That One Summer

4

4

Waking up early in the morning for school is not a problem for me. But because I hardly got any sleep last night, it is a problem now. My alarm went off at five but I ‘accidentally’ tossed it across the room and it was broken so now I’m alarm-clockless. I was awoken by the cold water droplets that landed on my face. When I opened my eyes, I saw Aunt Amanda hovering above me.

“Get up now, sunshine. School starts at 8,” she told me before leaving my room.

I looked at the time and realized that I only have less than an hour to get ready. That is so not enough for me to get ready! It takes me at least half an hour to take a bath.

I quickly untangled myself from my blanket and hurried towards the bathroom. I rushed the process of shampooing, conditioning my hair, and scrubbing my body. In a record time, I was out of the bathroom in fifteen minutes. The hard part comes next: picking up what to wear. It took me ten minutes to pick the perfect outfit for my first day at school: a fitted navy blue long sleeve tank top that hugs my curves and white cut-off shorts. I really don’t know how I wasted ten minutes for picking something like that.

I dressed quickly and inserted my feet at my new hi-top white converse. Grabbing my bag and phone along the way, I exited my room and went downstairs towards the kitchen, pick up an apple from the fruit bowl and headed for the front door. By the time I reached our front porch, I realized that I have no idea where the school is located. So there is no way I can drive to school. I don’t know how long I’ve been standing on the front porch when I heard Conrad calling from their porch.

“Hey, Allie, need a ride to school?” he shouted.

I looked at him in relief. What a life saver! I quickly agreed because there is only fifteen minutes before I’ll be late. He pushed a button on the remote he’s been holding to unlock the white Mercedes-Benz in front of their house. He opened the door of the passenger’s seat and gestured for me to go in. I obeyed and he closed the door and went to the driver’s side and settled in. Once we’re strapped in, he started the engine and drove off.

“You slept late?” he asked after a few seconds.

“Yeah. I was so excited last night that I didn’t get enough sleep. Now I have bags under my eyes. My first impression for my new classmates would be being a panda. Just great,” I responded.

“Nah. You still look beautiful, Allie,” he smiled.

“Gee, thanks, Conrad.”

“No more Mr. Psychotic Pedophile Stranger?”

I laughed at that. “Only when I’m irritated at you. You’re quite annoying at times, you know.”

“I know,” he glanced at me. “I had a boring morning today.”

“And why’s that?”

“You weren’t there to keep my jog entertaining.”

“Oh yeah, sorry. I ‘accidentally’ broke my alarm clock and woke up an hour late,” I smiled sheepishly at him.

He chuckled. “No worries. Just promise me that you’ll accompany me tomorrow, yeah?”

“Sure.”

We arrived at the school in exactly eight minutes. I said thanks to Conrad and headed towards the school’s glass doors. There are still a lot of people hanging out in the parking lot. As I stepped out of Conrad’s car, I felt all their curious gazes burning on my back. I just ignored them and acted cool and proceeded my way towards the glass doors. As I was nearing the doors, Conrad called me so I turned towards him to see that he’s already heading towards me.