Day 8 on the Barren Planet I’ve spent pretty much the whole time since we got here unpacking and going shopping for school with Mom and Izzy This is the first chance I’ve had in the last couple of days to catch up on this journal and just in time for the first day of school So far Brenton Park is just like any other school except that there are more kids wearing shirts that say funny smart things like Oh no 7 ate 9 and Will code for candy And there are some cowboy boots although not nearly as many as I thought there would be The halls are boring and plain except for some bright posters advertising a Day of the Dead Festival That’s kind of cool we didn’t have a festival for Day of the Dead back home I hoped I didn’t stick out as the new kid since all the other sixth graders are new too They’re starting over like me since they’re from all over the school district We all looked sort of lost It made me feel better even though I still missed my friends So I decided to start SOMNF Special Operation Make New Friends
I couldn’t wait for science class because I was pretty sure that was where I’d finally find someone to hang out with I have science right after lunch so as soon as the bell rang signaling the end of lunch I sprinted down the hall to my science classroom The doors opened and I was greeted by the familiar sight of black-topped lab tables and that weird moist smell from something wet living in a tank in the back of the room It felt like home Mr Eagon the sixth-grade science teacher is way better than my old science teach awesome He’s thin wiry and super funny Turns out Mr Eagon is also in charge of the Brenton Park Science Squad He said there’d be a short Squad sign-up meeting right after school He also said we could take turns bringing in our own pets to show everyone during our life science unit I ran to sign up Worf for the first slot She’s sure to impress someone Then Mr Eagon went over safety rules and stuff like that While he did that I got a good look around I saw lots of beakers and flasks some posters on the walls of various animal life cycles and a locked cabinet that I hope is full of
stuff that blows up I saw that there’s also a separate storage lab room through a door on one end marked with a sign that says Science Squad Lab I scouted around for possible friends SOMNF I spotted one kid who has to be the blandest human I’ve ever seen Everything about him was khaki his hair his T-shirt his pants I couldn’t see his socks but I’ll bet they were khaki too It was sort of creepy I probably wouldn’t even have noticed him except he was writing in a journal Maybe he’s a writer too SOMNF target acquired I suffered through a study period and band before I got to go back to my science class for the Squad meeting The classroom filled up with lots of kids from sixth through eighth grade We all wrote our names on a list as we came in There were so many of us they had to add a second sheet of paper Mr Eagon and two other teachers talked in the corner for what seemed like forever Then they announced that we had so many sign-ups that each grade would get their own Squad and project which was exciting but even better was that sixth grade got Mr Eagon
As the older kids shuffled out I looked around the room to see who was left There was a girl wearing coveralls like mechanics wear sitting next to me Her blond springy hair was shoved into a greasy baseball hat about two sizes too small When I say greasy I mean the hat actually had part of a greasy handprint over the top Maybe she didn’t know it was there I debated whether to mention it to her She waved and I looked behind me to see the kid in khaki with the journal wave back The girl smiled at us and said Hey Thurmond Hey new guy You guys know each other I blurted Whatever happened to from all over the school district Oh yeah we totally do I’m Lyla by the way and this is Thurmond She waved a hand at the khaki kid who gave me a neutral smile And that’s Caden and Gavin on the other side of the room by the door We were all on the same Science Squad last year You all went to school together Dang it There were only a few other kids in the room besides this group I was the new guy My confidence shifted a bit
