School of Rivalries

Chapter 3

"Beep! Beep! Beep" I roll over and shut off the most annoying sound humanly possible. I groan and slowly get out of bed like a zombie looking for brains, except I just want to go back to bed.

I check the time: 6:00 am. I have school today. Another long, grueling, and terrible day of fifth grade. I go to Hillside Elementary. Don't get me wrong, it's a nice school and all, but not with the social aspect. You see at Hillside, they organize the classes a different way. There are two classes for every grade because it is a private school. My class has 15 kids it it. The other class has 25 kids in it. It's weird how uneven the split is for each class, but there is a reason for it. The first class, or class A is for the "academically advanced" kids (or the smart kids). Then there's class B, for the "academically standardized" kids (or the dumb kids), as everyone calls it. Except for this school, who gives it those fancy names so no one gets upset by what class they're in.

I'm in class A, and Carie is in B. Carie used to be in A, but after word got out that class B had all the "cool kids" in it, Carie decided to sacrifice her own grades just to be apart of it. Mom just thinks she "got off on the wrong foot" or something like that.

Anyway, now all the kids in class B make fun of the kids in class A, but I don't care. Failing isn't my thing.

I have one friend in my class, Nora, who also doesn't like failing. She's a really nice kid, and she understands my love for dancing in away that nobody else does. She's like a sister to me. She's like an Olivia to me.

I quickly get dressed in a t shirt and sweats and go downstairs to make breakfast. I make Eggo waffles for myself because they're my new favorite thing. Then I pack my bag and wait for mom and Carie to be ready to go. Olivia only just turned 5 so she goes to preschool three times a week.

  We say our good-byes to Olivia and dad and then we get in the car and drive to school.

The ride to school is short but quite, so it feels a lot longer. I sit in the back and Carie sits in the front.

We finally get to school after what feels like an eternity. We both open the trunk to get our bags. Carie pulls out her $200 black Michael Kors designer bag that she got for Christmas, and I pull out my scrawny old purple backpack I've had since third grade. Carie and I used to have matching purple backpacks, until all of the cool kids got fancy bags, and she wanted one too.

We start walking up the path to the front entrance of the school. Carie tags along with her 5 million bffs, and I see my one friend, Nora, and tag along with her. We've been best friends since kindergarten. She always has my back, and we're basically inseparable!

  We go into school and start the day of with math. It's just stupid geometry, and I'm not listening. Instead, I'm dreaming of the day when all my hard work finally pays off and I'm at the top of the world podium. Everyone's chanting my name.."Grace! Grace! Grace!"
  "Grace?!?," my teacher, Mrs. Bryce, screams, and I suddenly wake up from my fantasy, " Number 7, please?" she said, an everyone looks at me like I have four heads.
  "Uh...3?" I say with a tiny stutter.

  "Yes. So if that is our area, how can we find perimeter?...." she trails of, few! That was a close one. Luckily it was an easy problem.

  The rest of the day dragged on. We did more boring stuff like reading and writing,  and science and social studies.

I breathe I sigh of happiness when I walk into our house. The school day is finally over, and that means greatness. No more sitting in a stuffy room, doing math problems, or reading a boring article about plant cells.
Carie and I take the bus home because mom and dad have work. I take of my shoes and Carie closes the door and I walk over to get a snack. Hmmm...I think to myself as I look through our fridge. I finally settle on an apple. A beautiful, red delicious apple (and the only one left). I reach out to grab it, but I am cut off by a stabbing hand reaching for the same thing.

"Hey, I was about to eat that!!" I say in a demanding voice.
"Well, I got it first so it's mine." Carie responds, whipping her hair around and departing the room before I even had a chance to say anything. The only conversations I ever have with my sister are the constant arguments that we have.

I turn back around and grab the next best thing-strawberries. I wash them then I take out a small bowl and put a paper towel in it and place a few strawberries in. Then I take out my homework and commence.

  "Hey!!! What are you doing?" I say, turning around at Carie, who just unplugged my practice music.
  "You've been down here for three hours. Get out. It's my turn."
"But I still need to practice! You can join me if you'd like..." I shyly suggest, knowing Carie's answer will not be a positive one.
  "Ha! Like I'd ever want to practice with you! Get the heck out. Now." I was about to say something, but then I see mom at the top of the stairs shaking her head at me. I guess my practice session is over. I grabbed my shoes, water, and phone and headed up the stairs.