Janice Lance Book 1: Monday Blues (Revised Edition)

Chapter 1

hen I felt the sun hit my face, I woke up feeling extra rested, which was a nice surprise. But then I looked at my alarm clock and realized I'd overslept. I almost felt happy about it, but then I remembered school and imagined what my mom's reaction would be.

"How did you manage to sleep through an alarm clock? You've never done that before! Were you trying to catch up on sleep? How could you be so irresponsible?!"

Not gonna be pretty.

I rushed to get ready for school and headed downstairs to the kitchen. I grabbed a muffin and bolted out the door. Our house is gray-colored on the outside, and it's about the size of a cottage. We don't live next to a lake or anything, and the houses are a good distance apart. There are some pretty nice houses too, and most people keep their front yards looking sharp.

The house across from ours is pretty nice, I'd say it's my favorite. It's painted a dark blue with a white trim and has a nice garden filled with all sorts of flowers. I don't know the names of half of them , but they look pretty. They've got some potted plants on their front porch that look pretty nice too. I think a husband and wife are living there, and sometimes they wave at me when I walk by. My mom keeps bugging my dad about talking to them and having dinner together, but we've still been keeping to ourselves.

Sometimes when my dad calls my Mom after he leaves for work in the morning, I hear her mention it to him.

"It's about time we introduced ourselves to everyone here don't you think? We moved here in June, Frank. We've been here for a good seven months, we should've been introduced ourselves by now."

I was sprinting towards my bus stop when I saw a bus passing by.

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Well...isn't this nice?

Feeling anxious, I trudged back home and walked through the door with a sinking feeling in my gut. I knew I had to face my mom and tell her I missed the bus. I knew she would drive me to school because she thinks I can't make it on time if I walk. And honestly, if I tried to walk to school now, I'd end up late anyway, so I might as well tell her. Ugh, the lecture was inevitable.

I could already hear her voice in my head.

"You're getting too old for this mess! You need to start being responsible and taking things seriously!"

I'd heard her say that enough.

I sighed and continued my walk to doom.

I remember the first time I asked my Mom if I could walk to school instead of taking the bus. We had just moved in and I wanted to explore the neighborhood. But she said no way since she thought I'd be late for school.

I don't think she had anything personal against our neighbors, but I think she was kind of scared for me in one way or another. Just some kind of mother thing I guess.

She's always been pretty protective of me. So it was kind of a bummer, but I knew my mom was just worried about me, so I wasn't all that upset. I just listened, letting my mind float away.

The idea of moving here wasn't easy for my older brother, Danny. He was a popular athlete in our old neighborhood and had a lot of friends, but if we moved, he would have to start over at a new high school, as a senior.

Well, he would've.

He died in a car crash before we moved.

He sneaked out of his room to go joyriding with his friends. It must've been really late because I didn't even hear him get out of bed.

I had to slow down my pace and take a breath.

I think this was the longest I've ever even thought about Danny. At least since the funeral.