The new school was an opportunity to start again, his dad told him, sitting in the car, around the corner from the school (he didn't want to be seen by his new - yet unmet - classmates being dropped off at the gate by his dad in the big brightly coloured van).
"It's a chance to reinvent yourself," his dad said looking him in the eye. He itched to get out the car, and head off to school, but he knew his dad needed to get the speech out. "Try to fit in, find some friends. Some normal friends." His dad smiled but he could tell he was worried.
"Don't stress, Dad," he said, unlocking the door and leaping out. "I'll try not to screw it up, this time."
"That's not what I meant!" his dad called as the door slammed shut on his goodbye.
Jake felt kinda bad, but he was fed up of having to try to be normal, to try to fit in.
What was so wrong with being unconventional, anyway?
...
