. But as she looks at me, I realize that some teachers are not willing to be friends -- or at least they are not the type that I want to talk with.

“You should go with the other kids…” - Miss Alyssa replies, and lets out a huge sigh of frustration. I can tell that she doesn’t care about her students, or she is too tired to talk, but it’s a bit discouraging to see her demeanor. I accept the fact that she doesn’t want to speak, and I start walking out. But before I can leave the classroom, she calls my attention, and it seems like she does have something to say.

“I liked your answer at the end… it was really deep” - she adds casually, but it sounds like she is being friendly. I chuckle, and try to think of something to say, but she shakes her head, and gestures to me to go outside, so I can’t even thank her for her compliment. I do as she asks, and leave the classroom, but I’m smiling from her comment - I guess my introduction was actually nice. But as soon as I walk out of the classroom, I see that Matthew and his friends are hanging out in the hallway, so I quickly join their conversation.

“Hey, how’s it going?” - I ask with a smile, but I catch them all off guard. They all turn around, but they seem pleased to see me, so I guess they do want me to hang out with them.

“Good, how are you?” - Quincy asks back, and that’s when I know we were going to be best friends. Well, not quite, but I do get to hang out with them, and so we begin talking, and bantering normally like friends, as we walk around the campus as well. I don’t say much during the conversation, and I just let them talk, but I get to hear more about them, and learn their likes -- but I also tried to explore more of this school.

We walk around the left side of the campus, right through the medium building with the big ramp. I’m able to see that the first floor has the music room, arts room, and what seems like some storage room, but also special classrooms. We reach the end of the building, and I can see that there is a big football field after the already enormous field in the middle. It seems like this field is quite popular, as there are long bleachers surrounding the whole area, with a running track on the perimeter of the court, and other stuff that you would find in a stadium size field -- it’s just absolutely huge, but somehow not as impressive as the field in the middle of campus.

At my left, there is another area, which is barely visible from the main hall. There is a nice sidewalk next to an open area, and it seems like it leads to a forest or something, but I see nothing but trees. If we keep going left, or straight through the sidewalk, we would reach another huge building -- but this one looks older than the other ones, or at least it doesn’t have a modern style to its structure. I want to go that way, but the group just continues walking around in circles around the campus, so I just follow them.

I don’t say much, I keep admiring the space and environment around me. Since we are at the end of the field, right where the football court begins, I look at the main building with the classrooms, which seems to be miles away. Because of the inclination of this place, it’s really cool to see up, and look at all the people hanging out in the field. Some students are still in the main building, while others are walking around the campus like we are. I do feel very tiny, since the buildings around the field all look gigantic compared to where we are now -- and I just noticed that the main building has 4 stories, but I never saw a staircase.

After admiring my surroundings a little more, we continue walking, and talking about whatever -- they seem to be really into games, movies, and other geeky stuff, which is just what I like. But as much as I want to talk with them, I’m not paying too much attention to their conversation, since I just want to inspect every single detail from every building in this place. It’s just too good looking for me to ignore, and even the trees and benches on the field look interesting to me - Or maybe I’m just purposely distracting myself so I don’t talk… yea, that could be it.

The place it’s still amazing, and when we finally make our way back to the main hall at the entrance of the school, I realize that it tooks us about 20 minutes to circle the entire campus. I’m still trying to process the true size of this school, but Matthew and his friends continue walking. I don’t feel like circling the school again, because that will take more time, and I also need to think a little. So as they go out their own way, I’m left alone at the main hall, without much to do.

Hmm, I could go and explore the campus by myself but it would be weird… Maybe I just go to a bench and wait for the next class to start… Yea, I doubt I will meet anyone, I just need some time to adapt to this place - I tell myself, as I stand still in the middle of the main hall. I look at my phone, and I realize that there are still 32 minutes before the next class, so it would be a long time just sitting on a bench, if I decide to wait for the next class -- I don’t mind though, and I know I can keep myself entertained with my phone, so that’s what I do.

I sit on a bench outside the main building. I can still see all the people hanging out in the field, and they can also see me, so maybe someone approaches to talk. I don’t think that will be the case, so I pull out my phone, and try to keep myself distracted until the next class starts. But as I’m going to wait for a long time, I do think it would be nice if I could find someone to talk to - I don’t know, I’m not going to try… If someone does come then I will gladly make friends, but I’m not expecting anything to be honest…