The Life I Didn't Know I Wanted (Under Editing)

Chapter 1

Beep beep beep beep

"Ugh," I groaned, rolling over in my bed to slap the alarm clock. My hand missed and sent it crashing to the floor instead.

Beep beep beep beep

The sound grated on my nerves as I leaned over the edge of my bed and yanked the cord from the wall. Finally, silence.

"Thank God," I muttered to myself, turning back over. I reached for my phone on the nightstand, only to realize it wasn't there.

Great.

Already irritated, I got out of bed and scoured the floor, assuming it had fallen along with the alarm clock. But after a few minutes of searching, it was still nowhere to be found. Frustrated, I started tearing the bed apart, throwing pillows and blankets onto the floor. Finally, after what felt like an eternity, I found the phone wedged in my pillowcase.

"Of course," I muttered, rolling my eyes at my own carelessness. I flopped back onto my bed, reassembled the bedding, and proceeded to scroll through social media, falling into a mindless loop much longer than I'd like to admit.

Eventually, I dragged myself out of bed and headed to the bathroom for a shower. As I passed the mirror, I stopped dead in my tracks. My usually loose brown curls had somehow morphed into a giant knot, sitting like a tangled mess on top of my head.

"What...?" I stared at the chaos in disbelief, trying to piece together how this had happened. I gingerly reached up to assess the damage, and to my horror, I felt an elastic band hidden in the nest of hair. That's when I realized: I'd slept in a bun.

"I just can't catch a break," I muttered to my reflection, shaking my head before continuing to the bathroom. After what felt like ages—and nearly an entire bottle of conditioner—I managed to untangle the knot and smooth my hair down against my back. With a heavy sigh, I braced myself.

Today is going to suck.

Luckily, it was summer break, so at least I didn't have anything major to do. I made my way downstairs and into the kitchen, rummaging for something to eat. As I pulled out the ingredients for pancakes, my phone buzzed.

Samantha: DUDE. We need to talk, meet me at the park in 10!

I quickly typed back, "Okay," abandoning the pancake mix and shoving a granola bar into my jacket pocket alongside my inhaler. The park was only about fifteen minutes away, and the weather was too nice to pass up a bike ride. Sam would be expecting me to bike anyway.

Ever since we were kids, that park had been our spot—a place to share secrets, crushes, and vent about the world. Sam had always been by my side. I wasn't sure what I'd do without her.

WHAM.

Suddenly, I was on the ground, my bike toppled on top of me. Dazed, I blinked and looked around for whatever had sent me flying.

"HIYA!" Sam's voice rang out as she skidded to a halt beside me. She had biked right into me.

"Seriously?" I groaned, pulling myself up from the dirt. "When will you learn not to text and bike? You're going to kill me one of these days!"

"Oh my gosh, I have SO much to tell you!" she yelled, already sprinting toward the swings with me trailing close behind.