Amazon High

20. Grounding

 The Foxbody project ended up taking way longer than my dad expected. We chiseled away at it all through break, working on it Christmas Day and New Year's Day. Our work was good and steady but as we took more of the car apart we discovered more problems. Ones we didn't really anticipate. It was still a worthwhile project though, and a lot of our slow pacing was due to my dad's intense care for the vehicle. He wanted it to be the best it could be. Exactly as he remembered it but better - shinier and faster.

My dad came in to wake me up one very late morning.

He knocked on my thin, wooden door that was cracked open, "hey sleeping beauty."

"Oh, dad, really?" I groaned as I turned over and stuffed my face in my pillow.

"I brought you some coffee." He walked up, set the mug on my dresser and sat at the foot of my bed.

I peeked out from the pillow, "oh, thanks."

"So, school in a few days, huh?"

I groaned again.

He rubbed my back, "you'll do well. One day at a time. Anyway, I wanted to let you know, scheduling at the shop is a bit different now. We had the new guy drop, so I'll be opening and closing."

"No Mickey?"

"No, Mickey's still there, he's just doing part-time now."

"Oh." I wondered if my conversation about overworking really got to him. "Are you gonna be okay?"

"Sure! You kidding? C'mon, you know me. But, it does mean you have to be a big girl and catch the bus, cause I can't take you or pick you up. I'm sorry, I know it's kind of a drag."

I shook my head, "no problem." I said through a yawn.

"I found the bus route online, I have it pulled up on the computer in the study if you want to take a look. It would be an easy walk, just down the block. Just be careful, okay?"

"I will."

"Thanks, Allie. And don't hesitate to call me, no matter what."

And just like that, second semester had arrived. There's an excitement coming back from summer break. You can see it on everyone's faces. It only lasts a few days, maybe. But it's there. Coming back from winter break, though, is like waking up with a bad hangover. You can't remember how you got here, you feel like shit and you just want to go back to bed.

I waited at the bus stop as the sun barely cracked through the mountains, having not slept at all the night before. The anticipation of having to get up early, well, kept me up. All I had in my backpack was my Project Pythia notebook and a broken pencil. A few other kids that looked like the walking dead dragged themselves up to the stop with me and we all waited in a dreadful silence for the bus to come.

It came, loud and clear, it's screeching brakes and strong exhaust smell waking us up.

The bus was pretty full by the time we got to school but no one really spoke, and no one sat next to each other if they could help it.

The first day back in English, Mr. Brown presented us with a very broad, long-term writing prompt.

"So you've had a few months to get a feel for high school. In the first week, I talked a lot about how these years would change your lives. Maybe your lives, in these last few months, have already been changed in a way. Maybe you feel nothing, but at some point you, maybe instantaneous, maybe gradual, you will change. You will struggle with yourself and your place in this world. You will struggle with what it means to be human. And as pretentious and cliché is that might sound, that's exactly what you'll be writing about over the course of the semester. Answer the question what does it mean to be human? I want you to really think about this and take your time on it. No sources necessary. All you."