Stayin' Alive

Chapter One

It was a depressing but warm Tuesday morning when I woke and swung my feet over the bed to wake up for school. I could hear the pounding of the rain on the rooftop; it was relentless. It sounded like Paul Bunyan took a barrel of marbles and poured them onto the roof. Looking out my window, I could see the rain streaming down the glass like tears. The rain didn't help the perpetual state of depression that I was in. The people at school didn't help either. I was a terrible pessimist, if you haven't already noticed. I pulled my knees to my chest and rested my forehead against my knees. Through the wall my mother's alarm rang. I squeezed my eyes to keep the tears from falling, and descended the winding staircase to get breakfast. We were a very wealthy family, in fact we were one of the wealthiest in the state of Oklahoma. My father owns a condo in the mountains of Colorado which we visit every summer to escape the scorching Oklahoma summers. It was something I looked forward to every year. My father decided to get a grand Victorian mansion with his inheritance one day, so that's why we're all here today in this mansion. I loved the look of the house but sometimes it just seemed like too much. My sister was in college up in Minnesota, some fancy state college with a good elementary education course. Without my sister there, and without any friends, I was downright bored. At the bottom of the stairs, I made a wide right towards the kitchen. We had a plate collection of the different states bordering the tops of our walls. The one across from me at the long dining room table was Colorado. I'd told my father to hang the Colorado plate across from my seat at the table. The plate read "Colorful Colorado" and it showed the outline of Colorado with its famous landmarks painted scattered around the state inside of the outline. 

  I poured myself some Golden Grahams and drenched them milk. I could hear the sound of my mother showering upstairs in the master bathroom. The water shut off with a whistle just as I finished my cereal. I rinsed my bowl in the sink and jogged back up the stairs to my room. I saw that my Bee Gees poster had fallen from the wall halfway above my bed. I grabbed a couple thumbtacks from my dresser and repinned it onto the wall, careful not to put too big of a puncture in Barry's beautiful mane. Oh how I wished I could have Barry's hair. Crossing the room to my closet, I already had an idea of what I was going to wear. After switching my record player radio on, I slipped into a pair of blue bellbottoms and a red T-shirt. I always tried to dress alike to my idols. Today I was trying to resemble Robin in the Stayin' Alive MTV music video. I chose a pair of black shiny ankle boots to complete the outfit and ran a brush through my hair once. 

  I stand in the dim doorway with my Bee Gees backpack on, waiting for the bus. Just as my mother is coming down the spiral staircase for breakfast, I see the bus's flashing lights and I run down the driveway where my acquaintance, Rose, is waiting. 

     "Hey Ronnie!" Rose called as I came up to stand beside her. The flashing bus lights shone on her face, causing it to look like she was in some disco nightclub. The bus doors opened before us and we chose the third seat on the left. We sat there in an awkward silence until we arrived at the school. 

  As usual, as soon as I walked through the doors, people gave me strange looks. I didn't know if it was my pants or my shiny ankle boots, but the kids seemed to think I was some monster or something. I tried to keep the tears from falling as I got my supplies from my locker. 

  I sat down in Geography, my first class of the day, and laid my head down on the desk. I liked to think of myself as a puzzle, waiting to be put back together someday by the right person. But now, it seemed like I'd never find the right person. I'd come to the conclusion that I just wasn't cut out to date or get married and that I shouldn't try to get any new friends because they'd just end up hurting me anyway. 

     "Veronica? Are you alright?" Mr. Neisen asked. 

     "I'll be fine." I said curtly, and studied the map of Australia that he'd laid on my desk. The only thing I could think of for the rest of class was that the Bee Gees used to live in Australia. God I love the Bee Gees. Ever since I heard Stayin' Alive on the radio all those years ago, I've been obsessed with them. My walls were completely covered with posters and printouts of the Bee Gees. Robin Gibb dominated my door. In my free time I would create collages of Robin and add them to my already-covered-in-Robin-photos door. 

Mr. Neisen tapped me on the shoulder and pointed to the door. It was time to go. I snapped out of my thoughts of Robin and went on to English class where we were testing. I completely forgot to study. Girls gave me weird looks as I shuffled between the desks and plopped down in my seat in the back row. The substitute handed out the test and I looked over the questions. It was just a bunch of bullcrap about poetry. I could pass this with ease. I read through the poems and circled the best answer I could come up with. Luckily there were no written response questions. I pulled out a book and waited for the sounds of pencils scratching on the desks around me to die down.

     "Raise your hand if you're still working." The sub said, two chapters later. No hands were raised. I let out a sigh of relief as read the clock and saw it was time to go.

     "It's time to go." Some boy to me left said.

  The sub checked the clock and waved us on our way. I took my usual everyday route to the lunchroom. Through the commons, the freshmen hallway, and to the one empty table where no one sat. I dropped my things off in my locker but brought my Bee Gees biography to lunch with me. Today the lunch was hamburger and french fries. I got a few odd looks as we all shuffled down the lunch line waiting for our turn. 

     "Thank you!" I said after the lunch lady plopped some food on my plate. A couple goth girls smiled at me as I pulled out my lunch money but other than that, lunch was downright depressing. I guess it was better than other days though. 

  After sitting down, I shoved my nose into the Bee Gees biography and looked at their beautiful faces for the rest of lunch.

     Thanks for reading!:)

                                                                               ~~~**Peace and Love**~~~