Wallflower

Six

           "Time to get up," Sonya whispered, shaking me from a deep sleep. 
          "Do I have to go?" I whinned. Then a huge yawn escaped my mouth.
          "Yeah, school is important, especially to a princess."
          She left my room with a smile and plenty of time to get ready for the first day of school. I quickly got dressed in my ripped pair of jeans and an oversized pink sweatshirt. I twisted my hair into a bun and slid on a pair of sneakers. 
          I looked at myself in the mirror. My black hair and dark eyes made the black in my sweatshirt stand out and the pink matched my rosie make-up. I almost looked normal. 
          "Come on, Amber! Time for breakfast!" Soyna's call snapped me back to reality. I was nervous. I had never been in a class with more than a couple people.
          The memory brought me to Rue. I was too lucky. She was dead and here I was eating breakfast and going to school. My stomach began to turn with nervousness and bad memories. Looking down at my cereal I lost my appetite. 
          I stood up, grabbed my backpack, and ran to the bus stop. Sonya tapped my shoulder. Of course she ran after me. Sonya was the mother I never had. She was always there to protect me. "Bye, Amber. See you at three."
          She smiled and walked back up the sidewalk to our house on the end of the street. I once again remembered Rue. Her smile aways made me happy. She was optimistic and had the best imagination. 
          The bus pulled up in front of me and the door opened. "Welcome to the bus. I'm Dan, your bus driver. Now, please take a seat." I looked to the back of the bus and there was not a single open seat. All eyes were on me as I walked down the aisle. "Take a seat, please!"
          Then the driver started to drive. The sudden jolt sent me to the floor. In the background, I heard laughter. Perfect. Just perfect. 
          I quickly stood and brushed myself off. A small tap on my shoulder sent me flying around. There was a boy. He motioned to the empty seat next to him and I sat down before falling over again. His eyes were a beautiful sky blue and his black hair reminded me of my own. 
          "Hi," he spoke up shyly. "I'm Micah."
          I smiled and replied, "I'm Amber. Nice to meet you."
          Then we were silent. The rest of the ride was quiet until Micah whispered in my ear as we pulled into the school. "Did you see the princess?"
          I nodded, "Yeah, you don't even know."
          "Oh, I do. My mom was watching the news and I looked around the corner even though I was told not to look. I cannot believe they killed her on live television."
          I just stayed silent as we got off the bus. "Well, see you later," he said, and parted to meet his friends and go to the gymnasium. I followed behind next to a girl who had ear plugs in. But the volume was way too high. I could hear the song within all the noise. It was "Rockabye" by Clean Bandit. 
           I imagined my mom singing that. It was the only thing that made me walk into school that morning.