Australians Don't Belong in Indiana

Closer

I was shocked, to say the least, when my alarm clock, which automatically set to 6:00 for every morning, woke me up. I sat up quickly, confused as to why I was on the couch. Normally, my mom would have awoken me to tell me to go upstairs so I could sleep more comfortably. I yelled for my mom to see if she was even at the house when I saw the little note she left me, which said:

Hey honey, sorry I didn't wake you. I didn't want to bother you. I have to work the early morning shift... Again. I will be out late again tonight. If you could, stop by the grocery, we are in need of many things. Just use the credit card I gave you for emergencies after we moved. Love you, Mom

P.S. We need bagels, grapes, milk, OJ, coffee for the Keurig, and anything else that you may want to eat for the next few days.

Of course she would be out late. Instead of lingering on the thought, I walked up the stairs of our two-story home so I could get ready for school. I started with my usual shower, which irritated me because, although many of my old friends were jealous of my wavy locks, my hair was always extremely oily, hence why I take showers in the mornings. I finished with my shower and wrapped a towel around my body before wrapping one around my head to dry my hair. Then, I drudged along, still half asleep, back into my room to continue the never-ending, or so it seemed, process of getting ready.

After what felt like ages, I had finally picked out an outfit that consisted of a black shirt with capped sleeves and free-flowing shorts that were covered in a creme and black pattern. I took a long look in the mirror after applying light amounts of makeup to my face and putting a pair of silver hoop earings into my ears. I looked at myself and as I leaned closer to the mirror, I swear I could see the lack of sleep in my eyes, as if that is something that someone could actually see. I felt my phone buzz in the pocket of my shorts, so I pulled it out and checked to see what was causing the buzzing.

It was just a notification from one of my social media apps that I didn't bother to get on anymore, but I did notice that I was running short on time and needed to leave so I would get to school on time.

I picked up my bookbag out of the corner of my room, shoved a few things I might need into it, and slung it over my shoulder so I could go downstairs and maybe grab something to eat before going out to my Jeep.

I glanced at our walk-in pantry and realized we had no breakfast food left and we really were in need of a trip to the grocery. I sighed and grabbed a water bottle that would have to hold me off until lunch time and scurried out of the house to get into my Jeep and drive to school.

I pulled into the school parking lot like I did everyday and drove to the back corner and pulled into my usual parking space. I tried to stiffle my excitement to see the baby blue Mustang parked next to me when I looked in my rearview mirror to find my cheeks a light shade of pink. I shook the feeling away before grabbing my bookbag from the passenger seat and hopping out of my car.

Drew was casually leaning on the bumper of his Mustang with a pair of headphones in his ear that were connected to his Iphone. I looked at him for a moment before his icy blue eyes glanced up and found me. He then pulled out his headphones and pressed pause on his phone before walking the few steps over to me. It took a minute for me to realize that we had embraced each other in a hug. The movement seemed so swift and natural. I noticed I had clenched my eyes shut so I opened them to find wide eyes and mouths agape all looking in our direction. I was slightly embarressed as I felt the heat rise back into my cheeks and they returned to that light pink color they were just moments ago.

I pulled away from our hug to look him in the eye. Neither of us had to say anything. It felt like we both knew what the other was thinking. Instead of feeling invaded by the thought, I felt happy, in a weird stomach wrenching sort of way.