You Once Did

1

My mother and I moved to California over 2 years ago. Two years ago since we left the icy-cold breeze of Canada. It was my third year of high school and I woke up to my alarm going off. I shifted and turned in bed for a few seconds before giving into the blaring annoyance known as my alarm and turning it off.

I lazily raised up and reached for my phone, staring blurry-eyed at the screen. I remained on the phone for at least five minutes until I heard my mother yell, "Zoey! Wake up! It's your first day of junior high and you'll be late so get your butt down here, or I'm going to remove all your electronics, including your damn phone!"

I sluggishly rubbed my eyes and glanced at the time, soon realizing it was 7:05 am. My eyes widened at the sight of the time. Fear engulfed me, I couldn't reach late. I immediately got out of bed, accidentally dropping my phone on the floor as I rushed to the bathroom. I quickly took a shower and washed my hair which probably took 15 minutes.

After the shower, I felt so refreshed and awake. Quickly, I ran over to my closet, and grabbed my uniform; a white long-sleeved shirt with a plaid tie under a dark blue blazer and navy blue khakis for pants. Soon, I grabbed my cracked phone and backpack, running out my door downstairs to my angry mother.

"I'm sorry mother! I set my alarm too late, I'll set it earlier next time," I sheepishly apologized to my fuming mother as I grabbed an apple, waiting for permission to leave.

"Oh my god, just hurry up and go before you're late. Just next time set your alarm properly, please," She quickly replied as her daughter ran out the front door.

The breezy zephyr blew my long, wavy, cinnamon-colored hair in the wind. I could feel the warmth of the after-summer breeze graze upon my cheeks. I felt alive again. I was kept indoors for the entire summer, only allowed to go out when my friends invited me somewhere with 'adult supervision'. Everyone hated school, but me. For me, school was my getaway; my freedom.

After my usual 20 minute walk to school, I quickly ran into the hallways and got swallowed by the crowds of students. It amazed me how our school uniform worked. Light blue blazers for freshmen, purple for sophomores, dark blue for juniors and red for seniors.

There was a very strict rule at my school, you couldn't socialize with any one of the higher or lower classes, which meant you were limited to about 109 friends. Slowly, I squeezed through students with my tiny body and made my way to my locker despite being bumped into quite a few times due to my short height. At my locker, my best friend Ashley was there.

"Oh my god! Little Miss Late finally arrived!" Ashley yelled out, which surprisingly didn't bother the other students.

I tried to defend myself, but even I knew I was pretty late, "Hey, I'm not that late, it's only 7:58 am."

Ashley facepalmed at my stupidity, beginning to rant about her vacation. I rolled my eyes, knowing this would take a while. I subconsciously blocked her out, nodding and saying 'Ooh!' at the correct times. The bell rang, informing everyone to go to class. The huge crowd of students, once again walked through the halls, making their way to their classes.

Once Ashley and I made it to the classroom, we walked towards our assigned seats, sitting down, and slowly we watched as everyone filed in and took their seats, the teacher being the last to come in. He called roll to make sure everyone was present. Carefully, he pulled out the papers from his messenger bag. Afterward, he made his way across the class and gave each person their previous assignments.

Stress built up in the classroom, the atmosphere dropped. Everyone hated their grade, but they stayed silent. Knowing that they had to had to do better this semester.

After awhile, the bell rang to notify us that it's break time. Everyone quickly packed up their stuff and went into the hallways, meeting up with their friends from the other classes. That's when I bumped into him. In front of everyone; embarrassing myself as I fell onto the floor. Yet he was the one person that I never thought would mean so much to me.