Reach for the Sky

"Skylar get your butt out of bed!!!" My little twerp of a nine year old brother yells in my ear. I shoot straight up and glare at him through my sleepy daze.

"What the heck Ben?!" I say in aggravation. He gives me an angelic look which really isn't that hard for him with his big blue eyes and blond hair.

"It's not my fault that you slept through your alarm and only have fifteen minutes to get to school." He smarts off. I glare at him but as the words dawn on me I shriek and fling myself from my bed.

"Fifteen minutes?! Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" I screech as I run to my closet pulling out the closest pair of jeans and t-shirt.

"I was watching Spongebob." He says in a voice that implies I am both dumb and stupid.

I just glare at him and say, "Stripping in 3... 2..."

He shrieks and runs out of my room and down the stairs. I quickly rip off my pajamas pull on the jeans I grabbed and then yank the t-shirt over my head as I walk to the bathroom. Fortunately my blonde hair doesn't look bad since it's straight as a board and doesn't require any brushing but I have yesterday's eye makeup all over my face giving the impression that I've decided to become a zombie. I groan and quickly wash my face then grab my toothbrush and brush my teeth as I run down the stairs and pull my shoes on. Then I run to the kitchen sink and spit out toothpaste chucking my toothbrush onto the kitchen counter as I run to the door grabbing my backpack on the way.

"That's disgusting and highly unsanitary!!" Ben yells, using his latest vocabulary words, as I run out the door.

"Love you too!" I shout back to him right before the door swings shut to our relatively small two story house. Then I race down the driveway and down the sidewalk to the school. Now most girls my age would have a car by now but I live right in town literally two blocks from the school and my mom and I can't currently afford a car. So I'm stuck walking to school, or in cases like this morning... Running. By the time I burst into the doors of the school the bell for first period has already rung and I know I'm late. I hurriedly go to my locker and grab all the books I'll need for my first hour, which happens to be English. I sprint down the hallway and skid to a stop in front of my English room. I quickly try and compose myself so I don't look like I just ran a marathon while smoking illegal drugs before I open the classroom door.

"Ah, Miss Taite how nice of you to join us." My teacher, Mr. Dylan, says to me giving me a grim look. "I presume you have a wonderful explanation as to why you're late and bursting into my classroom but I'm afraid I don't want to hear it. Take your seat."

"Yes sir." I say meekly as I turn bright pink and make my way to my seat at the back of the class. My best friend Sierra sends me an apologetic look from across the room. I hurriedly sit down and face the front.

"Now as I was saying..."

40 glorious minutes later the bell signaling the end of class rings and I bolt up from my seat quickly gathering my books and practically sprinting out into the hallway.

"Yikes." Sierra says to me. "Are you auditioning for some zombie movie you haven't told me about?"

I shoot her a less than thrilled look. "Gee thanks. It's always good to know that I have the love and support of my best friend to get me through my worst days."

She snorts. "Slept through your alarm?"

I nod my head while I stop at my locker to grab my books for second hour. She leans against the lockers next to me.

"Well you definitely picked a bad day to do it. Mr. Dylan was already extremely pissed this morning because some kid decided to swear at him after he told them not to run in the hallways. And you know he's always somewhat crabby, but that basically just pushed him over the top."