Walking Away

Spring Break

Raven

I woke up fast, breathing hard.

Another nightmare. 

Groaning, I checked the time on my phone. 6:00. I could get ready for school, thank goodness.

I went through my routine, taking the extra time to get a shower and actually dry my hair. I sat on the porch to wait for Mark, checking my phone for the time. 7:00. Mark should be here soon.

After a few minutes, I turned the phone on to check the time again. Monday, 7:06.

I decided to scroll through Instagram while waiting. I had four new comments.

The first one threw me off guard. 'You would never dress like that if I were around.'

I checked the picture. It was one of Mark and I hanging out. And I was wearing a t-shirt. I shook it off and checked the others.

The next two were worse. One of them, where I had been sitting with Ali, claimed I should move far away from her before I could ruin her life the way I'd ruined theirs. The other just used some profanity to describe my outfit. I deleted that one right away - Ali and Kate both had access through their brothers phones. The others I'll delete later.

I expected the fourth comment to be much of the same, but it was actually really nice. It was a photo that Ali had taken while I wasn't looking, of me leaning against Johnathan on the couch during a movie.

'Cute. Totally getting spring break vibes' the comment said. I read it over, slowly processing the words 'spring break'.

I checked my phone again, this time looking at the date. Monday. 7:12. March 9th.

The first day of spring break. And I was awake at 6 in the morning.

Going back inside, I considered my options. None of my friends will be awake, so that's out. I tapped the table. Nope. No options.

With nothing else to do, I turned to social media. Taking a picture of my backpack, I wrote, 'So guess who totally forgot it was spring break?'

After posting it, I turned on an audio book. No one would even see it for hours. All the smart people were sleeping in today.

My phone dinged with a text. Huh. Flipping it over, I saw Johnathan's name pop up on the screen.

Maybe not all the smart people.

J: Hey.

R: Hey. What are you doing up?

J: Can't sleep. Want to do something?

I grinned. Maybe waking up early was going to be a good thing after all.

R: Sure. What are you thinking?

Please be thinking about food. Please. I'm thinking about food.

J: Want to grab breakfast?

Yes! I celebrated for a minute before remembering I actually had to respond.

R: Definitely.

J: I'll pick you up in 20?

R: Sounds good.

I paused the audio book, grabbing my purse and writing out a note in case mom wakes up. She probably won't, as she came home at 4, but just in case.

Johnathan pulled up exactly 20 minutes later, and I climbed into the passengers seat.

"Hey." I buckled up.

"Hey again." He answered, and I remembered we had already had this conversation.