Evanescent

1-Much closer

-Friday the 30th December of 2022

I rubbed my eyes open to another typical school day around 7 in the morning, being thankful for the fact that my school is 8 minutes' walk away from my home at the maximum. Groggily, I pushed myself out of bed to finish my morning ritual and go to school as soon as possible for two important reasons. The first one was because of the scolding I received from my physics teacher and school director for arriving so late. The doors close around 8 in the morning, and I was about 15 minutes late, and I was punished for that by being made to sit outside and skip the first class.

They had no idea I was the happiest because I had only missed English class.

The second most important reason was...

I froze in the middle of putting my final piece of uniform on as realization hits me on the face and starts to settle inside my mind.

Today was the day of the women's football match.

My eyes lit up at the memory, and I started putting on my shoes and ran out of the house like a lightning bolt, bidding an inaudible goodbye to my mom. Usian, the great sprinter, would've been absolutely jealous had he seen the way I bolted out of the house and arrived at my school in about 4 minutes. The teachers and director that usually stand outside and wait until the rest of the students arrive were not there, indicating I was not late at all.

I calmly started walking to where my classroom is located the moment I reached the school's premises, steeping on little puds that had been formed because of the little rain this morning. Turning towards where the sports field is located, I noticed the grass was wet because of the rain as an unsettling realization hit me.

What if they cancel the game because of this?

My heart kept sinking with each step I took, glaring at the mud that was sticking to my white Converse shoes and murmuring curse words because even if I swung or wiped it off, another one kept sticking again.

Passing the block, which is located in front of the block where our class is, I took fast steps and stood before the closed door.

Oh? Am I this early?

I turn around to see only two teachers, our PE and English teachers, sitting outside the staff room, and the only voice I could hear was a very loud laugh echoing from a classroom I couldn't quite identify, but I was certain it was from the classroom in my block.

I swung the door open, and a little familiar smile of satisfaction stretched across my mask-covered lips at the utterly empty room. Because I usually arrive so late despite the closeness of my house to the school, by the time I reach here, the class is way too chaotic and everyone is ready to wait for the first teacher to arrive and get the lessons over with. But I do have times when I will be the only one to ever step foot inside the school for that day, and I always liked the silence to the point that I wish it would be like this throughout the school day and the following ones.

I skipped my way to my assigned chair and dropped my bag, happily singing my favorite songs that crossed my mind at that time, and when I got tired of it, I started doing some physics problems for fun. but unfortunately, the students started arriving little by little: first the girl I don't certainly hate but don't get along well with, then another girl, and the third one to arrive from my class was my best friend. The funniest part of it was that all the girls that arrived asked me the exact same question, which was like, "What subject is that? Is that home work you are doing?" like......

Time zoomed past us, and before we knew it, the first two classes of the morning were over, and the last subject before break was IT. Me, my best friend, and two more girls were the first ones to step a foot inside the IT room. Unfortunately, I and my best friend were not placed in the same group, so we had to sit very far from each other.