There's No Time

Chapter 1

        5:05 a.m. was when I had finally hauled myself out of bed. I trudged into the bathroom and stared at my reflection. The face squinting back at me looked pretty crappy. It was clear from the state of my face that I got little sleep last night. I opened my eyes as wide as possible, and turned on the shower.

            5:30 a.m. I looked significantly better. My almost black hair was now normal and straight, hitting just past my shoulders, my brown eyes were no longer struggling to stay open, and my minor acne was only barely visible through my makeup.

I've never thought that I was really attractive. I had always thought that I was just barely past the line separating average from pretty. Of course, my sister told me that when you look at images of yourself, your mind makes it, like, 5 times more attractive so that you'll feel better about yourself. So that ruined things a little bit for me. I never let my appearance really get to me, though. I can deal with it. Just like I deal with my crappy high school life.

I packed my backpack full of the textbooks I had failed to pack the day before while I ate a granola bar. I glanced at the clock and saw that somehow, it was already 5:50. My bus gets to my stop at 5:52. “Ugh,” I groaned, wondering if I could maybe make it. A minute passed while I thought, so I knew I couldn’t. If I missed the bus, I wouldn’t have a ride to school. And as much as I didn’t want to go, I knew that I should. So I did what I had to do – I stopped time.

Without the risk of missing my bus, I took my time in pulling a hoodie over my head, swinging my backpack over my shoulder, and reluctantly leaving my cozy, warm, safe home.

 I walked a tiny bit until I got to my bus stop. I never missed my bus. As much as I hated it, and the cruel bus driver, and the careless passengers, and the horrible driving, I didn't have any other way of transportation. Now at my bus stop, I started time again. The small breeze made me shiver, and some snowflakes landed on my face.

I was just hoping that the bus had gotten into an accident (as I always do), when I heard the screeching of the large, yellow vehicle about to force me from my happy place. I cringed (as I always do), and boarded the hellish nightmare of the school bus that was my reality. I wondered (as I always do), what surprise might happen today. Of course, I knew nothing new would happen, because nothing ever did. I had no clue what was coming.