Two Sides To Every Coin

Chapter 1

*Ding! Ding! Ding!*

My alarm clock rings repeatedly. In an instant I'm out of bed and stretching, feeling my muscles wake up, getting ready to start the day. I feel my hair swish around me as I stretch, tickling my skin that isn't covered by my tank top. My room is quite spacious, my bed is placed in the farthest corner from the door under the only window which is actually quite big, and fills up my room with the early morning sun, lighting up my room with the most beautiful pinks and yellows. My blankets lay in a mess on top of my bed, my sheet threatening to come off the corner of the mattress. I stride across the room and open my door softly, it's currently 6am and my parents are still sleeping. Closing my door behind me I tip-toe down the still dark hallway to the bathroom and flick the lights on.

Today is going to be a big day. Summer has officially ended and today is the first day of my last year of high school, but it's also my birthday, my 18th one. I look at myself in the mirror and see my hair is a mess, some of it bent at a weird angle and sticking up in places. Hazel eyes look back at me, sort of on the brown side right now as I lean over the sink to get a closer look at my face. All the other girls have acne somewhere on their bodies, they say it's a symbol of maturity but there has never been so much as a bump on my skin. I've never understood that, but they all call me lucky. Shrugging, I turn around to the bathtub and turn on the tap, letting the water heat up as I check my reflection again. This time I look for marks left by my pillow but I find none. I run my hand under the water behind me and pull it away swiftly, God that's hot. I turn the tap a little and try again, this time it's a more reasonable temperature. Pulling up the diverter I pull the curtain shut and strip and jump in the shower.

With my hair dried and my clothes all picked out and put on, I sit on the edge of my freshly made bed. For today I chose a pair of semi short jean shorts and a plain white tee paired with a pair of fresh white socks. My hair lies wavy around my face, framing it, and it trails down my back to about my mid torso. I actually think I'm quite pretty, and lots of people tell me so, almost unnaturally so. It's almost 7:30 in the morning but it's too early to leave for school. I pull out my cellphone and unlock it, but put it back down, I'm too eager to do anything but wait. I hear a creak and I bolt up, that means my parents are awake. I inch towards the door and open it a crack. My father slumps out, and stumbles to the bathroom. Opening my door softly, I step softly on the wooden floor of the hallway and sneak to their room where I know my mother is still laying in bed. Sure enough, when I walk in, she's got a pillow over her face, trying to deny it's time to wake up. I giggle in my head at the idea, and when I get close enough, I jump on her giving her a great big hug. Who wouldn't want to hug their mother on their birthday? Muffled groans escape from the pillow and I giggle out load. The pillow moves and all I see is darkness as the pillow envelops my face. I pull the pillow away and throw it to the side, and flopped on top of my mother again hugging her. "Happy birthday sweety." She cooned.

"Thank you mum, I can't believe I'm an adult already, it feels like I'm still 15." I giggled and pushed myself off of her and look her in the eyes. My mother is a remarkable woman, with small wrinkles starting to form around her amber eyes, with a smile that seems to always be plastered there. The smile is meant every time though, she generally loves life. Her hair is a soft luscious brown, I helped her dye it a couple days ago. My father walks through the door and I watch his eyes light up when they land on the pair of us. My father looks almost just like my mother, with a loving smile on his face that resembled my mother his eyes where more brown than my mother's and he had more wrinkles. He also decided he wanted to wear his age with pride, so his hair is starting to turn Arctic Silver. They're both in their fifties, halfway through their lives.

"Group hug!" His voice booms against the walls as he charges to us with his arms outstretched. Before I know it I'm making muffled cries under his weight, slowly being crushed until he picks himself up again. "Our daughter, an adult. Time sure does fly." My father says to me.

"It sure does dad, I'll be having grey hairs before long, just you wait." With that, I get off the bed and leave the room, waving. "I should be getting to school, see you guys when I get home!"

"Have a great day sweetie!" They both yell back. I take the stairs down two at a time into the entry hall. I turn into the kitchen and grab an apple from the fridge, taking a big bite as I walk to the front door and picking up my bag. I've had my supplies packed for weeks before today, I love being prepared. Grade 12, here I come.