In A New Life [Lams]

Chapter 2: Burr's Goin' Down

"Alexander, Alexander," a soft, gentile voice whisper-sang into my ear. I moaned, digging my face, further into the pillow. Suddenly, a hand was rubbing my back and I shot up, screaming.

"Alexander? What's wrong? Are you okay?" The speaker asked frantically. I looked over at him, it was only Washington. I visibly relaxed. I shook my head.

"It's just been three months that I've been alone and I haven't had anyone over, if you couldn't tell by the state of the house," I took a moment and chuckled, embarrassed, "I just forgot you were here, is all, and it frightened me, in case you couldn't tell." I yawned and stretched, falling out the bed.

Mr. Washington tried to stifle a laugh, as he stood in my doorway, watching me fail to get up normally. "What time is it?"

"It's about 5:30 am, I figured I would give you some more time to pack up, and if we needed to, we could come back after school and get even more of your belongings if you really wished and haven't gotten everything yet. Also, I have to be at the school early, by 6:30, so I give myself an hour to get ready," Mr. Washington explained. I nodded, standing up and going to the bathroom to brush my teeth, take a quick shower, and get dressed.

By the time I was done, it was only 5:45, so I went into the kitchen to go and make a bowl of cereal with some toast. I ate a silent breakfast, looking over the supplies I needed to get for school, and then once I was done with eating, I went around my house, looking to see if I had any extra supplies lying around so I didn't have to go out and buy them. As well as that, I tried packing at the same time as looking for supplies, and since I am terrible at multi-tasking, I was completely unable to focus and ended up just sitting in the middle of my floor crisscross apple sauce until Mr. Washington came in, asking if I was okay, and if I needed help with anything. I accepted his offer, seeing as I knew if I tried to do this all on my own, it would never get done. We worked until 6:15 and by then we had mostly everything done. Mr. Washington had helped me get the supplies, and since he had finished that, being the teacher that he is and having most of the needed supplies, he then started helping me pack.

"Okay, Alex, since it's 6:15, we have to stop and get going to the school. Or I can go now, you can stay here, and then leave by 7:00 so you can bike to the school and continue packing, if you prefer? It's all up to you, so do whatever makes you comfortable," Mr. Washington explained to me, as he was getting all of his stuff in order. "Either way, I'll see you later in class and then I'll take you to my house, again, only if you want. I have a few dogs so they can keep you busy until I get home, or if you prefer, we can leave early. Again, totally up to you, either one is fine.

I debated the choices a couple of times before making my final decision. "I would like to go with you now, and leave with you later, please." Mr. Washington chuckled.

"I'm okay with that. We just need to leave right now if you're coming with me. So quickly pack everything up and just throw it into the trunk, aside from your school supplies, keep that with you, and then we can head off. I just would like to finish my coffee and toast first, then I'll help you get everything. Here are the keys." Washington tossed the keys to me, and I caught them without dropping them. I usually drop everything because I'm so clumsy, so I was proud of myself for actually catching the keys.

It only took me about ten minutes to get the car filled because I usually just try to grab as much as I can, and since I didn't have much to being with, it only took a few minutes. While I was waiting, I got in the passenger seat, dropped the keys in the driver's seat and noticed that Mr. Washington kept a small binder in his car labeled music, so I decided to be nosy as hell and flip through it. He had a good taste of music, and I genuinely enjoyed most of the music he kept in his car (Joan Jett, Blink 182, Mayday Parade, Blake Shelton, other music you would not expect a high school principal and high school social studies teacher to listen to). By the time I had gotten to the fifth page of it, Mr. Washington got in his car, laughing to himself.