Jade Awakening

The Tweet

The alarm on my Pear phone woke me up rudely. Every bone in my body told me to stay asleep, but I forced myself to stretch some life into my bones. When I shifted, I noticed that something didn't feel right. The fabric of my sheets clung to me and gave off a distinct aroma.

I whipped my head and found that Jasper had snuck into my bed last night despite me telling him to stay away from me. The alarm had woken him up, too, and before I could get a word out he started with:

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to!"

"Oh my god! Sorry? You're sorry you wazzed in my bed? Get up -- get out!"

There was a large, circular stain in the middle of the bed.

"This is so gross, what's wrong with you?!"

I had to rush now. I needed to get myself into a shower to get this child piss off of me and get my sheets into the wash.

I snatched the shower curtain open and closed it behind me. With a washcloth and several pumps of body wash, I scrubbed myself neck to toe. I lavished the scalding hot water on my skin for a few, greedy minutes before I forced myself out.

I brought my clothes with me to the bathroom and threw them on in a hurry. Just jeans and white shirt today.

Marching back into my room, Jasper stood by my bed with his head down in shame. Useless.

"Will you move? I'm going to be late for school."

I ripped the sheets off of my bed, walked down the hall to the laundry room, threw everything in, and started the machine. I went back to my room one last time to get my phone and messenger bag. Jasper was crying.

"Quit your whining and go get ready with mom," I snapped.

"Why does everyone yell?" he sniffed. " I'm sorry, Jade."

I understand what he means. First Mom and Dad wouldn't stop shouting at each other, and now I'm furious with him. A pull on my heart tells me to show remorse and tell him that I'm sorry, too, for barking at him. But when I look down at the time on my phone, all I can do is be pissed for how my morning has begun. I betray my conscience on my way out the door and say:

"Sorry is for losers. Get out of my way."

***

When I burst through the doors of Hollywood Arts, I'm technically not late for the first period, but I certainly won't be the first person in the room as I typically am. As I walk past a couple students lingering against the lockers, I hear a few snickers amongst them.

"Can you believe it?"

"It's always the quiet ones."

"I wouldn't mind a piece of that."

Typical teen gossip. I wanted to know who they were talking about, but I needed to get to Gradstein's class. When I walked into the room, most of the class was already there, including Cat who saved my seat. I felt everyone's eyes on me as I walked over to her. Probably because I never come in this late. I hugged the back wall so that I could avoid Ryder.

"Are you okay, Jade?" she asks.

My brain is still frazzled by my messed up routine, but I feel recollected when I finally take my seat.

"Yeah, my idiot brother just made me late."

"Oh. I thought you'd be more upset," she said, slightly confused.

"I mean, I'm not happy that I didn't get here on time. But now that I'm here, it's not a big deal anymore."

"Huh. You're braver than I would be," she said, impressed.