CHAPTER 21 -- My First Day

Teresa filled me in on the dress code. For girls it was:

• White blouse with a collar and sleeves.
• Knee-length jumper or skirt and vest in the school plaid.
• Tights or knee socks (ankle socks in hot weather) in white, black, or navy.
• Black or brown tie-up shoes, heels no higher than one inch.
• No visible underwear. For girls, this mainly meant that if the blouse was sheer enough to see the bra, she had to have something over the bra.
• No make-up.
• No jewelry except for possibly a small religious symbol.

We also had to have a "gym suit," which Teresa didn't explain.

I already had everything except the jumper or skirt and vest. And the gym suit. We went to the store that carried the school uniform and picked up one jumper, one skirt, and one vest in my size. I noticed that the jumper and vest had a patch with a yellow starburst. I wondered if this was part of the uniform or just a decoration. I recalled that Teresa's had had one, too. They measured me and picked out a navy blue package for me, which turned out to be the gym suit. Anyway, I took the opportunity to get the school supplies and a backpack just like Teresa's.

Teresa drilled me on correct behavior at Gabriel on and off over the weekend. I don't know if I actually learned anything, or just found more reasons to be nervous.

So, bright and early Monday morning, I put on my new school uniform, and my uncle dropped me and Teresa off at Gabriel school. She headed for her first class and I went to the office. A man who looked like he had just graduated from college was waiting for me. He had a sweater vest on with the same starburst patch as mine, though he wasn't in the school plaid. He showed me my locker, but I didn't have anything to put in it yet.

As he led me to my first class, which was English, I saw other students walking up and down the halls rather purposefully, but nobody just hanging out. It seemed awfully quiet, even though I could see people talking to one another, and I noticed that the ceiling and the walls above the lockers had some sort of panels. My guide saw me gawking and informed me that they were sound-absorbing. "That way, students can talk to one another and not have to shout."

The room was mostly full when I arrived. It had about thirty old-fashioned school desks in neat rows. The teacher said, "Miss Melanie Rawlings, I presume?" When I nodded, she handed me a stack with some papers and a few paperback books. "We're studying The Grapes of Wrath right now, have you read it?" I nodded again. "Then we'll be happy to have you join in the discussion." She directed me to an empty desk. Teresa had explained that we all had assigned desks, so I tried to remember which one it was. She told the class, "this is Melanie Rawlings. She's just starting today, as I think you're all aware. Let's try to make her feel welcome."

I planned to keep quiet the first day to give me a chance to figure out how things worked. I noticed that everyone addressed the students as "Mr." or "Miss" with last names, including other students, so I was "Miss Rawlings." The teacher rated a "Ms." Everyone seemed intent on the discussion. There wasn't any chatter, just people raising their hands and speaking when recognized. The teacher was mostly a moderator, but sometimes stepped in with observations or questions, or, occasionally, to ask a person to be more "respectful." I noticed for the first time that, atop the old-fashioned blackboard, there was a big banner that said "respect."

I tried to inconspicuously look at the stack the teacher had given me. It had a syllabus, a schedule of homework for the week, and a short list of supplies I needed.

My guide appeared just as class was ending and brought me to math. I noticed that Teresa was there, and waved. She gave me a big smile, but didn't wave. Maybe waving was not okay. I got the same little speech from the teacher as in English, and a textbook and a small stack of papers. Aside from the Mister- and Miss-ing and the lack of chit-chat, it could have been my class at West High.

The 10th graders all had lunch at the same time, so I sat with Teresa and her friends. She introduced me, and I apologized in advance that I might not remember them all right away. The lunchroom was quiet, like the halls, and I saw the same sound absorbing stuff there. The conversations seemed normal, with everyone using first names, not like the classroom. One girl, who I later got to know was Bethany, asked Teresa, "can I ask her about--?" but Teresa said, "come on, give her a few days before you start giving her the third degree."

I had to use the bathroom, which meant the girls' bathroom. I thought it would be weird, but I went in and used a stall and although people gave me a second glance, nobody said anything. I already had the impression that everyone knew everyone, so maybe they were just noticing a new face. I hoped so.

They had one funny class, though. It was called "Respect," like the banner over the blackboard in each classroom. What it mainly was was us discussing interactions during the day. We sat with desks in a circle and students would bring up things that had happened at school or elsewhere, or the teacher would bring up a situation, and we were supposed to figure out how to handle it with respect. Fortunately, we got some coaching from the teacher. There was a lot of trying to figure out how someone else might feel, and even some role-playing. I found out later that for most of the students, it was their first year at the school, so it must have been the beginner class.

My guide brought me to the girls' locker room when it was time for Phys Ed, but didn't follow me in. One of the girls noticed me standing around looking puzzled, and said, "New here?" I nodded. "Well, you have to change into your gym suit. Find an empty locker." I dug out the navy blue package and pulled out something with short sleeves and a zipper. I looked at the other girls. They were undressing completely and putting on something that looked like a shirt and a pair of loose shorts with elastic cuffs sewn together. The other girls were stepping into it and pulling it on and zipping it up. I undressed, but couldn't figure out the suit. Maybe I would have been nervous about undressing, except that I was so busy trying to figure out the gym suit. Another girl, who was already suited up, came over and helped me with it. I expected people to make fun of me, but all she said was, "new?" I nodded. "Pretty dorky, huh? But it's kind of practical. Come on, get your gym shoes on." That I could handle.

I was the last one into the gym. Everyone else was sitting on a bench or standing and stretching. The coach, a woman wearing a suit similar to ours, but with utter self-assurance, gave me a smile and said, "Miss Melanie Rawlings?" I was beginning to get used to this.

"Yes, ma'am. Sorry I'm late."

"Trouble with the suit?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Did anyone help you?"

"Yes, ma'am. I don't think I would have figured it out if someone hadn't helped me. I'm sorry, I don't know her name."

She directed us in a series of calisthenics: push-ups, sit-ups, and some more complicated ones I didn't recognize the names of. I think the directions were more for me; the other girls seemed to know what to do already. Some of the girls were pretty athletic and did one sit-up after another for the longest time. Another girl, who was fairly fat, looked like she was having trouble doing even one of each, but to my surprise, nobody made any disparaging comments. Her partner simply said words of encouragement and counted what she managed to do. I think I was about average for the class. By the end of it, we were all sweaty and I was tired all over. She had us run across the gym and back in groups of three, and then gave some people suggestions for how to run. Finally we did some basketball practice. Not games exactly, but dribbling, throwing, and shooting baskets. The athletic girls would do trick shots, even blocking one another. People like me just dribbled and shot, and if we missed, one of the girls who was waiting would retrieve the ball and give me another chance. The fat girl and one or two others got two extra chances, though they got it in pretty often.

I was really nervous about the shower, but the other girls just took off their suits, grabbed towels from a bin, and marched into the showers. The showers were individual stalls, which I was grateful for, but nobody seemed to care if people saw them. And nobody seemed to be paying any attention to me. When I was drying, though, I caught one girl sort of staring. When she saw me see her, she said, "I'm sorry. You're Melanie, right? The new girl? I heard your story and, well, I wasn't expecting someone who looked like any other girl. I'm sorry I made you uncomfortable. Especially your first day."

"It's okay," I said as I continued drying myself. "I figured everyone would be curious and asking all kinds of questions. In fact, I'm surprised you were the only one who stared."

"Oh, we wouldn't. It wouldn't be respecting you."

"Boy, it's sure not like West High. By the way, what do I do with the suit?"

"There should be a basket with your name on it on the shelves by the wall. You bring it home on Friday to wash it. Maybe earlier if it gets really stinky. You leave your shoes and gym socks there, too. And your gym underwear, if you use any. The girls with big boobs usually bring a sports bra."

"Why the 'dorky' suit, anyway? Why not a T-shirt and shorts?" It was the first time since lunch I'd had the chance to just talk to someone.

"It's so you can do all kinds of things, like head-stands and stuff, and you don't have to worry about flashing anyone. And since we're all dorky together, we don't mind that they make us look dorky."

By now I was dressed. My guide was patiently waiting for me just outside the door to take me to my last class, which was study period. It was right next door to the library, so we could go directly in to look at reference books. I took the time to go through my textbooks and all the papers the teachers had given me.

And then it was time to catch the bus to go home. Teresa and my guide were waiting for me and they both showed me where to wait for the district school bus. My guide asked if I needed him the next day, and I said I thought I could find my way now and thanked him.

When the bus came, there were already kids on it. The bus served several private schools in addition to Gabriel. Teresa and some of the others made a point of greeting several of them by name, but when she found an empty bench, she put me next to her, next to the window. "There's a feeling at the other schools that Gabriel students are snobby and cliquish. We do tend to stick together, because we can trust that other Gabriel students will act respectfully, and we can't always with other schools. We've been trying to do stuff to make us seem less snobby, but it doesn't always work. So we have to be careful."

For the rest of the ride, I told Teresa about my day. She told me I did pretty well. "I'm sorry I didn't show you how to put on the gym suit. I had trouble my first day, too."

"It's okay. The other girls were very helpful. If I'd known how to do it the first time, I wouldn't have found out how helpful they are."

When we got home we went upstairs to study. Teresa changed out of her uniform, but I didn't bother. Actually, I kind of liked it. We went to our desks, me in the guest room and Teresa in her room. I kept needing to ask Teresa things about the homework, and one time, she asked me something about math.

"You know," she said, "it would be easier if we shared a room. And a lot more fun. Hint, hint, hint."

Homework and dinner took up most of the evening, but we finished up in time to spend an hour hanging out before we had to go to bed. I was pretty beat and went to bed a little early.