I jolt awake with a start. Sun streaks through the half-opened window next to me. What time is it?
I rub my eyes and peer around the room to gauge how much time I can go back to sleep for. Pansy is facing me, fast asleep, with a bit of drool trickling down her chin. I can't help but grin. We're not super close, but I know her well enough to know if she could see herself right now she would not be happy about her appearance. Not that I can talk. I suffer from an extreme case of bedhead when I sleep.
My hand fishes around my blankets, trying to find my phone to check the time. It takes a moment to find it, but I bring it to face level. I blink a few times to focus my eyes on the screen, but I immediately regret it.
7:45 a.m. - The big white letters on my phone read.
I immediately look to the upper right corner of my phone.
1% - The battery sign reads.
Shit! I must have forgotten to plug it in last night. However, panic rises through me as I realize the bigger issue at hand. First period starts in 15 minutes...
I spring out of bed. "PANSY! PANSY! GET UP NOW!" I yell at her while I run to my vanity. I silently thank yesterday Amanda for laying out my uniform last night.
"Five more minutes..." Pansy mumbles and rolls over.
I strip out of my pajama shorts and underwear, not even bothering to feel embarrassed that it's in front of someone else.
"No, not five more minutes. We're late! We've already missed breakfast! C'MON!" I yell in response as I slip on my skirt and start buttoning up my shirt.
"Huh?" Pansy responds still lying down. Once my shirt is down, I run over to Pansy's bed and grab her arm, I pull her until she has no choice but to sit up. "What?" she finally snaps. No one's ever accused Pansy of being a morning person... Then again, no one has accused me either.
"You have to get up right now. We overslept and-" I look at my phone again. "We have 12 minutes before 1st period starts." This jolts her out of bed too and she starts running around the room like a chicken with its head cut off.
I grab my green Slytherin tie and look into my vanity mirror to make sure I'm tying it correctly. "Why didn't you wake me up? You always wake me for breakfast!" Pansy shouts at me as she rummages through our closet, looking for a presentable uniform to throw on.
"I overslept too! It's not always about you Pansy" I snap. I'll admit that was a bit snippish because I do always wake her up in the morning. I honestly don't even mind it that much. It's just that the stress of being late is floating up inside me and trying to spill out through my mouth. I hate being late. Despise it, actually. If band has taught me anything, it's that 'to be early is to be on time, to be on time is to be late, and to be late is not to be.'
I finish tying my tie and hop around to balance myself as I put on my socks. I plug my phone into the outlet next to my bed. I'll come back for you at lunchtime.
I sidestep Pansy to reach our closet and my shoes. She's running around frantically, on the verge of tears. "I won't have time to do my makeup! Nobody at this school has ever seen me without makeup on. What do I do? How does my hair look?" I've known Pansy long enough to stare at her a moment first, then say, "Good." Like I actually give a shit about her hair...
"What if I skip first period to finish getting ready? Do you think anyone would mind?" Pansy continues.
I'm brushing my hair into a ponytail and am about 3 seconds from being finished and rushing out that door to my English Honors class. But, I decide to humor her since I feel bad about snapping at her earlier. "I don't know. Who's your first period?" I ask Pansy.
Her face scrunches up like she just got a whiff of hot garbage. "Chem. With Snape"
I can't help but let out a chuckle. "Yea, you're screwed. You better get your ass out the door in less than 5, or Snape will be more than happy to dish out the first detention of the year. He'd probably have a cake ready." I grab my backpack and head towards the door. I look back because I can't resist. "Or balloons. You know how Snape's a party animal."
Pansy throws one of her pillows at me, which I easily dodge. "Just leave me to my misery!" She shouts jokingly. I laugh as I leave my dorm and speed walk through the common room. I feel surprisingly happy for the first day back to school. I check my watch. And for the fact that I have 4 minutes to make it across campus to the English wing. I start sprinting, fingers crossed that I won't be too late.
YOU ARE READING
City Shadows
RomanceY/N has always had a hard time fitting in. She's too loud, too brash, too this, too that. She's about as feminine as a toilet brush, and everyone knows it. Kids at her school aren't necessarily mean to her, they just pretend she doesn't exist. The o...
