I woke up to the deadly voice of an alarm clock. Any kind of constant ringing or bells made me growl and moan and bury my head in the pillow. School was a place I'd rather get away from every day. But faking diseases all the time wasn't an all time duty excuse.
I flipped over my side and pulled my blanket over my head. It was dawn, the most beautiful time of the day. I loved it. The special coolness outside and the thirty minutes right before the sunrise. I liked accidentally waking up to that hour, knowing I still have time before school, I would shiver to the slight cold and keep the blanket tight on my body.
But when someone told me I had school on that lovely hour, I would get confused.
"Ray, are you awake yet?"
Holly was sitting straight in her sleeping bag, looking totally awake and yet her voice was husky and tired. She was blinking slowly and her eyes were a little swollen.
I pulled the covers at once, half confused and half annoyed. "It's way to early to wake up, what-"
"Not for me, I need a lot of time, and you are gonna get ready with me." She had a satisfied smile.
I grinned. But before I could laugh at her big dream, I thought about it and kept quiet. My mom wanted me to go to school too.
Before I would regret it, I rolled out of bed, onto the rug. "I just need like, thirty minutes and I'm out." I roughly rubbed my eye.
Holly's eyes darted over my rug before meeting my. "I'm your ride."
She picked my clothes in my room while I took a shower. She was already dressed.
"No, no, no." I moaned, and stuffed the clothes she took out back into the closet. I picked a pair of jeans and a black cardigan; While I was getting dressed, Holly gave me a water bottle from my fridge, and we went outside.
While driving, my fingers hovered above my phone's keyboard. I was wondering if I should contact Luke. After Holly's stare, I locked the phone and held it in my fist.
"What?" I asked.
"You were this close." She smiled, and nodded to herself. She does that a lot. "I knew you would."
She stopped the car and touched the keys. it was only then I noticed we were in front of school.
"Are you feeling better?" Nicole, a girl from one of my classes asked me. She touched the glasses on the tip of her nose, and placed her brown sandwich bag on the table in front of me. Her straight hair was painted a dark red.
Apart from Nicole's hair, nothing else changed about school. There was the same lunch room, same teachers, and the same feeling in my chest. I couldn't describe it well, but my heart beats were raised, and I felt unsure about everything I did. I lost the feeling of relevance.
With every period over, I noticed I had no one except Holly. I felt more insecure, like I was holding onto a decaying wall.
I watched Holly as she stood next to her locker and laughed with her friends and I waited for them to finish.
Those four minutes never ended so slow.
Holly gave me her car keys. "I think I'm gonna check out the library with them, but you can drive right?" She sounded hopeful but still caring. Like she would stay with me if I asked her to.
I nodded and she gave me a hug. "Then I'll pick it up in the evening."
My fingers were hovering above my phone's screen again. I was dying to finally contact Luke. I felt like every second he doesn't hear from me is another second he's moving on.
