I lay in my bed, not wanting to move or open my eyes. I was exhausted, to say the least. I tried to move my leg from under the covers but as soon as it felt the cold air from my room it automatically went back to its original spot.
It is mornings like these that I am destined to have the worst days. I'm always late for school or have to run to get the bus or its magically raining and my hair gets scraggy and messy.
Of course, this fact does not make me any less tired, or any more motivated to get out of my bed. Quite frankly, it makes me want to lie there more; who would want to risk having a bad day when you could just stay wrapped up in the warmth?
But today was slightly different. I had to get up. It wasn't a choice of skipping school or not, pretending to be ill or not; because today was the annual school dress down day.
It was the only day of the year that people were actually permitted to stay off- and that's why I loved it. All the annoying boys and popular girls stayed off; probably going to some expensive theme park for the weekend, and all of my friends would come in and have the whole day at school minus all the twits and bullies.
This was the only thing that got me up and out the door by eight thirty; five minutes before my bus came. I actually looked decent today, I was wearing my favourite outfit- my fall out boy top and skinny black ripped jeans, and my red converse. My long bright blond hair was straightened but put up in a pony tail and I was wearing my black rucksack with all my keychains on it. My best friend Nina was standing next to me, waiting patiently for the bus.
"You look nice Rosie," She smiled at me. "I didn't know what to wear today, so I just chucked this on." She gestured to what she was wearing- a light pink crop top and high waisted skinny jeans. She had her favourite ankle boots on and her Silky hair down past her shoulders. Nina was incredibly pretty as well as being popular; she looked mysterious and alluring but also friendly and sweet; which she was.
"It's nice," I replied, looking my best friend up and down and nodding, "where'd you get your jeans?"
"River island. You know, I don't normally shop in there but I had some money so-"
Nina was cut off by one of the boys from our bus stop. He was alone; his friends must have stayed off.
"Hey girls!" He said cheerfully and we both stared at him in confusion. When we didn't reply, he said something else. "I like your bag." He said to me and he started looking through the key chains, nodding approvingly.
"What do you want Mathew?" Nina questioned the boy who was now back in his original position in front of us.
"Please, call me Matt. And I was just making friendly conversation." He laughed and put his hands in the air as if we were accusing him of murder. Luckily, the bus came shorty after and Nina and I quickly got a seat up the stairs. There was barely anyone on it; just Libby Taylor and Reggie Collins- the geeky, smart girl and her equally smart, equally geeky best friend.
It's always strange, seeing other best friends together. When you have one of your own- you don't really seem to notice everyone else's; you assume that their friendship could never be close to what you and your best friend have. But that's not the case at all - no matter how many friends you have or what you look like or how well you talk to people - your best friend doesn't care. I looked at Nina, who was rummaging through her bag trying to find a mirror. I smiled at her even though she wasn't looking at me. I felt a blissful sense of worth when I looked at her. She liked me for who I was.
We got off the bus together and walked up the slippery hill to the school. I looked behind me to find Mathew lurking behind us. I nudged Nina.
"He's been acting weird. Does he have a crush on you or something?" I asked her. It wasn't unlikely that this was true; many of the boys that I talked to only wanted to be friends with me to get closer to Nina. I was her guardian, protecting her from all the idiots that would hurt her.
All Nina did was laugh.
"No! Mathew doesn't have crushes. Madison Forbes has fancied him for ages and she's tried to get it out of him. She told me that he said he 'doesn't have the time' - what a weird thing to say!" She laughed again, this time a little more sarcastic. Though, I didn't think it was a weird thing to say. I didn't have time for crushes either. Then again, no one has ever had a crush on me, so I guess I had an excuse.
After English, I was in a good mood. Normally by lunch time I would have been kicked under the table by my obnoxious science partner and been offended by at least two of the popular boys (or girls) in the year above.
Just as I had collected my lunch and found Nina sitting at an empty table, Mathew ran past me, bumping my shoulder. Before I could control the food on my tray it flung into the air and landed right on top of mine and Mathews heads. He gasped as I slowly turned around to face him. I knew I had cheesy pasta all over my hair. I knew I had a pea on my cheek and I knew that my eyebrow had bits of swirly pasta in it. And I knew that I was ready to kill Mathew Sam Benson.
