My Life as a Teenage Rebel

Chapter 45: Seventeen Hours and Counting

Evan Touber

CHAPTER 45 Seventeen Hours and Counting

It’s. Too. Early. To. Be. Uuuup. Moaning, I pull my covers over my head. Why can’t I sleep an extra half-hour? Why does my brain tell me to get up now? I don’t have to be up for another forty minutes! Why am I awake?!

I sigh in exasperation. I’m not going to be able to get back to sleep, am I? I didn’t sleep too well last night either. I just…kept thinking about Ky; how she slammed her fist into that locker. That had to be painful.

I pull my covers back down. She’s suspended. She’s not coming to school today… I wonder what she’s going to do all day…her parents probably won’t be home, and everyone else is at school… I wonder…if she’d be lonely…. Kyle won’t be with her, will he? And I know anyone would die to be invited over to her house, but they’d all probably be at school too, huh?

I turn over in my bed, staring at the clock. It’s too bad…after everything she did for her brother she has to sit at home staring at the ceiling… No, no, she’s ditched school plenty of times, and in those times she’s probably done loads of fun stuff. She’s creative, so I’m sure she’ll find tons of stuff to do… Still wish she had Kyle with her, or Andrew, or Evilyn, or Kelsey, or Mad- Wait, what am I saying? Would Madelin ditch school?

I pause for a moment.

Would I ditch school?

I shake my head. No, that’s a crazy idea, a ridiculous idea. I’ve never ditched school before. I mean, I ditched class that one time with Ky and got caught, but I’ve never ditched school… 

I don’t know the first thing about ditching school! Like…is it difficult? How would you do it? Would you just, not show up? That seems too easy for an act that could get me suspended, it has to be more complicated than that…

Doesn’t it?

I run a hand through my hair.

Could…I ditch school?

And then for another forty minutes, I bury myself under my covers, waiting for the sun to rise.

Beep! Beep! Beep! Beep!

I quickly poke my hand out from my covers and slap the “snooze” button, pulling my arm back in immediately. Surprisingly, I’m not as nervous as I thought I would be. Still nervous! But it’s not as bad as it could have been.

When I hear footsteps outside of my door and heading toward the stairs, I start coughing and hacking like I’ve got the worst case of pneumonia mankind has ever seen.

The footsteps stop, and a second later Jake opens my door, dressed in his old tee and sweatpants with a coffee mug in his hand and going: “What’s up, kid?”

I cough dramatically, pulling my covers down to my chin. “I think I’m sick.” I say in the weakest voice possible. I’m no good at acting, people, so where this came from I’ve no idea.

Jake pauses. And after a couple of seconds, he goes: “Uh-huh, so I guess I should…get the thermometer?” he asks, scratching the back of his hair.

“Yeah,” I say in that weak voice, throwing in a couple extra coughs.

So Jake leaves, and as he goes to get the thermometer I make sure to cough loud enough for him to hear. I’m overdoing it, aren’t I? Well cut me some slack, I’ve never done this before.

Jake comes back with the thermometer a moment later. This is the first time (as my legal guardian) that he’s had to check my temperature, so he’s not entirely sure what to do. It’s a good thing I’m not really sick- Heck, it’s a good thing I know how to take care of myself when I am sick! And it’s especially a good thing that I didn’t get sick while Aunt Judy was trying to prove Jake wasn’t responsible enough to take care of me.