Chapter 3

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“Alexis. Alexis. Wake up!”

I awoke to the sound of Ashely’s voice and fingers being snapped in my face. I rubbed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, yawning.

All of a sudden, Ashley started laughing. And I mean laughing. Full out hysterical laughing, tears streaming down her face, instant six pack type of laugh right in the middle of English class. And the funniest part was that she couldn’t stop. I watched in awe as my best friend lost it in the middle of eighteenth century literature.

“Mrs. Tinder, care to share with us what it is exactly about Shakespeare that has you giggling?” Our teacher’s comment made her laugh even harder - if that were actually possible.

“I’m not- it’s- he thinks- giggling,” she sputtered at moments when she could breathe.

Mr. Monroe stared at Ashley, waiting for her to regain her composure. But when she didn’t, our teacher’s gaze shifted to me, his eyebrows raising as if to say, ‘take care of this.’ 

I don’t know how he expected me to stop her from laughing right then and there, as I was beginning to find Ashley’s outburst quite comical myself. So I shrugged and did the only thing I could think of; I yanked my friend to her feet and escorted her out of the classroom. I don’t think that’s what Mr. Monroe had in mind-I think he wanted me to just shut her up-but this was the only thing I could think of that would stop interrupting the class. I mean, I didn’t even know what was causing Ashley’s laughter, so how could I stop it?

Once we were outside the classroom and the door shut quietly behind us Ashley pulled me down the hall.

“Where are you taking me, you maniac?” I asked as her grip on my arm became more urgent. She had finally stopped laughing enough so that she could breathe and the redness was starting to fade from her cheeks.

We came to a halt in front of a set of blue double doors. I looked at Ashley expectantly, wondering if she was now going to tell me what was going on. Sure, me having fallen asleep in class is funny, especially having done it in Mr. Monroe’s class, but Ashley had had a fit. “What’s wrong with you, crazy?” I asked. I shook my head, and as I did, I caught a glimpse of myself in the glass of the doors to my left. And then I began to giggle.

I literally had my notes printed across my left cheek, with little lines from the binding of my notebook creased into my face. I could also see a dark shadow below my right eye. My mascara had smudged and now I looked like a raccoon. Well, half a raccoon.

So that must have been why Mr. Monroe had given me that look. He must have wanted me to fix myself up so Ashley could pull herself together. And instead I whisked my best friend right out of the room. I laughed even harder at the thought of Mr. Monroe scratching his bald head quizzically. 

I glanced over at Ashely who had finally stopped laughing. I was so lucky to have a friend like her.

“So,” Ashley shrugged, “since you’ve already gotten us out of class, we might as well milk it and stay out here as long as possible.”

I nodded in agreement, though it wasn’t like me to cut class. But I was exhausted, and English class had proven how much I needed a break. I slid down the wall I had been leaning against, and Ashley followed suit. I began to wipe at my right away to clean up my smudged make-up.

“You know what we need?” Ashley said after a moment of silence. “A break.” I grinned. Ashley had just read my mind. Even though our school’s winter break was only a few weeks ago, I couldn’t spend it doing anything relaxing or remotely fun. I was constantly driving Connor to and from soccer practice and had picked up countless hours at our local grocery store, Stop & Shop, where I usually only work on the weekends. 

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