Ella had just moved to Jensen Beach, Florida. Her father was beginning a new job, and she was now hundreds of miles from any friend she ever had. Summer’s end was nearing, and she was about to begin the 9th grade at a new school – great.
The first day of school was here, and Ella was so nervous. She was astonished as her mom pulled up to the front of the building to drop her off. “Mom, I didn’t know it was going to be THIS big…” Her mother sweetly replied, “Sweetie, you can do this! You’re a rockstar.”
‘I am a rock star, I am a rock star, I am a rock star’ Ella kept repeating to herself in her mind.
She went to her classes, and even made some new friends to sit with at lunch. This was easier than she thought it would be. It wasn’t until the very end of her first day when Ella saw them – the popular girls. She gawked until one of her new friends interjected, “That’s Mandy Mason. She’s the most popular and powerful girl in this school. She’s senior class President, she started a ton of the clubs on campus, she’s an honor student, plus she’s captain of the cheer squad.”
Ella went home and told her parents all about her successful first day. She was happy with how it went, and was even a little bit excited for day two. She wanted to be friends with Mandy Mason.
Ella wakes up and heads to school with her mom. She walks into school only to be greeted by the school bully.
“Hey new girl. Did you get that outfit from your grandma?” All the others laughed.
Ella began walking away when she saw her. Mandy Mason was walking right up to her.
“Hey girl, don’t worry about them. If you hang around me for a while, they’ll be worshiping you. Come with me.”
“O- Okay… My name is E-“
“Ella Fischer. I know. You’re in grade 9, you’re from California, and you’re a straight A student.”
“H-how do you know all that?” How did she know all that?
“I know everything about the new students! Especially the impressive ones. Now here we are. This is my locker. We meet here after every class period. Can you do that?”
“We?” asked Ella.
Mandy replied, “Our group! Keep up Ella. Before school, we meet in the girl’s room. Before lunch, we meet by the water fountain. And we do homework together every night.”
Overwhelmed, Ella said “Great! I’ll see you at the water fountain for lunch!”
“Fast learner, good work El.” Mandy said pleased.
And so it began – her training. Before Ella even knew it, she had gotten in with the cool crowd. It’s like everything she had wished for had come true! Immediately after her encounter with Mandy Mason, Ella was treated completely different. All the senior boys suddenly wanted to talk to her, girls wanted to be her friend, the cheer squad put her on the team. Following Mandy’s rules seemed like a fair price to pay to be popular. But would it all be worth it?
Author's Note
This story is derived from Ekalavya from PDE Mahabharata. Ekalavya is a boy who so badly desired to be Drona's pupil, and is willing to do anything for it. I modernized this story in the context of a high school. A typical story about a girl moving to a new school, wanting to be popular. And although this classifies as a "typical story" I think the topic is still relevant, and completely relatable!! To anyone on either side of this story.
Bibliography
PDE Mahabharata. Link to reading.
Mean girls. Image source: Shankman.
Hey Emma! Great story! Honestly, as I was reading it, I was picturing Mean Girls in my head and then I got to the bottom and saw the Mean Girls picture. I like the description at the beginning because I got an understanding of how Ella felt prior to starting school in a new city. I hope you make this story a series because I definitely want to know what happens!
ReplyDeleteHey Emma,
ReplyDeleteYour story was a interesting read. I liked how you took the original story and made it more relatable like school bullying. I think that is a major problem within a lot of schools so its nice you brought that to attention. I also like how you allowed your character to have a happy ending. The ending allows your audience to have closure. You did an awesome job creating this story and making it unique.
Hey Emma! Great story! I think it is so funny that you used Mean Girls as inspiration because I was immediately reminded of it, and then I saw the picture that you included. Again, you have used a very relatable topic in order to connect with your readers. Great job, great technique! I also really liked your use of a rhetorical question as a closer; rhetorics are really great to add suspense, and leaves your reader wanting more.
ReplyDeleteKeep it up!
What a hard time to change schools for a kid! I would definitely be creeped out if some random person at my new school knew everything about me. This story reminded me a lot of Mean Girls. It'd be an interesting twist on Ekalavya if you had him completely hate Drona instead of desiring to follow him! I do like that you modernized it though!
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