Losing Him

First Day Blues

Chapter Two

First Day Blues

Savannah finds herself cringing to the sound of her 6:30AM alarm clock.

She had pressed the snooze button every 5 minutes for the last half-hour, apparently 10 hours of sleep was not enough to master the energy to rise from her slumber.

It seems to take all the will-power in her to get up.

"Savannah banana!" Benjamin burst into the room "Up you get; I can't afford to be late to school." He says as he stuffs a pancake in his mouth.

"Okay, Ben, chill bro, you're only in 8th grade," said Savannah groggily as she got up and stretched for what felt like an eternity.

Savannah, feeling more refreshed after washing her face, gets dressed in her summer school uniform of a white, short sleeved, collared top and a blue tartan kilt that fell just above her knees. 

She had left the toughest obstacle for last. Her hair.

Savannah searches for her hair-tie in her curly, thick brunette hair.

She unravels her bushy hair and stands staring at it in the mirror, overwhelmed by the wildness of it and the little time she has to tame it.

She brushes her frizzly afro upwards and ties it into a bun. A messy one, but nonetheless, a bun.

Feeling elated about finally taming her hair yet guilty for neglecting it all summer, Savannah grabs her school bag and makes her way down stairs for breakfast.

Ben is tapping away his drum sticks on the dining table while watching cartoons on his laptop, Savannah's father and mother are sitting side-by-side, her father reading the news paper and her mother enjoying her breakfast.

"There you are sleeping beauty," said Anthony smiling up at his daughter, "Oh, hey it only took you two years, but I'm glad you're out of bed!" Ben calls out to Savannah as she makes her way to the fridge to grab a juice box.

"Benjamin be quiet, you'll wake up Michael" said Anita firmly, "Mum, your sasquatch of a son is not easily woken." Said Ben, Savannah snorted so hard she nearly spat out her juice, Ben did his best not to burst into laughter as gets eyeballed by his mother.

Anita is a loving and protective woman who would do anything for her husband and kids, she has kind brown eyes and short curly hair that fell to her shoulders.

Despite her kindness, Anita is the 'tough-love' kind of parent who never shies away from being assertive, whether it was because of her job as a high-school guidance counsellor or the fact that her husband was lenient with their kids, nobody could tell.    

"I best be on my way," said Anthony; he kisses his wife on the cheek, grabs his blazer, ruffles Ben's curly hair and kissed Savannah on the forehead.

"Alright you two, got everything sorted? We better get going too before we're late." Said Anita, placing her coffee mug in the sink.

Savannah swings her bag over her shoulder and makes her way to the front door where she is greeted with humid air and weather that was so hot, it was as if the sun was inches away from earth, well Australia anyway.

Panic invades Savannah's mind, she was sure, without a doubt, by the end of this humid day, her hair would look like Medusa's, except wilder.

The journey to school is a short one, Anita pulls up at the school gates where a bunch of nervous looking seventh graders in uniforms that were too big for them and other student were making their way into the giant campus of Holy Cross High.