The Secret Life of Mitchie

Chapter 4

"Hey, Mitchie, wake up! you're going to be late!" Samuel's voice called from outside my door.

"Mmmph", I mumbled into my pillow. Slowly I sat up and rubbed the sleep from my eyes. I grabbed my phone to look at the time.

6:45 a.m. Monday, January 7th. MONDAY! Ugh, where had the time gone??

I had been such a nervous wreck last night that I had hardly slept.

Last minute worries and plans were flashing through my head as I got ready. Did I have all my clothes? No! I don't own any boy clothes! Could I pull this off? Maybe. Was I late for the bus? Heck yeah!

Quickly, I ran to the laundry room and grabbed some of Pierce's old clothes that were in the closet.

My family usually donated our old clothes, but I guess my dad kept forgetting about that tradition. I threw whatever I could get my hands on and zipped up my duffelbag.

"Hey, Squirt, do you need a ride?" Sam called out from the dining room.

"Uh, no thanks Amanda is gonna give me a ride." I called back, dialing her number as I went.

"Hello? Mitchie when I said call me Monday; I meant once you got done with your first day, you haven't even started it yet." Mandy answered with an air of amusement.

"Amanda, I need you to give me a ride to the bus stop. My brother offered to drive me to the bus stop, so I lied and told him you were supposed to be picking me up today." I hadn't thought a problem would arise so early into the plan.

I hadn't thought about being picked up or dropped off at the bus stop. I could feel myself starting to panic, but Mandy just answered calmly.

"Oh, no problem, my mom won't mind. Be there in a few minutes." She hung up without saying anything else. Not even ten minutes later, her mom's yellow Volkswagen bug came flying around the corner.

I laughed as I got in the car, Mrs. Reed was known for her reckless driving.

"Don't worry girls you will get there in plenty of time." She said, gunning the gas.

"Thanks Mrs. Reed." I replied while quickly buckling my seat-belt.

"Okay, so I've decided that you will still be dropped off with me at the girls' bus stop. You can then walk to the convenience store that's about halfway between the our stop and the boys' and change outfits. It's genius for last minute scheming if I say so myself, and I do."

Mandy leaned back with a smug smile on her face as she relayed this news to me quietly, so her mom wouldn't overhear.

"Will I have enough time for this? What happens on days that I wake up late... like today for instance?"

Her smugness faltered as she thought about it. "Well, we will just have to make sure you aren't late from now on." She said with a slight hesitation.

Mandy hated being uncertain.

"Here you girls are." Mrs. Reed called out as she screeched to a halt. "Love you, Amanda dear, and I hope you have a good week. It was nice seeing you Mitchie; you must come stay with us soon." She said as we got out of the car.

"Thanks Mrs. Reed, and I will." I waved as she pulled away. I felt a sharp push to my side and shot Mandy a dirty look as she proceeded to push me down the sidewalk.

"You have to go change and get to the bus stop in five minutes, GO!" She said giving me one last nudge and I went jogging down the road.

I reached the store in about two minutes and ran into the bathroom and yanked my skirt off and unbuttoned my blouse.