JAPTRAT (for now)

Chapter 2: Routine

Nathan managed to spend the rest of the day with ease. His parents were at home which meant he could lock himself up in his room. Except when he had to show up at dinner.

Nathan was a straight A student. He stayed out of trouble. His teachers had high hopes for him.

But at home, he was the eldest child in the household, which meant he had to be the most responsible one. But he never finished his chores on time. And that night he was on laundry duty, which he spent playing black ops.

So the next morning when he woke up from only an hours worth of sleep, which was putting it generously, laundry was the last thing on his mind. Nathan looked around for his light summer jacket to match his shirt ,but in a rush he couldn't find it. He shrugged, grabbed his bag, opened the door and nearly fell on top a huge pile of clothes.

Oh.

He stapled his bag on, pulled his sleeves up and picked the clothes up in one go. Let's do this. He headed for the laundry room leaving a trail of clothes falling after him. Nevertheless he put the whites separate from the coloured and spun the machine dial.

His mom was busy making breakfast in the kitchen, her cheeks flushed as usual. She was humming. That meant his dad was in a good mood as well. And why not? He did laundry before already being late for school. Clever.

He rushed in, quickly grabbed a beigel and skidded to his mother.

"Morning mum." Nathan mumbled with his mouth full. He pecked her cheeks when she leaned towards him. "Bye mum."

Nathan walked around to where his dad was sitting, not listening to his mother who was pestering eating breakfast.

"You might as well know I'm late."

"Dad." Nathan greeted. Half of his dad's body was hidden under the table and half of it behind the newspaper. He high fived his dad's out stretched hand and ran for the door.

Nathan cupped his hands around his mouth, "Bye Hailey!"

He shoved the rest of his beigel in his mouth, yanked the door open and stepped out.

He rode his bike to school not at all stopping at the stop signs.

I'm late I'm late I'm late. He mentally answered all the cars that were honking at him. By the time he got to school, his glasses were fogged up, his legs throbbed and he couldn't hear a thing due to the blood rushing in his ears.

~~~~~~~~~

"Your Quiz will be for the duration of the class. It's for 30 marks and counts for 50% of your grade this month. If you finish early you can leave. You know the rest of the drill. No cheating, no passing notes, blah blah blah. It's too early in the morning to give instructions."

Mr. Waller slumped into the chair behind his desk after he told his students to begin. He thought,

'Thank God! No one is going to eat my head off today with dumb questio-'

"Sir! How much did you say the test is out of again?"

'-Damn teenagers.'

"30 marks, Corey." He said in an exasperated tone.

Nathan kept his head down and concentration on the quiz, his focus only broken when someone or the other asked another stupid question,

'Can I go get my calculator from my locker?'

'I dont have a pen, can I do the quiz in pencil?'

'Can I leave when I'm done?'

He felt bad for old Mr. Waller. He was one of the few teachers he liked.