Down to the River

Chapter 1

I take off my dad's beige corduroy jacket and cough as bits of hay litter the tile floor around me. I dust off my jeans and take them off, throwing them into the clothes hamper beside my bathroom counter. I sigh and pull the elastic hair tie out of my messy hair. It wasn't useful today anyways.

I hum to myself and grab a wash cloth from the cabinet above the toilet, along with some face wash beside the sink.

Later tonight I'm supposed to go bowling with my friends Katie, Allison, and Allison's boyfriend, Cane. My dad and I were supposed to be done delivering hay by 5, but, of course, we never actually get done on time. I now have 30 minutes to get ready instead of an hour.

I hop in the shower and scrub shampoo into my hair quickly, making sure to get rid of all of the hay dust still in my hair. I rinse off quickly and skim a soapy wash cloth across my skin. Painfully, I scrub my slighty sun burned face with face wash and rinse myself down one last time.

"Crap!" I hiss when I hop out of the shower. I forgot to leave the bathroom door open to let all the steam out as I shower. I sigh and grab the light pink towel that hangs from the rod below my cabinet. I quickly wrap it around my body, ignoring the excess water that drips from my hair.

I throw the bathroom door open and race to my bedroom. I now have only twenty minutes. My hair takes around ten to dry.

My cell phone lights up as I sift through the clothes in the drawers of my dresser. I ignore it and grab my burgundy skinny jeans and a chambray shirt. My phone vibrates loudly and I groan. "Hello?" I answer, trying to balance my phone between my shoulder and my cheek. Katie's voice carries through shakily and I can tell she's in a rush too. "Hey, what are you wearing tonight? Allison says we're going to Wild Wings after bowling,"she tells me. I describe my outfit of choice. "Okay good, I'm wearing a sweater but I'll wear my green pants. I just didn't want to wear a t-shirt in case I was the only one," she pants. We talk a bit longer as I throw on a pair of underwear and shimmy into my jeans. We hang up and I quickly fasten my black bra.

I hurry back to the bathroom and brush out my hair, dragging the brush through all of the tangles that have already developed. I plug in my black, iridescent hair dryer and turn it up to high.

As I blow dry my hair, my two one-year old black labs, Jack and Lola, curiously come into view outside my bathroom door and lay down, watching me struggle to dry my hair and keep it untangled at the same time. "Hey, babies," I say over the rumble of my hair dryer.

Once I get my hair dry, I quickly throw on light makeup and straighten my hair. My ends aren't quite flipped under yet when I hear the doorbell ring. Jack and Lola sprint down the hall and down the stairs. I brush through my hair one last time and spray a light layer of hairspray over me.

I rush down the stairs and see Katie through the large glass oval window that takes up most of the front door. "Hey," I greet her before running back upstairs. She follows me up the stairs and into my room where I throw on my shirt. "Don't worry, I was in a rush, too," Katie giggles as I spray a bit of my Burberry Brit perfume on and roll the sleeves of my shirt. "I think this is the fastest I've ever gotten ready," I laugh. I return to the bathroom and unplug everything.

"Oh my gosh...are you freaking kidding me?!" Katie yells from my bedroom. "What's wrong?" I lean my head out and look at her. "Al canceled on us!" she exclaims. I groan loudly enough for Jack and Lola to come check on me. I scratch the top of Lola's head and sigh.

"Let's just go to Wild Wings. There's no point in not going now that we rushed to get ready," I shrug my shoulders. Katie nods but I can tell she's still pissed at Allison. Frankly, I am too, but maybe she had a good reason.

"We can take my car," I offer as I lead Jack and Lola downstairs to my parents.

"Ready to go?" Katie asks as I join her in the mud room that leads to the garage. "Yeah," I answer her, grabbing my north face jacket. I say goodbye to my parents and follow her out of the door and into the garage.

Outside, climb into my '99 Chevy Blazer, my older sister's first car, and head down the road to Greenville. As we drive, we listen to different pop songs on the local radio station.