Sarah puts four pieces of bread into a big toaster. “Butter’s over there.” Sarah gestures at the counter, where I find a ceramic butter dish that matches every other item in the kitchen.

Sarah pulls out the plates while I put our bowls of cereal on the counter.

I could get used to this kind of relationship with Sarah. Just two sisters having breakfest before school.

Dad was usually gone by the time I got up during the week, but I’d often wake up to him making breakfast on Sunday mornings. Pancakes were his specialty. When I was younger, he’d make them look like Mickey Mouse, complete with berries to dot Mickey’s nose and eyes and a banana for a smile. If he’d had a good week at work, there would be chocolate chip pancakes. Even as I got older, the pancakes continued. In the winter, he’d drink coffee, while I had hot chocolate. In the summer, we’d sit out in the backyard. Iced coffee for him, chocolate milk for me.

I miss those breakfasts. I miss our routine. I miss him.

Craig comes down and helps himself to a cup of coffee. “How are you feeling about your first day of school?”

Like a hammer, I’m brought back to my new reality.

“I’m a little nervous,” I admit.

“You know you can call me if you need anything,” Paula offers. “And I will leave work if you need me to get you.”

“She’s going to be fine, Paula,” Craig assures her. I wish I were as confident as he is.

“We should leave in about ten minutes,” Paula says as she glances at her watch. “Will you be ready?”

“Yeah.” I’m technically ready: book bag packed, lunch made, and map of the campus studied so I’ll, hopefully, have a clue where I’m going.

Am I emotionally ready for this new adventure?

I have no idea.

When it comes to school, I’m an expert about devising a plan of attack and sticking to it.

The plan to survive this new school: study, keep my grades up and my head down, talk to Ms. Pieper about how this will affect my UW–Green Bay application, and try to blend in.

The students here aren’t like back home. Everybody basically looked the same in Valley Falls. We were like 95 percent white and Christian. Julia started a gay-straight alliance when she found out there was a closeted member of the Student Council. But that was it for diversity.

Here the hallways are filled with so many different types of people. And there are clubs and organizations for everything and everyone. Part of me wants to embrace the opportunity to branch out of my small comfort zone. The other part wants to hide away from it all.