Quandary

Endeavouring The Climb

My body swung upwards from my bed. My forehead smacked into the top of my desk lamp. Dammit, I kept forgetting to move that. I sluggishly droned out of bed and into my bathroom after picking up my clothes. I grabbed a towel from the familiar rack, and stepped into the same old shower that I knew all too well. I patted the conditioner and shampoo into my tangled hair as I repeated elements of the periodic table back myself. I dried off after some time and applied deodorant to myself before changing into my clothes. I walked down the decrepit stairs of my house, listening to the delicate breaths of my parents from their desolate room. Step after step I pushed down the same sidewalk, my eyes scanning the ground. I could feel the contents inside of my backpack tilting and moving around as the bag bounced up and down. I stood by my usual place in my usual stance at the usual bus stop in front of the usual kids. This world... It's just an endless cycle...

"Don! How have you been?"

There goes that cycle. Every time, she shatters the loop right before my eyes. I scratched my head skittishly.

"I'm sorry about yesterday. I just had to sort some things out."

"It's okay Don."

I nodded my head up and down, trying to put on a smile.

"If there's anything bothering you, don't be afraid to talk about it."

"Of course," I replied.

I want you to go to the prom with me. That's what I wanted to say. It ached so much to think of her going with Braxton. Why? I'm just intervening in her relationship... I'm a nuisance aren't I? If only my grandfather was here... He'd know what to do. He always had advice that could help with any situation. I just... Isn't it okay to be a little selfish every now and then? Yeah... That settles it. I'm going to spend my evening with Hailey doing something extraordinary. I'm going to do something that will make her stop thinking about Braxton and think about me. Even if it's just for a couple of seconds. Maybe I'll take her on a walk and give her some flowers. Wait how much are flowers? I pulled out my phone and began searching up flower prices from my bus seat. Forty dollars! Just for a small bouquet?!

"What are you doing?" Asked Hailey as her eyes caught the attention of my phone.

"I'm- I'm just looking at some flowers for fun..."

"Oh that's nice, are they for a girl? She's pretty lucky!"

I sat there, staring at her in awe. My cheeks burned with a tone of red as the lonesome houses passed by us.

"You know daffodils are my favorite flowers!"

"Good to know," I said, half chuckling to myself.

I set my bag down in my homeroom that morning, expecting nothing new to happen.

"Everyone, please pass back these forms." Spoke the teacher.

I read the form once I had secured one in my hands. I felt my mouth drop, there was a field trip?

"Two weeks from now your grade will be attending a field trip to Williamsburg."

My eyes fell onto Hailey who was sitting in her usual seat. Would I be able to get close to her on this trip?

"Groups of three will need to be formed to stay in rooms at the hotel. The students must all have the same gender in each group."

I stared at the form in my hands. What would come of this field trip? The rest of the school day, my mind was somewhere else. I kept thinking about what I was going to do for Hailey. I kept pondering about how I was going to be significant to her. I scanned line after line of the novel in my hands within my English classroom.