Klutz on Heels

         In the days of high school, there are many things to be concerned with. For a new to town freshman, this goes times a hundred. There’s the concern about making it to the bus on time and finding all of your classes. The last thing you want to be worried about is something mundane like walking or even chewing gum.
         This is especially true for the young freshman named Elise from a small town in California to a some what larger town in Iowa. Elise thought of every precaution for the first day in the new school. She had her bag packed and was fully prepared with her class schedule memorize. She even paid extra attention during Orientation to make sure she knew exactly where each of her classes were so she would not get lost on the way or end up late. Elise was completely prepared for the next day. There was no way for her to tell that the day would seem disastrous to her for the rest of her high school career.
         She wore her favorite jeans and blouse with her brand new pair of high heel shoes. She perfected her hair having it long and straight with braids on each side connected in a pony tail in back. She wore very little make-up as to appear like an ordinary fourteen year old girl going to school. Granted Elise loved fashion and made it a priority to keep up on the latest fashions. So, in preparing for the day she made sure this was in every thought, like it always was.
         She got on the bus on time and arrived at school in time to have some breakfast in the cafeteria before her first class started. She felt like a fish out of water because she didn’t know anyone so her pace was faster than normal. She walked out of the cafeteria and almost tripped over her own feet. Embarrassed she looked around the room to find no one around. She took a deep breath and continued to walk down the hallway to her new locker.
         She made it to her first class and everything was going great. There was a cute boy sitting next to her, so she gave him a sweet innocent smile. He smiled back, but looked past her at the girl on the other side of the room with red hair in curls. His skin became pale and he looked away and down at his desk. Confused by the interaction, Elise looked straight ahead at the chalk board to the teacher introducing himself to the class.
         Elise forgot about the incident and continued on with her day. In the hallway on her way to lunch, she saw the boy at his locker and started to fast walk to him. In the process not being used to the high heels, Elise tripped and fell face forward onto the ground right next to the cute boy. The hallway erupted with laughter. As she looked up to see the boy, the red haired girl took him by the arm and whispered in his ear. He looked back at her with a disgusted look.
         She got up off the floor and tried to walk away as though nothing had happened, but it was too late. The damage was done. As she walked to her locker, the kids in the hall started chanting the nickname “Klutz on Heels.” The new name stuck with her through her high school years. In retrospect, there is no way to be prepared for everything.