730 Days till Someday

Chapter Two

Her alarm clock jolted her from her comfortable, dreamless sleep. She wanted to let the stupid thing continue blaring, pointlessly hoping it would decide to be quiet on its own and let her continue enjoying the nest of warm blankets she had pooled around her. But with all of the bedrooms in the house just across the hall from hers, she knew she couldn't just ignore it. Finally she heaved herself toward it, smacking the large button that covered most of the top of it, almost knocking her forehead against the rail that supported part of the bunk above her, her kid-sister May, still snored softly, completely oblivious to the alarm. Sighing Jo let herself lean back into the nest. From her perch on the bottom bunk she could clearly see the early summer sunlight spilling gold and orange light onto the world past the fenced-in back yard that her bedroom window overlooked. Birds chirped. Nearby trees swayed with the always present Wyoming breeze. She could practically taste the coolness that dawn had brought to world just outside. Laying there she started thinking about how wonderful it was that it was summer. No where to go, nothing to do, just months of freedom and relaxation.

Then reality caught up with her. Today was the day. Today she was leaving home for three months. She was going to her very first job.

An exhilarating mix of anticipation and fear pushed a lump into her throat and twisted a knot in her stomach. What would the summer bring? Would she like her new job? Would she make any friends? Would she get fired? She sure hoped a lot of good things for the summer, but would any of them come true?

"Hey kiddo, time to get up." Her dad's small knock on the door announced his presence. He poked his head in through the narrow crack he'd opened in the door. His short dark hair, dark soft eyes and olive toned skin all still looked sleepy. The lines from his pillow case seams still scarring his cheek. He must have just gotten up when her stupid alarm had gone off.

"Alight, I'm up." Jo answered, throwing off her blankets and scooting off of her bunk. He seemed satisfied with the progress she'd made toward a standing position and closed the door, leaving her to get ready for the six hour car ride she had to look forward to. Which didn't take long. She'd showered the night before, so she just pulled on her plain gray Army t-shirt and her favorite pair of jeans. She twisted a quick french braid into her long slightly frizzy hair. Taking one last look in the full length mirror across from her bed she tried to center herself. She looked fine, a few wispy hairs had refused to be braided but it gave her hair a ready-without-trying kind of look. Her jeans hugged in all the right ways and her t-shirt surprisingly made her normally broad shoulders look slender. Her muddy hazel eyes glittered with excitement. Who knew what she'd look like in six hours, but for the first time in a while she liked how she looked. Turning away from her reflection she grabbed her hiking shoes, her cellphone, her wallet and the brand new journal she'd bought especially for this trip. Then as quietly as she could she left her bedroom, being careful not to wake May.

    "Good morning Kiddo." Her dad said when she'd made her way down the stairs nearly tripping over her "art" bag, that was filled to the brim with everything she was sure she couldn't survive the summer without, where it was placed precariously on the last step. Then dropping what she'd brought down on top of the nearby footlocker, she rounded the corner into the kitchen. Her youngest brother, Jack, was already sleepily perched on one of the kitchen chairs slowly eating spoonfuls of cereal. His blonde hair was twisted into crazy bed-head cow-licks and he didn't have his eyes opened all the way.

    "Good morning, Dad." Chuckling at the scowl her brother gave her when he noticed her giving him a strange what-happened-to-you look.

    "You excited for your summer?" He asked trying to get her into a conversation. She couldn't tell if his tone was rude or not. Either way, she stifled an eye-roll as she made her way towards where the cereal in the pantry. It wasn't her dad's fault. They'd actually been really close when she was young, but in the last year or so it was like he'd forgotten how to talk to her, really both of her parents had. Admittedly, as a 16 year old girl, she wasn't the easiest to talk to, but it wasn't impossible. Between the awkwardness with her dad and the obvious hostility she'd gotten from her mom as of late, being home for longer than a few minutes and become a strenuous daily chore, instead of reassuring.