Rough Tides

Chapter 9

My alarm went off around 6 in the morning. I opened my left eye but I shut it a second later. I was way too tired to get up. I decided not to stand up. I would just sleep for a few more minutes because I felt like I really needed more sleep. It was a very bad decision to go to bed as late as I went to bed yesterday. Ryan and I have been talking for what seemed like hours. It’s obviously only been about thirty minutes which was long for me as I hated talking on the phone. My voice always sounded so high-pitched and that got even worse when I talked to strangers.  When I talked to Ryan on the phone yesterday, I tried to sound cooler and more casual which never works out, anyway. But it was worth a try. I was glad he couldn’t see me since he’d probably have laughed at me for either smiling like a complete idiot or sweating. It sucked so much that I always started to sweat when I was nervous. Ryan had asked me if I worked at Starbucks every day and I told him about my working schedule. His voice has sounded really warm and I loved listening to him. We had to stop talking the moment my mom knocked on my door. She didn’t know I was on the phone, neither has she had any idea who I was talking to and honestly, she’d have freaked out if she had found out that I was arranging a meeting with a “stranger”. She didn’t have to know it and she never would.

I was really excited to meet Ryan after work. As it was Wednesday I had to work until 5 p.m. and I had to go to work at 3 p.m. which also meant that I wouldn’t have to listen to Joey all day long. Frankly, I found Joey a bit annoying.

“Jenna?” Someone pulled down the handle of the door of my bedroom. My mom. Obviously. “Jenna! Get up! You’ll be late for school if you don’t get up now! It’s already 7. Hurry up!”

I didn’t do what my mom had told me, the sleepy and lazy girl I was. To be honest, I didn’t care if my mom got angry at me for being late for school. I actually wanted to be late for school as I was too tired to stand up and get dressed, eat and start running to catch the bus.

“Jenna.” My mom raised her voice. I knew the tone she was talking to me now too well.

“Let me sleep.” I answered, grabbing the pillow next to me and threw it at my mom. Unfortunately, she caught it. She didn’t give it back to me for some reason. Okay then.

“No, I won’t let you sleep.”

She switched on the light. I opened my eyes and glanced at her.

“Okay, okay. I’m coming.”

I swung me legs over my bed, my feet touching the floor. I looked down. I could tell my mom I was sick but as I knew her, she’d find out I was playing a trick on her. I’d be grounded. I slowly got up to get myself ready for school.

I caught the bus which I never thought I would because it took myself a very long time to shower and decide what to wear because I didn’t want Cara and Macy and the other bitches to laugh at me. I ended up wearing high wasted jeans with a pink crop top. I pulled my hair in a messy bun and I also put my favorite bracelet on. I was happy with the way I looked today. Hopefully, nobody would make fun of me again.

On the bus, I sat down next to the sophomore I already knew because she’s also been the one sitting next to me the two days before this one. I pulled my bag onto my lap.

“Ew.” The girl whispered. She must have talked to me (well, not really talked because she’s only said, like, one word which didn’t really start a conversation) because she looked me right in the eye.

“If you want to say something, spit it out. I don’t care, really. So the next time you whisper something like “ew” it would be nice if you told me why exactly you did that. Honestly, I could do the same. Would you like that? No? Okay, well, then just don’t do it. If you really can’t hold it back, talk to me face-to-face. I´d appreciate that.” I raised my eyebrows at her. She wasn’t as tall as I was so I had to look down a bit. That made me feel more confident.