The vista blue curtains billowed in the wind that was sneaking through the open window of her room. She turned uneasily in her sleep, except suddenly she was no longer in her familiar and comfortable twin bed. She was resting on a rough old bridge that was suspended between two cliffs. The platform swayed unsteadily in the wind. She wanted to get down but she had no idea how. Before she knew it, she was falling over the edge of the bridge, falling towards a fate unknown to her. Her sudden decline ended as quickly as it had begun.
She jolted awake in her bed, clutching her sheets at the edge of her bed. She sat up, wiping the sleep from her face, realizing it was only a fictitious dream, but as she sat there, she couldn't help feeling like the dream had more meaning than she had originally let on. She was then brought back into reality by the sound of a prosaic voice coming from the hallway.
"Addilyn come on! Wake up! You're going to be late!"
"No... its summer,"
"Not anymore! It's your first day as a big 'ole senior!"
"WHAT?!?!"
Now that she was fully awake, she remembered. Today was the first day of her senior year. She jumped out and of bed, and her mom walked out of her room. She got changed into her favorite jeans, threw on a band T- shirt that was lying on her bedpost, slipped into some white Converse, and put on a gold necklace. She was beyond determined to actually look put together today; it was senior year- time to step it up a bit. She went into the bathroom and pinned back her long, brown, curly hair, in an effort to keep it out of her face. Her hair was a beautiful blessing and also a messy curse all in one.
She looked at the clock, 6:45 A.M. She only had five minutes till she had to leave. She woofed down a piece of toast, chugged some orange juice, brushed her teeth, and then grabbed her backpack. She grabbed her backpack and got into the driver's seat of the 1998 Buick Regal she had bought from her grandfather. It was definitely not the prettiest ride she'd ever seen but she couldn't care less because it got her from A to B and that was all she needed.
She was almost positive that this was going to be her year. Addilyn, or as her friends called her Addie, had gone to a private grade school, and now high school all her life where everybody always knew everybody. She figured that this year couldn't be too different from her past 3 years of high school. Sure, she was team captain of the soccer team and the president of a couple of clubs, but nothing would be drastically different. Come on Addie, what the hell is wrong with you? Nothing has changed. She tried to tell herself. But she couldn't ignore the obvious pit deep in her stomach, the heat radiating from her head, and shaking hands gripping the steering wheel. Suddenly, her anxiety got the best of her and she quickly had to pull over into parking lot, which happened to be at a run down greenhouse and garden store.
Addie hurriedly reached into her purse looking for her small orange bottle of anti-anxiety pills. She took one out of the container and downed it with some cold water.
She laid her head back on the headrest and tried to breathe deeply the way she normally does when she has an anxiety attack. She's been having them sporadically since the beginning of junior year. Only her family and her two best friends knew about it. She slammed her hands on the steering wheel. She hated this. It made her feel weak. She could not even understand what she was so anxious about.
The medication would kick in soon. She put her car into drive and drove the rest of the way to school, the whole time trying to push down the feelings of uncertainty she'd been having since she woke up.
When she pulled into the school parking lot her spirits immediately lifted when she saw Lena and Sloane waiting outside of their cars frantically pointing at the parking spot that they'd saved for her. Addie swung into the spot and before she could fully get out of the car, she was enveloped in one of their routine group hugs.
"Yes bitches, we're finally seniors!" Sloane screamed into their ears, causing Lena and Addie to pull back.
"Ow!" Lena exclaimed, gripping her ears, "Well, senior year's off to great start now that I'm deaf".
The three girls laughed, grabbed their bags, and walked into school for their last first day of high school.
