Lunchroom Daze

The faces of hundreds of students turned to me as I stood dead in my tracks at the center of the entrance to the cafeteria. I knew this was a place I would come to know well over the next four years. My brain was telling my body to move but I had forgotten how. Clutching my sack lunch, I took one last deep breath as I stepped into the crowded room. My heart raced as I begin to search for someone familiar. All of the faces blurred together as I scanned the room. Finally, I breathed a sigh of relief as I spotted someone I knew and safely seated myself next to my friends.
Our group had been together for as long as I could remember, through elementary school, recess, and girl scouts. Even though I was in the safety of my clique I still felt the worries of whether my outfit was cute enough or if I should have spent that extra five minutes on my make-up this morning. I felt like I was under a microscope and that everywhere I turned there was someone there to judge me. All that was going through my head was how this was my first impression. This was who I would be known as for the rest of my high school career.
It was completely overwhelming. There was way too much to take in. I closed my eyes and took one deep breath before opening them. I felt like Alice walking through the looking glass into a whole new world that made no sense to me. I had been anticipating high school all summer and now I realized it was nothing like I had expected.
The students were like swarms of bees. Everyone else seemed to know what to do and where to go. I just felt lost and unaware of my surroundings. The more I looked around, the more I realized how truly new this place was. I was a child in a world filled with adults. I was now a part of a whole new world.