Courtney's Going To Prom

4~Getting On The Inside

The next morning I was awoken by the sound of the shower turning on. I groaned and checked the time. 7:37. Considering I usually wake up around eight, this is reasonable. Because we are now in central time, we've moved an hour back from normal. So before you call me crazy for unintentionally waking up at 7:30, take that into consideration first. I sat up from the old twin bed with a groan and grabbed one of my three books from my backpack. I sat there in the bed reading for around thirty minutes, waiting for dad to finish getting ready before he finally emerged looking as 'I live in New York City' as ever. I put my bookmark into its spot and gave dad a tired smile.

After a quick shower, I ran into Angie's room and asked her to put my hair into dutch braids cause lord knows I can't do them on my own. I thanked her then danced my way back into my own room to find Dee Dee and Barry talking with dad. I shut the door louder than I intended, drawing everyone's attention to me. Shit. This is exactly what I didn't want. I smiled at them anyways as I slipped off my shoes and fell backwards onto my bed with a content yet slightly dramatic sigh.

"That was a little dramatic." Barry commented

"I'm sorry. I'm just not feeling this whole 'living in a hotel room' thing. Ya know?" I replied

"I know exactly how you feel." Dee Dee added

"You know, it's not gonna be as bad as you think. It's gonna be over before you know it." Dad mentioned

"You're right. I shouldn't be as negative as I am because of such a good cause." I said, trying to lighten my own spirits even though I knew it wouldn't be very effective.

"Why does that sound like something Trent would say." Dee Dee commented

"Like father, like daughter." Dad replied

The three adults talked on and on for what felt like hours, leaving me to entertain myself. I asked multiple times if I could go find Marco so I could spend some time with him and everyone else my age instead of being stuck in a small room with a few middle aged people but he didn't let me. So there I was, staring at the ceiling and humming any of the songs that popped into my head. When they were finally finished talking about adult stuff, I had finished humming the entirety of Dear Evan Hansen to myself.

"We're going to head out. See you two later." Dee Dee said, slipping her shoes on

"See you later." Dad and I replied in unison.

Once they were out of our room, I continued to stare at the ceiling as if nothing in the world were more interesting than the blankness above me. Dad watched me, a confused look on his face. You know, the one where his eyebrows are raised and his lips are puckered. It's a look I see all too often. Am I really that confusing of a person? Dad stood up and fell onto the bed next to me and joined me in my aimless staring at the ceiling. I turned my head and looked at him. He did the same. After a second or two of us staring at each other, we both bursted into a fit of laughter. After we calmed down, dad swiped away one of his tears. As he calmed his breathing, I returned to my state of blankness.

Dad glanced at me and sighed, "What do you find so fascinating about the ceiling? It's half as entertaining as your bedroom ceiling."

"I guess I'm just that bored to the point where the ceiling entertains me." I replied

"I guess I'm just that bored to the point where the ceiling entertains me." I replied

"I know that feeling all too well." Dad commented. "We have to run to your school to get you registered and whatever and after that you can find Marco. Sound good?"

"Sure. Let's just get it over with so I can have something other than the ceiling to entertain me." I replied, jumping off the bed and putting on my converse.