I was sitting in my last period class, English and it was currently 3:35 PM. Only 10 minutes till the bell rings so we can all be released. I was sitting in the back of the class listening to the song "Make the Grade" by Jack Conte while I finished writing my creative writing paper. I felt a tap on my shoulder, and it startled me, so I jumped and slowly looked up to see who it was, and it was my crush, Kayla. I took out my earbuds and smiled, "Hey, what's up?" She giggled and said, "The teacher said to take your earbuds out."
"Oh- Thank you." I stammered as I felt my face heat up in embarrassment.
"No problem." She smiled then turned around and walked back to her seat which was in the 2nd row.
"Okay, class! It is now 3:40 on the clock. Please start packing up and putting anything that you borrowed away." The teacher spoke loudly to the class.
I closed my notebook and put it back into my book bag then put my pencil in the smaller pocket. After I was done, I put my earbuds back in and continued to listen to my music until it was time to leave. I walked up to the front of the class and waited by the door like the rest of the kids were. I stood just a little bit away, so I wasn't so squished next to anyone. I checked my phone and saw a text from Mom.
Mom: Hey, I might be running a little late to pick you up bcuz I got us lunch and
Mom: and I'm still waiting lol
Mom: shouldn't be too long tho... maybe only 5 more minutes. :-)
Me: Okay, thank you mama <3 :D I am just now leaving class.
Mom: Good! 👍
As I walked up the hallway, I stuffed my phone back into my pocket. I turned left and walked past the library and straight ahead to the front office. I opened the double doors and walked inside. I walked over to the chairs and sat down in the cushion soft seat. I turned my head to my left and looked out of the giant glass window. I sighed heavily and smiled, happy that I'm finally going home and getting to have lunch after school.
4:50 PM
I still sat in the office waiting for my mom to come and pick me up. I texted her to see where she was at, but I haven't gotten a text back. It says she didn't even read my text message. I stood up and stretched since I have been sitting here for a while. I looked around and saw nobody was at the front desk. No kids standing around either in the office. I decided that I was just going to leave to the bathroom to call my mom. I picked up my bookbag then walked out of there.
As I was walking up the halls to get to the bathroom, they were so empty and quiet. I knew there had to be some people somewhere, but where exactly? I walked into the bathroom and went into a stall and shut and locked the door. I took out my phone and dialed my mom's number. It ended up going straight to voicemail. As I hung up, I just stared blankly at the screen not moving a muscle. Don't think the worse, don't think the worse, don't think the worse. Maybe she went to another restaurant? Another town over to get food??? Just maybe???
I took a deep breath in and held it for a few seconds then exhaled slowly. I walked out of the stall and stared into the mirror, mainly staring into my own eyes. After staring at myself for about 10 seconds, I left the bathroom. I walked back to the office just to see if my mom could possibly be outside right now.
"Hey, kid! Shouldn't ya be home or somethin' right now?" The janitor that was mopping by the cafeteria said.
"U-Umm... Yeah. I'm still waiting for my ride." I replied, quietly as I fiddled with my earbud string.
"Oh, you needa be in the office then, okay?" He replied.
I just nodded then continued walking back to the office. I walked inside and saw that there was a car outside, but that wasn't my mom's car. I looked around and saw that there still wasn't anyone in the office. I walked back out of the office and saw that the janitor was no longer cleaning in front of the cafeteria. In fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Where could he have gone so fast?
I shook my head, as that didn't really matter right now. I took out my cellphone to check if I had any text messages, but my screen appears blank. No notifications. As I was walking up the hall, I bumped into someone. "GAH! I-I'm so sorry. I didn't see you there." I said quickly as I looked up to see Kayla.
"It's okay. What are you still doing here?" She asked.
"My Mom hasn't come to pick me up yet..." I replied lowly as I looked down at my black and white converses. "What are you still doing here...?" I asked, as I looked back up at her, but not really looking at her face.
"Oh! I'm here to practice for my show tonight, but I'm just taking a little break now." She replied.
"Your show?"
"Yeah, I'm playing a part in "Forgotten".
"It sounds interesting... I bet you'll do great tonight, Kayla. When's the show?"
"It's 7:30 tonight. Sooo... if you wanna see me perform then, you can." She winked then giggled after.
Hearing her laugh made me smile and a little more at ease. "Yeah, I'd actually love to. You're good at a lot of things."
"Oh! Why thank you." Her eyes widened as if she didn't expect me to say that then a rosey pink blush spread across her freckled cheeks. "Anyways, wanna come sit with me outside at the picnic tables?"
I nodded then we started walking through the cafeteria together. She opened the doors then put a brick in front of the door so we wouldn't get locked out. We sat down at the bench across from each other. I took out my phone, still no texts from Mom.
"Hey, are you okay? I could tell you were nervous when we talked and now you look even more anxious." Kayla asked.
"It's just my mom, yknow? I-I'm really worried... I don't know where she is and she didn't answer my texts." I replied, my voice trembling as I spoke.
It was silent for a moment. "I'm sorry, I said too much. I didn't mean to make you uncomfortable. Please don't worry about m-" I started to ramble.
"Hey, I asked you if you were okay and I expected you to tell me the truth. If I didn't care to listen, I wouldn't have asked. So, you're fine." Kayla started off serious then smiled warmly.
"Thank you..." I replied, unsure of what to say next.
"I'm sure your mom will get here soon, maybe there was an unexpected event she needed to take care of. I'm sure she's fine."
She stood up and walked to my side of the table and sat next to me and wrapped her arm around me and held me close. I was tense at first, but after a minute I relaxed and let her sit next to me. I put my head on her shoulder and we just sat listening to the song "Thelema" by øfdream.
