Addicted

Chapter Two

I shot up in the middle of my bed. My hair stuck to my face and the back of my sweaty neck. I took deep breaths, trying to calm my racing heart. I had had the same nightmare almost every night since it had happened. The worst part was that it had been real.

Years ago, it had been real. Now it was just a nightmare. It was just something my mind liked to torture me with. It was bad enough I had to live it once, now it was on replay in my head. It was like the worst horror movie imaginable, and I couldn't turn it off. No matter what I did, I couldn't make it stop.

I looked over at the clock on my bedside table. 10:45 it read in bright red letters. My eyes widened. For the first time, I noticed the sunlight streaming through the edges of my curtains. Cursing loudly, I threw the covers off of my legs and stood up. I hurried to my closet and threw on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.

Skipping makeup for the day, I ran a brush through my strawberry blonde hair and threw it into a ponytail. I quickly put on deodorant and sprayed body spray onto my shirt. Throwing the stick of deodorant in my bag, I yanked the zipper closed dashed down the stairs.

I knew the bus schedule by heart, and I knew there wouldn't be another bus running until 11:30. My aunt wasn't home, and even if she was, she wouldn't take me to school. She would just lecture me about being irresponsible and oversleeping. I had no choice but to run.

The door slammed shut behind me as I ran out of the house and down the sidewalk. My backpack smacked against my back, making a loud "thwacking" sound. My shoes slapped against the pavement, sweat beading on my forehead. My legs burned, but I continued to run. I couldn't afford to slow to a walk, and be even more late to school than I already was.

Bursting through the front doors of the school, I ran into the office. The lady at the front desk looked up at me. Breathing heavily, I hurried passed her and into the attendance office.

"I need a tardy slip," I gasped, trying to catch my breath. The attendance lady looked me over with a shocked expression, but made no move to fill out one of the blue slips of paper that would admit me into calculus class. A quick glance at the clock told me that my calculus class was about to begin. If I was late, I'd miss the test.

"Please!" I begged. My voice was loud and urgent. She jumped at my sudden outburst and fumbled for the pad of blue papers. I bounced on my toes as she filled it out. She had no sooner ripped the slip from the pad when I snatched it from her hand. "Thank you!" I called as I ran out the doorway.

I ran down the hallway, and slid around the corner. The bell rang right a I ducked into the room. Everyone in the classroom turned and looked at me as I fell back against the door, causing it to bang shut behind me. I breathed out of my nose heavily, trying to slow my breathing back to normal. My eyes raked over my classmates as they stared at me.

If my face wasn't already bright red from running, it would be now as the class gawked at me like I was the bearded lady or something. I pushed off the door and started towards my seat. The blue tardy slip was crumpled in my hand. I realized now that it was probably pointless because I wasn't late for class, but I could have been, so it was better to be safe, than to be sorry I suppose.

I tossed the slip of paper into the trash as I walked to my seat. I let my bookbag slide from my shoulders. I caught it before it hit the ground and sat it against the desk's metal leg. After sliding into my chair, I removed a pencil from my bag and laid it on the desktop.

Once the teacher had taken the attendance, she passed our tests out. I searched my brain for the correct solutions to the problems. My pencil glided across the paper as I worked the complicated limits problems. I finished five minutes before class was up. I took my test up to the teacher then sat back down in my chair and brushed imaginary eraser shavings from my desk. I placed my pencil back in my bag and waited for the bell to ring.