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Janet woke up early in the morning. It was her first day of high school. The summer seemed to go by too quickly, but she enjoyed going to the beach, playing her summer league, and hanging out with her friends. She had a sizable number of friends that she gained over the years; most of them were from her basketball team and anti-bullying committee. She planned on continuing participating in the anti-bullying committee as well as basketball. The anti-bullying committee became popular in junior high, and she hoped it would continue in high school.
She got ready in morning. Showered, brushed her teeth, combed her hair, gathered up her backpack and came downstairs for breakfast. She could smell her dad cooking bacon, eggs, and pancakes with maple syrup. She was too nervous to eat, but she forced herself to eat so her dad would not notice that she was nervous. He also spent all morning cooking, and she did not want to hurt his feelings. Her dad kissed her goodbye and wished her the best of luck as he left for work. The nerves kicked in and she could not finish her breakfast, so she threw the rest away and cleaned up.
She waited at the bus stop right down the street from her house. She saw her friend Angie and they were talking about how excited and nervous they were. Angie and Janet were friends since preschool and they both played on the basketball team growing up. She was Janet’s best friend. Angie also was a member of the anti-bullying committee to support Janet.
As the bus pulled up, Janet and the other children got on the bus. The bus was full, but Janet and Angie found a seat next to each other. As they chatted on the bus, Janet could see a group of girls staring and laughing among each other. Janet knew they were laughing at her, but she brushed it off. She was used to people staring and judging, but she learned to not let it bother her.
The bus pulled up to the high school. The moment was here. This would be Janet’s school for the next four years. She would be experiencing what people called the best days of their lives. Janet and the other first-year students met in the auditorium and were greeted by the principal. The principal welcomed all the students and talked about the history of the high school. The principal talked about how all the classmates will go through a lot of experiences in the next four years, as well as emphasizing how demanding work will pay off in their futures.
Janet and the other first-year students were given their homeroom assignments and class schedules. Janet and Angie were in different homerooms, but they had American History together. In Janet’s homeroom, she recognized a couple people from junior high. She noticed the group of girls that were laughing at her on the school bus were also in her homeroom, including their leader. Janet smiled at them, and their leader rolled her eyes and went back to talking to the other girls.
The intercom came on and the principal welcomed the first-year students once again and the students stood up for the “Pledge of Allegiance.” The homeroom teacher did the attendance. When she called Janet’s name, Janet asked to address the classroom. Janet told them that she has Down Syndrome and welcomed everyone to get to know her instead of judging her. The leader of the group of girls, whose name was Betty, stood up.
“No thank you,” she said. The classroom started laughing.
The teacher told them all to be quiet and thanked Janet. Janet went to her seat and felt awkward. She came to realize that high school was not going to be anything like junior high. She did look forward to American History with Angie.
The rest of the day went better for Janet. She did have a few classes with Betty but also had classes with some other people that were on her basketball team and that she knew from junior high. She ate lunch with Angie and some other girls from junior high.
She came home that day and went right to Nancy’s house. She told Nancy about her day as they played cards. She did not mention about Betty. After beating Nancy in gin rummy, she grabbed a cookie from Nancy, gave her a hug, and went home to start prepping the spaghetti and meatballs that she had planned for dinner that night.
When her dad came home, they talked about her first day of school over dinner. Janet did not mention anything about Betty to John either.
Her first year went as good as expected, although she was constantly bullied by Betty, who quickly became the popular girl at school. Betty and her friends would laugh and point at Janet whenever they saw her, they called her names, tripped her when she walked by them, excluded her from parties they had.
Janet was tough and although it bothered her, she did not let it ruin her first year. She made the first-year basketball team and had a good season. There was a decent turnout for the anti-bullying committee, and they held a lot of awareness events. She made other friends through her extracurricular activities, including the science club.