Thin Ice

Some Pajama Pants Just Aren't Meant to be Seen in Public

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Excuse the mistakes

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I’m not a person who can sleep in cars.

I wish I was, since I traveled a lot for hockey, but once I strapped into a car, I was doomed to be awake the whole trip. It royally sucked, especially today since I’d been up since a little before six in the morning, and I was just really tired.

Luckily, we were about ten minutes away from our new house, according to my dad’s GPS anyways. That meant I was ten minutes closer to a nap. The very thought made me yawn, and I ran a hand through my hair as I shivered involuntarily.

My dad was happily tapping his thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the Fray song drifting quietly through the speakers. He’d always been a morning person, which was funny seeing as both Nick and I could just sleep forever and be content. I’m not ashamed to say that my dad’s ability to be chipper in the morning was more than slightly annoying to me.

“Are we there yet?” I asked, poking my dad in the shoulder. “Are we there yet?”

“Kelsey,” my dad replied, eyeing my finger as I repeatedly jammed it into his bicep, “Don’t even start with that because I’m not afraid to leave you at the side of the road to walk the rest of the way.”

“You want your only daughter to get lost?” I asked, faking hurt. I stuck my bottom lip out like a two year old and widened my eyes. My dad took one look at my face and burst out laughing.

“Now that is an attractive look, bud,” he commented, shaking his head. I grinned and sat back in my seat, which was starting to make my back and butt sore and stiff. We’d only stopped once to get breakfast at Dunkin’ Donuts, so I’d been sitting in the same chair for about four hours straight.

I started playing Fruit Ninja on my phone, and after what seemed like seconds, I felt the car turn. I looked up and frowned. My dad wasn’t pulling onto a street or a driveway; he was pulling into the parking lot of what looked to be a school.

“What are we doing?” I asked slowly as my dad parked.

“I told the principal of your new school that we’d stop by today to get your schedule and locker information,” My dad replied, and he unbuckled his seatbelt and shut off the car.

“Are you serious?” I asked, and I gestured at the pajama pants that I’d worn for the car ride, which were incredibly old and covered in pictures from Dr. Seuss books. “I can’t be seen in public like this!”

“It’ll only take a few minutes, Kelsey,” my dad said, “Now c’mon. I want to get this done so I can get to the house.”

“Fine,” I grumbled, and I climbed slowly and reluctantly out of the car. I shut the door behind myself, and I hurried after my dad, who was already half-way towards the school. In addition to the fact that I was wearing some pretty outrageous pants, today was a Thursday so school was in session.

I followed my dad into the school, and we asked a teacher who was walking by where the main office was. Thankfully, as we navigated the hallways and looked for the office, it appeared that everyone was in class, so I didn’t have to deal with questioning stares.

My dad held the door of the main office open, and after slipping past him, I walked up to the young looking secretary. She glanced up from her computer and smiled at me. “What can I do for you, sweetheart?” she asked.