9th Grade: A Short Story

It was the first day of summer, and Molly was on her bike enjoying the breeze and the independent feeling that comes from cycling at full speed. Fifteen minutes later, Molly found herself in front of her high school, about to begin the first day of 9th grade. Summer goes by too fast, she thought.

That summer was the best summer she ever had. Sure, she didn’t go to Disneyland, but still had a wonderful time biking around her neighborhood and watching the latest movies. Oh, and reading. Molly loved to read. During the summer when her schedule was finally free from homework, she managed to get a book finished every week. Those were the days, Molly thought. She definitely wasn’t ready to put her bike, movie tickets, and books aside for a whole school year.

She was wearing a t-shirt, blue jeans, and sneakers. Her short hair had her favorite red clip in it,

but she still didn’t feel ready for high school. She hoped that the work wouldn’t be too hard, and that the lectures would not take the personality right out of her. She was a funny, thoughtful, smart girl, and definitely didn't want to turn into a zombie by the end of the year.

Just ten steps past the front door, Molly spotted her friends. She ran up to them and gave each one a big hug.
“How’s it going Molly?”
“Ready for 9th grade?”
“I heard the band director is really cool!”
Molly smiled and chatted away.

It was as if the conversation picked up right where they left it in 8th grade.

“It’s going ok, I hope 9th grade is fun”, she said.

“Of course it will be!! JINX!”, replied her friends in unison.

The first bell soon rang and Molly hurried to find her first class. As she scrambled around, she was thinking about how happy her friends seemed about the new year. She wasn’t nearly as excited, but didn’t tell her friends about that. She didn’t want to ruin their moods.

The first few classes flew by in a matter of minutes, to Molly’ surprise. She was fascinated in science, inspired in art, and certainly looking forward to language arts. The books they were going to read throughout the year seemed really cool!

“So, was 9th grade what you expected it to be?”, Sara, her best friend, asked during lunch.

“Definitely not. It’s actually kinda fun!”

“Told you so! I knew you would like every bit of it.”

“Well…the cafeteria food isn’t amazing…”, she added.

“Of course! JINX!”, replied her

friends.