"Don't let the fear of falling keep you from flying"
It is 7:04 in the morning, I am sitting here, looking at my phone waiting one minute until my alarm goes off. Tick, tock tick pattern is rudely interrupted by a constant loud, short beep that gets higher and higher the longer I wait to turn it off. I roll over slap the top of the white and black box and roll out of bed. The sun is already out, and just behind my blue-painted door there are cursing, heavy footsteps, and the smell of burnt toast seeping through the cracks. It is 7:07 in the morning and a hurricane of chaos has hit my household full on. I wait for a moment of silence, quickly grab my two magenta towels and scurry to the bathroom, locking the door in a split second.
Moments later, heavy footsteps and a low voice yell "Charlotte! I was going to take a shower to get ready! Get out of the bathroom"! I am not fazed by the screams and pounding on the door, turn the faucet to the letter "H" and wait for the water to get just right. More pounding and cursing is coming from the other side of the door, I just turn up my IPod doc and drown out the chaos on the other side and step into the shower.
The shower is exactly 13 minutes long, I have had it timed town to a tee. I lather up my hair with coconut herbal essence, shave my arm pits, rinse hair, wash face, condition hair, shave legs, rinse hair and I am out. No more, no less. I walk back to my room and my brother Chase shouts "It is about time Charlotte! You are going to be late today!" I roll my eyes, and stare blankly at my closet.
Who do I want to be today? I ponder this question over every morning, before I leave to go out. But today is different. Today is the last day I will wake up to screams and shower for 13 minutes exactly and hide behind my blue-painted door. Today I am moving to a new town, with new faces, in a new state, at a new college. I am done with the community college and living at home, I have my bags all packed and am off to live with two best friends away from family and start making all the cliché college memories that my father always talks about. I will be independent, I will be free, and I will be strong. Today, I decide to wear a sky blue tye-dye dress, lace crochet toms, and a nude transparent shall to cover my shoulders. My hair is lightly curled, and the sun has lightened the auburn brown it was, to a mix of blonde, strawberry and amber. I sit down on my floor in front of my full body mirror one last time, to do my routine make up, that with the type of person I am today only requires, powder, bronzer, beige eye shadow, lower eyeliner, and one swipe of mascara. I am care free, happy, and funny today. I take a deep breath, even spritz on a perfume called "Happy" to complete the person I am today. I take one last look around my old-room and walk out the door.
The car is all packed, Chase is sitting in the back with my bedding, and mom is sitting in the driver's seat, honking as if she has been waiting here all day. My dad is in the truck that is idling by the curb, yelling at my mom to back out of the overcrowded garage so I could fit into the passenger side. I click my seat belt, 8:05, we are right on time. We are off on our 3 hour drive, including stops, to University of Nevada Reno, my new home.
Chase and I doze in and out during the car ride, our mother insists on listening to the local channels as they change from county to county. I put my IPod in finally and play a medley of Ed Sheeran and Bob Marley, because that playlist seems to match my laid-back outfit for the day. I find it funny, that I pick a relaxed, hippie vibe appearance, on the most nerve-wrecking, scary, exciting day of my teenage life. We pull up to the brand new apartment complex; I take a deep breath and help get my bags out of both of our vehicles.
