Imagine Us In Heaven

Chapter One: Fifth Grade

August 2012

BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! My alarm goes, as loud as ever at 6:00 in the morning. What? It's already school? Ugh but summer was just here! I say to myself, as I pull my blanket aside. I didn't want to get up. The bed that had allowed me to sleep in the past couple of months was now betraying me. I know I had to get ready but my bed held on to me tightly.

"It's okay. You don't have to get up. You can stay right here with me where it's nice and comfy," it whispers, begging me to snuggle for even just a few more minutes.

Unfortunately, those "few minutes" were a lot shorter than I wanted it to be. My mom, a woman who is very strict with timing, expects everyone to get ready for school as soon as the alarm goes off. But, just like any other mom, she knew that I would be too lazy to get ready even with my alarm screeching at me.

"Wake up Zachary! You're gonna be late!" my mom yells with a harsh tone. I hate it when she talks to me like that. I know that since it's the first day of school, it may seem like I won't be able to get up early because I slept in a lot during summer, but can you please be a little more patient?

Soon after, I found myself covered in the white wool blanket once again, my eagerness nonexistent for returning to such a horrid place. "Eh. Three more minutes!" I snap back, trying to enjoy the warmth of my bed. Suddenly, I felt something snatch my blanket right off of me. Whoosh! A sudden wave of freezing cold air approached me before I had the chance to make myself comfortable.

"Argh! What'd you do that for?" I groan in irritation.

"Come on! It's your first day of school!" She bluntly reminds me. Creekwood elementary school was a thirty-minute drive from my house. That means I have to get up two hours earlier than most people in order to arrive on time. And I hated it. Fine, I'll "get up" now for school. Talk about being impatient! I say to myself, as I walk over to my drawer to put on my uniform. Today's gonna be a long day.

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We arrived at Creekwood about fifteen minutes before the bell. Seriously mom? You woke me up that early to get to school?! I could've slept longer! But no, I had to wake up early just so we could get "on time". Fortunately, my brother, Ryan and my sisters, Alyssa and Nicole, didn't look as awake yet either, so I guess I wasn't alone in this.

"Ugh! I so hope my teacher doesn't go over our summer reading this week." Nicole murmured, feeling half asleep. Oh shoot! Did I even complete my summer book? I hope I didn't forget. Looking back at my last few years at school, I can tell that I'm definitely struggling with getting good grades. Dad always warned me playing video games with no time limit could be dangerous. I guess he was right. Had I listened to him, I probably would never have to worry about getting bad grades.

"Okay, have a good day at school," my mom says, bringing her car to a halt at the carpool. Yeah,yeah whatever, I say to myself, as I wave goodbye. Stepping onto the blacktop of the school campus, I couldn't believe I was already beginning a new year at Creekwood. Here I am again, ready to learn the same set of subjects except with slight variations. Ugh as if! I just want to go back home and sleep in my comfy bed!

There was a multitude of grey clouds shading the small, private school. I familiarized myself with all four of the buildings. Straight in front of me was a one-story structure built for kindergarteners. It looked pretty worn down since it was connected to an old mission just behind. The building was made up of some kind of ancient stone, giving it a dull look. Right in front was a long row of lunch tables. I remembered sitting in them from the last five years. It surprised me that they were still in good condition.

To the left of that was a three-story building, the first floor with grades one to four and the second floor with grades five to eight. Just below the building itself was some kind of basement, only instead of being a storage, it contained another set of classrooms. Although the sun had not shown itself yet, the building had displayed a variety of colors. The walls lined in orange concrete, the roof covered in scarlet bricks, forming into a tent-like shape.

At the rightmost part of the school was a large two-story building, almost exactly identical to the previous one. That building was called the Pastoral Center. Usually students involved with theatre or art went there after school hours. Just behind me was the gym, which was also orange and formed into some kind of dome shape. If you were to take a map of the campus, you would see that it was in the shape of a square.

I walked over to the school gym for the usual morning assembly, my siblings leaving my side to join their own class. Inside, I spotted some familiar faces. Oh thank goodness I'm not too early to be sitting alone! Feeling much calmer now, I went over and took my seat.

I had gotten there so early that it felt like an eternity, waiting for the bell to ring. Everything felt strange when coming back, even though nothing actually changed while I was gone. The stage,the basketball court, and snack bar was still there. But even so, I felt that something was off. It was as if all the memories I made with the school had vanished. But why? Suddenly, I began thinking about me being in fifth grade. Will I do well this year? Why do I feel so nervous? What is my teacher like? I wonder what the new kids in my class look like this year. That's right! I had completely forgotten that each year, at least one new student joined a class for each grade level.

And to no surprise, I noticed that there were indeed a few new students sitting with my class. There were about three new girls who had just walked in. One of them, I noticed in particular, seemed a bit nervous to start school like me. I glanced over from afar but didn't think too much about her. I just wanted to see my friends again. Little did I know, that she would change my life forever.

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Although no
One can go back
and make a start,
anyone can
start from now
and make a
brand new
ending

~Carl Bard