The Unfortunate

Curious

Dawn's eyes flittered open. Her gaze roamed around her room, dimly lit by the weak sunlight slipping through the curtains. She had just had the best dream, a fantasy that left her in a relaxed state of peacefulness. Dawn couldn't remember the details of her dream anymore, but the feelings stayed with her. She didn't want to get out of her bed. It was warm, and soft, and so so comfortable. The sleepy girl yawned and stretched her limbs across the mattress.
She wasn't wearing her pajamas, but a thick black sweater and blue jeans.
That's weird... She thought. Where are my pajamas?
Poor, disorientated Dawn required a few moments to fully return to reality. The longer she stared at her school uniform, the more she felt like something was wrong, until the entire realization hit her like a truck.
"OH!" Dawn sprang from the bed and barely landed on her feet, still clad in yesterday's shoes and socks. She scrambled to the mirror and snatched up her phone, the screen lighting up and displaying the time. It was 7:12 AM.
"How did I oversleep?! Aaaah! I set the alarm! I remember doing it!" Dawn cried out as she checked the time she had set yesterday. The designated time for the alarm was 5:30 PM. Yesterday, she should have woken up after the good hour-long nap, and then have done her homework, and then went back to sleep for the rest of the night. That was her plan, wasn't it? What had gone wrong?
"Aghhh!" She made an angry sound, irritated with her mistake.
The reason it had not woken her up was because she had only created the alarm, and had not actually activated it.
"Damnit!" Dawn grabbed her satchel from the floor, which still contained blank homework, and headed for the door. She was already wearing her uniform from yesterday. It was relatively clean, so she figured that as long as nobody knew, she wouldn't die if she wore it again. "Okay, class starts in two minutes..." The girl murmured to herself, glancing at the mirror. Her clothes were terribly rumpled and her long hair was strewn all across her shoulders and back. Dawn patted down her clothes and ripped the cap from her deodorant, applying it thoroughly just in case skipping yesterday's shower had any gross consequences. She spritzed some perfume as extra protection and ran straight for the door, but then halted. Her morning schedule had so many steps, it would be disastrous to skip the important ones. Trying to compromise with herself, Dawn rummaged through her kitchen drawers to find a single pop tart, and she stuffed it into her mouth, deciding that she should at least eat something.
She snatched her hairbrush from her dresser and then began the mad dash towards her first class. Dawn attempted to brush her hair as she ran, feeling extremely ridiculous with the food in her mouth and the sorry state of herself. She found herself laughing, with the situation being so comical. As she sprinted down the stairs, a crazy idea struck. She hopped onto the gleaming railing without a second thought and glided gracefully down the spiral staircase, grinning. Dawn hopped off once she reached the end of the railing and continued by sprinting through the hall. As she turned the corner a large object came into view, but she couldn't stop quickly enough to avoid crashing into it.
The collision sent the brush flying from her hand, skittering across the marble floor. Dawn made a muffled sound as she hit the ground, and she heard a similar grunt from another person. The hazel-haired teenager opened her eyes to see which poor student she had winded. She recognized the brown curls and freckles in an instant, and Dawn felt a bit of relief. She took the pop tart from her mouth.
"Gray, I'm so sorry!" Dawn apologized, helping the dazed boy up.
"It's fine, I just wasn't expecting a full frontal attack at this hour," Gray joked, rubbing his arm and still looking slightly disorientated from the hit. "I was on my way back from my mom--" He stopped, looked her disheveled form up and down, and raised an eyebrow. "Don't you have morning class?"
Dawn gasped, slapping her forehead.
"Oh...!" She had almost forgotten why she was in a rush in the first place! "Yeah! Sorry, I gotta go, talk to you later!" The frazzled girl sped past Gray, waving goodbye and disappearing into the double doors beyond. He chuckled a bit, having only recently gotten used to the girl's clumsiness. He'd never really talked to her much until the beginning of this year, when they were partnered together in a project and were forced to communicate. Dawn was sweet, although klutzy at times, but nonetheless she was a fun person to be around and a valuable friend. As Gray turned away, he noticed Dawn's brush lie abandoned on the floor. Hesitantly, he picked it up and debated chasing after her, but decided to return it to her later. He really should have been acting the panicked way that she was—after all he was late to class, too. With that thought, Gray carefully packed the brush into his shoulder bag and steered himself towards his own first class.
Dawn ran across the plaza, dodging bushes and benches, but accidentally tripped on the root of a huge oak tree and scraped her knee badly. She winced as she got back up again, but reminded herself that she had no time for pain in her schedule. Dawn carried on and skidded across the cement to one of the doors lining the breezeway. Unceremoniously, she burst into her classroom, startling the large majority of the room. In one quick motion she flung her hair over her shoulder and flew up the steps to her seat, unaware of the disturbance she caused. Dawn sat down with a relieved sigh. Class hadn't started yet. She looked around, still panting from her impromptu early morning jog, and her eyes met Estelle's from across the room. Her friend had a teasing grin and an amused glint in her eyes, and Dawn huffed in an irritated embarrassment and refused to acknowledge her own fault in being late.
This morning had a rough start, to say the least, but at least the misfortune was over.
"Good morning. It's nice to see all your bright, awake faces." The teacher said in a monotone mumble, and a few people rolled their eyes. "Today we have our test, so clear your desks and put everything away except for a pencil and two sheets of scratch work."
TEST?! Dawn's heart plummeted along with her mood, and her grades would probably follow suit. She wordlessly glanced around the room, trying to communicate her horror to at least one other understanding soul, but there was none, because nobody but poor Dawn had let the one hundred point assignment slip their mind.
Hours later, as lunch came around, Dawn felt rather discouraged. Practically everything had gone wrong, and the day wasn't even halfway over! Firstly, after attempting to turn in the disaster-of-a-test, Dawn missed one of the stairs and tumbled down them, scattering her things everywhere and landing directly on her wounded knee. Laughter erupted and her cheeks were practically scalding. Then, during the walk to the next class, she found out that her brush had gone missing. Two classes later, Dawn got scolded by the teacher in front of everyone because she was missing her algebra homework. And finally, just before the lunch bell rang, a complete stranger had the audacity to ask her if she was sober, because obviously when someone was a little clumsy it meant they were full of alcohol.
So yes, it was not exactly the best morning.
Dawn sat at one of the lunch tables, sighing and picking through her salad. She was sandwiched between Lise and Estelle, who were both trying to cheer her up.
"Hey, I like the new look. Not wearing a ponytail for once, eh?" Estelle laughed, but her voice quieted when the joke did not get a reaction. "It really doesn't look that bad, um," she rambled on. "It's like, a little messy but in a sexy, bed head way. Not that you have a bed head, it's just that-" Lise shot her a look that translated to 'shut up,' and Estelle pressed her lips into a firm line.
"I just want this day to be over already." Dawn muttered, chewing on a bare piece of lettuce. It tasted terrible on its own, so she reached for the dressing bottle and slowly applied it. The top of the bottle popped off just as she had finished a cute swirl design, and her salad was promptly flooded with ranch. Not even a speck of the green lettuce was visible anymore. Dawn scoffed in utter disbelief and pushed the bowl away, hitting her head on the table. Lise and Estelle gave her sympathetic looks, but neither spoke for the next few minutes.
"Hey, Dawn," Estelle suddenly prodded Dawn's arm, and she lifted her head to unenthusiastically peer at her friend. "I think I know what'll brighten your day. Jack's waving at you!" Her friend was up in an instant, patting her hair down and trying her best to not look like the mess she felt. Jack walked up and stopped in front of their table.
"Dawn, I saw you running to class through my window, it was hilarious." He smiled, and Dawn laughed along, her expression finally displaying happiness.
"Yeah, I was late..." She said, biting her lip when she realized how short and boring her reply was.
"You don't say!" Jack drawled sarcastically. "Well I also saw you trip in the square..."
Dawn winced.
"...it looked like it hurt, you should have the nurse look at it just in case it gets infected." Jack suggested, and Dawn felt a warm smile cross her face. He was so thoughtful. What had she done to deserve such a friend?
"Thank you, but I'll be alright. The blood is mostly dry now anyways." She reassured him, gazing lovingly. Jack took a step back, feigning surprise. Dawn blinked.
"Well sorry, obviously you've got it covered-" he waved his hands.
"Oh, shut up!" She genuinely laughed for the first time that day, shaking her head affectionately. "I appreciate the concern. Now go eat!"
"Wow, now you think you can order me around because I'm so nice! And- oh my god, what did you do to your salad? Do you have any taste buds?!"
"Oh, no, that was an accident..." Dawn began, but broke off in an embarrassed stutter. "Just go, before you run out of time!" The girl fake-chastised, giggling. Finally, the boy relented, but not without giving her another over-exaggerated look. As soon as he was out of ear shot, Estelle started chuckling.
"He saw you trip~" The raven teased, but Dawn wasn't listening.
"He's just so... perfect." Dawn swooned, a lovesick look in her eyes. Her mood had magically been restored.
"If anyone can make you happy, it's him." Lise commented, just glad that Dawn was finally back to herself.
"Yeah, I feel a lot better. See, guys? Like I told you, it's like he knows when I'm sad. It's amazing, he's just so good at cheering people up. He's amazing..."
"Well, we all have our opinions." Lise said neutrally. Just then, the bell rang and everyone began dispersing to go to their fifth period. Estelle grinned, standing up.
"Now, carpe diem!" She said, taking a hold of Dawn's shoulders and gently shoving her towards the door. "Don't let anything getcha down! If anyone tries to ruin that, I'll sue 'em!" Dawn smiled gratefully and began sashaying towards the trashcan confidently. She dropped the foam bowl inside and passed under the doorway, and promptly slipped on a puddle of an unknown liquid. Dawn's legs flew up and she landed flat on her back, unmoving. A gasp rippled throughout the room.
Estelle and Lise cringed and watched her from afar. Dawn heaved herself up and flashed the two a big smile and a thumbs up. They shared a concerned glance as Dawn continued walking as if nothing happened.
"I hope she survives the rest of the day."
"Me too."
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