The End of the Road

Mondays

Just another unnecessary Monday morning here in Ann Arbor, Michigan. I honestly can't seem to enjoy this city any longer. I hate my school, my hair is an illegal mess, I'm so freakishly short, and did I mention I hate my school? You may be wondering," Who is this random girl, and why does she complain so much?" Well, I can't answer the second half of the question.

Hi, my name is Katie Smalls. Some cheesy and repetitive author might say that I'm just your average teenager. YOU'RE WRONG! I watch the lamest TV shows and movies, I've never even seen a Harry Potter book in my life (even though I'm a bookworm), and I'm sadly in 9th grade. I've had decent grades my whole life, but everyone in my school hates me. I don't know why, I know I'm not the most amusing person in the history of existence, but this is as good as it gets.

"KATIE! TIME FOR SCHOOL!"

"I'M COMING MOM!"

My family isn't the most interesting band of humans either, so you can tell where I got my "interest factor". My parents own a coffee shop a few blocks away, but who cares about that? My brother Mikey plays the electric guitar at 5 in the morning, and my cat is literally too attached to the walls in the house. But who cares about THAT? Let's talk about the tortures of my school.

My best friend Allison and I have all our classes together (thank god ). But every one else hates me. I probably haven't spoken to any of those people since the third grade. I have the biggest crush on Harry Hemmings. He is that one kid at school that everyone knows, but he's not considered popular. He is also the only person other than Allison that doesn't hate me. The only sideline to that is that he sometimes sends these mixed signals about our friendship. A lot of times, Allison catches him staring at me intensely during Science class.  

"COME ON KATIE! I DON'T HAVE ALL DAY!"

"Yeah sis, what's holdin' you up?"

"I'M GETTING THERE!"

Ugh, my brother is so annoying. And my mother's screams have the force to give you seven deep cartilage piercings. The bland colors of the walls somehow forced me to go out of my room and move faster downstairs. They seem to be spiraling around my weak and  pale stature (go figure, I'm hallucinating). The cat is sitting on the railing, scratching it as I go down. My backpack, loosely hanging off my shoulder, wants to jump off and run free. But, we both have to endure the misery called public school.

Obviously my mom had to drop me off one minute late (such a nerve). I had to run to my locker and get my books and ukulele for music class. But to only make this Monday morning even worse, my locker was jammed. I struggled and punched the damn piece of junk, but it was no use. The kids in the hallway just stared at me like I was going insane. At this point, I might be.

"Hey Katie, want some help?"

I know that voice. I turned around and saw a tall figure with wavy ginger hair and tons of adorable little freckles. He was wearing a sweatshirt that had a light switch on it (why?). His Vans were new, and he looked so... awake. It was Harry.

"Oh, um.. Sure, if you don't mind. I hope you open it"

Oh my god, why did I say that so sheepishly?! I feel like a moron.

"Hey Harry! How you doin'!" some girls said in the classroom nearby.

He just rolled his eyes, knelt down and spun the lock a few times. 

CLICK!

"Wait, I didn't even tell you my code!" I reassured.

"I've had it memorized since the first day of school. The day you asked me to open it, you told me the code, and I've just had it in my brain ever since," Harry responded smiling nervously. After that, we were just staring at each other and blushing.

Is it just me, or was that kind of romantic? It's probably just me imagining things.

"STUDENTS SHOULD NOW BE IN THEIR HOMEROOM CLASSES!" 

That was the intercom. Oh god, we're late.

Harry grabbed my hand and started sprinting down the hallway. 

"We're late! At least I'm with you," Harry said smiling at me as we raced down past a bunch of sixth graders. I just smiled back at him. His grip tightened as we slid down the stair railing and ran all the way down the next hallway. Harry flung the door open and pushed us both inside Mrs. Schrute's classroom.

We ran through the maze of desks and sat down. 

"And that's how it's done Allison," Harry mumbled sarcastically

"You guys are only a 56 seconds late, you know that?" Allison retaliated

He rolled his eyes, she just looked at us like we were decapitated chickens. Then she plastered a stupid grin on her face and just looked at me. I know what that meant. Me and Harry exchanged glances and just waited for the teacher to call attendance.

Wow, okay. I've got to admit, that rush did make my day a little better.