~Everything is new now, but can you guarantee that you won't stay the same as before?~

New Beginnings

Elise

Here we go, new school, new friends, new teachers. Something tells me I would repeat the tragedy I had in Primary School. Something tells me I would not have any friends yet again.

Getting ready, I finished the last scoop of oatmeal before picking up my bag and taking the morning 7 am train. Upon arrival, I walked to my class with my phone, on one hand, reading a Michael Jackson Fanfiction on Wattpad.

Climbing up the stairs, I meet many new faces, from all walks of life. Suddenly, my phone beeped and I tapped to see the notification. It was a message from Mom.

Hey, sweet, make some new friends and mix with them! Go for it!

Typical. Something that my mom would say. Making sure I had reached the correct class, I waited outside. Texting my former schoolmates, it seemed that they had already made some new friends, while I'm still here, hoping for one. It's like as if I don't have the skill to make friends fast enough.

Just as I was waiting, someone came. She seemed kinda like those geeks you see but she also doesn't look like one. More of a studious person, she seemed. She sat down on the floor in a corner, taking out her laptop and thereafter, started to click and type away. She looks like she's very busy, but her eyes seem otherwise. I sat down beside her, to start a conversation, hoping she could be my friend.

"Hi, I'm Elise. What's your name?" She looked up at me, immediately closing her laptop and replied swiftly but slow enough for me to catch what she was saying, "My name is Helena. Nice to meet you, Elise." We shook hands, as I finally got someone to talk to, but the majority was holding their phones, so either way.

"So, what are you doing?" I wanted to know more about this funny thing on her laptop screen that I saw earlier on. Besides, if it was related to computers, it would be really nice.

"Playing Mastermind online. I just seem to get too bored without playing it, or not having things to do." Helena replied. Just when we were in the midst of talking, somebody interrupted our conversation with her own.

"C'mon bros, let's get Leaguing!" They all took out their gamer-spec laptops and started to game what I guessed was League of Legends, from the way that boy said Leaguing. They reminded me of the gaming self I used to be in the holidays before High School started today, staring at the screen being too focused clicking away.

"I see you're very interested in their laptops or whatever they're doing. Go ahead, mix with them." I looked back at Helena, tapping her fingers on the laptop.

"It's not that I'm interested, Helena. Its because they remind me of the way I used to be. Just like them." Helena seemed to take back what she said and went back to whatever she was doing, leaving me to my own things.

"Time for a bit of Michael." I unlocked my phone, took out my Beats, and plugged the wire into the headphone jack. Wearing the headphones, I started to play Man In The Mirror. The starry intro sound entranced me yet again for the millionth time, leading to the first verse where Michael started to sing.

"I'm gonna make a change... for once in my life....." Michael's voice sang into my ears, feeling happy at how soothing it was, I felt relaxed but the fact that there would be no Michael around to see now was heartbreaking. I'm like any other Michael Jackson fan, but through Wattpad of which my friend introduced, I have joined the Moonwalker family there and enjoyed it very much.

Tap. Tap. What's with the tapping? I lifted my head up from its resting position due to my immersive focus in Michael's singing, Helena pointed to students lining up outside the lockers and entering the class. Oh no. I hastily packed my Beats and shut off my phone. Adjusting my clothes and such, I wanted to leave a really good impression on the teachers. I did not like the idea of them having a bad impression of me.

The boys who were gaming earlier were already seated inside, chatting away about their previous match. While I ignored them, I realised I was allocated to a front seat. I sat down and took out my pencil case, but someone stopped me.

"In this school, first days are always orientations, there won't be any lessons. Relax, today will be great!" It wasn't Helena. It was a blonde-haired girl, wearing a casual T-Shirt with a jacket draped over it, and a pair of skinny jeans. I was just taking it out just in case, but okay, thanks...

"Oh, right. My name is Mira. Nice to meet you!" She waved at me, and I returned the gesture with a friendly wave.

"Better stop here, the teacher's arrived!" Her voice was pretty loud, and the whole class hushed at her small announcement. A slim, tanned-skin female carried a small stack of papers along with her MacBook.

"Good morning, teacher!" The whole class, including me, stood up and bowed, greeting her in the simplest fashion possible, also because we did not know her name. Everyone sat down quickly, so was I.

"My name is Miss Jimenez. Today's first day, so here's a form for you to fill up your personal details and another one for your... well, let's just say today's a day for you to tell us all about yourselves!" I giggled a bit at the way Miss Jimenez spoke, but she seemed serious. I stopped giggling immediately after I could regain myself. Miss Jimenez gave out the papers to the front seats, asking them, of which one was me to take one piece and pass down the rest.

Well, this school ain't bad enough...

"Now, take out your pens and start filling 'em all in!" I glanced at the questions alone, answers already forming. What I like, what I am interested in, who I idolise...

"Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson. Michael Jackson." I scribbled Michael's name onto each question that I could answer with it and wrote another secondary to Michael, Gundam. Gundam models... I can never get enough of building them.

"I'm done." I was among one of the first few to pass up the 'personality' form. I call it personality because interests we have and what we like or not like are related to our personality. I started to fill in the personal particulars form and cleared everything. I handed up the form and I sat at my desk taking out my own laptop. My MacBook Pro, glistening under the reflection of light, you could say it was brand new. Well, it is brand new. It's the seventh time I am using this laptop, while all the previous times were to explore and learn how it works since I've been always using the Windows operating system.

"Elise, don't open your laptop unless I say so. By the way, the WiFi here is split into three categories - One for staff, one for students and one for guests. You all would be using the student WiFi, and the username and password would be your birth certificates. It is already opened to all of you, but the school will monitor your internet browsing history, to summarise, the sites you visit. If it breaks the Learning Device Usage Policy, your laptop shall be revoked or you may be banned from using the laptop." The whole class gasped, some of them not knowing about this. I knew about the Usage Policy and read through it many times over when it was given out to us via mail.

"Oh right, the school will give you an "Access Denied" message once you enter an inappropriate site." Phew, none yet so far. Some of my classmates' foreheads already had beads of sweat forming, obviously, they knew they had done something wrong. Shows that they've been doing some porn stuff. Still freaks me out a bit to even say that.

Well, then the boring part came. Setting up rules and regulations. Was the class creative enough to make some sensible-sounding ones? Yeah, they literally copied and pasted the old, re-running ones which always needed to be enforced. Much due to their own incapacity.

"Silence whenever the teacher is speaking!" When that person said that, I almost wanted to laugh at his suggestion. Would he really adhere to that rule he even suggested? The case was that whatever my classmates promised in my old school (it applies to the classes I am in), they don't really keep them. Rules don't really apply. They're just for show. However, this is a new school and a much, more respected one. I shall not judge my classmates just yet, but they're giving me the faint impression that its a reincarnation of my previous school life classmates, majority irresponsible and ignorant.

I never really paid any attention to the rules and regulations being made. If they're made, I follow. They're absolute. I just played with my pen, twirling it like it was just nothing. Time passed real slow since then, for I never took an initiative to mix with the rest. I felt that those who came to me would be the long-lasting ones... those I can trust more.

Well, speak of the devil. Once I thought of it, Helena walked over to me. I initiated our friendship, but Helena and Mira walked over to me when I didn't. I guess they might be those friends I can count on.

***

Helena and I had a very good chat during break time earlier, but now, its already the end of school, with enduring all the boring welcome talks of which seem to be just repeated lines. I decided to just let time pass back then, trying to entertain myself with pen-twirling while the teacher was talking.

Nobody else came to talk to me except the girls. To be honest, the school is mostly populated by boys. Apparently, this school is focusing on Science And Technology, something most boys like to do.

Why would I choose this majority boy-populated school? I mean, who wouldn't miss the chance to get into a school so prestigious and the privilege to use laptops and exclusive things in the school of which other schools do not have?

This school just seemed to be the perfect school for me, but what I had really forgotten to consider was whether I could make any true friends.

I sat on the afternoon 3 pm train back to my home, gazing out the window opposite, the scenery passing by in a blur. I knew I should make a change in my life. Make that change. Just for more friends to count on.

I needed to take the initiative and get to know my classmates.

Author's Note

This book has been re-edited in full. You can expect some new things to happen, but patience is key when reading this book for now.

Well, the best is yet to come! I know this ain't really good for a start, and there's gonna be a lot of time skips for y'all to get to see Michael faster, but all these initial content... it's to understand how 'I' am during the start of school and how it led to the 'new me' in the later chapters.

Embark on your journey through my book... and enjoy.