Being Charming Inside My Head

The woes and waddles of introverts in conversations.

It was a new and different day, not because the sun had risen again and birds were chirping, but because I was shifted to a new class for the 5th grade. The day before, the school teachers announced that the classes were being shuffled (for reasons unknown to me) and informed me that I would have to attend a new section for the upcoming year.

The news swooped into my brain quietly, and then rushed all the calmness out of it, specifically because none of my friends were being sent to the same section as me.

The prospect of a new class and classmates made me anxious and terrified. I often experienced such anxiety as naturally as feeling sleepy and hungry. And the root of these anxieties and fears was always the standard dread brought about by the need for communication with unknown, scary individuals. In this case, my 5th-grade classmates.

So, on the new day, when I reached the threshold of the designated place, I scanned the entire classroom first. Unsurprisingly, the classroom buzzed with chatter, confidence, and innocent laughter. I thought to myself, why aren’t these kids scared of talking to new individuals or afraid that they may never make a good friend again?

How are all, or most, so merry, early in the morning in a classroom with multiple students but no friends? And how on earth have they already started talking? The day has just begun!