If You Open Your Eyes

Chapter 1

Beep Beep Beep Beep

"UGGGGGGHHH!"

BeepBeepBeepBeepBeepBeep

As I reach over to smack that snooze button so hard it won't ever want to beep again, I find myself to be freaking falling off the edge of the bed and onto the cold, hardwood floors.

"Shhhhiiit!"

"Dani!! Get out of bed! Haley will be here any minute!"

A typical school-day morning in the life of Danielle Elizabeth Lenon usually went something like that. And no, I'm not gonna start off your sliver-of-insight-on-my-life-story all cliché on the first day of school. No. It's Tuesday.
And I'm pissed.

You're probably wondering what's had me in such a bad mood on a simple, fall tuesday morning. It's not just the fact that I fell off my bed. Well, that too. But just so you know, my life hasn't exactly been handed to me on a silver platter.

I guess I'm kind of always in a pissy mood.
The only thing-or person, I should say- that can even come close to smacking a grin on my face is Maddie.

Anyway, I'm on the floor.
And I have exactly twelve minutes before Haley pulls her black Mercedes around the bend of our secluded little cold-a-sac.

Gritting my teeth and pulling my legs out from underneath me, I drag myself to the closet and grab the first presentable outfit I can. I snag a cereal bar, force my reddish-brown curls into a messy bun, and dash out the door.

"Hey girl heyyy!" Haley sings as I swing the sleek passenger door open.

"Oh, shut it," I mutter under my breath.

"Aw c'mon, Dani. It's our senior year! Cheer up a bit."

"I think I'm allowed to be grumpy at 6:43 in the fucking morning."

Haley responds with a simple, "Mmhmm," before smoothly switching the car into reverse and backing out of the driveway.

*.*.*.*.*.*.*.*

By the time fourth period rolls around, I have already sat through two and a half hours of torture. But just because I can't stand school, my grades are actually pretty good. The one class I actually enjoy is
fourth period, right before lunch.

"Hey Dani! How's it going? Grab a stand and take a seat," Ms. Dawson says before chuckling at her own little joke.

Ms. Dawson is a lively, outgoing, divorced middle-aged woman who lives with a gigantic dog and a ton of antique guitars. Her babies, she calls them.

"Hey pretty girl. How's the fam? What's going on with you lately?" Jareds annoying voice calls as I take my seat in front of him.

"Jared, I'm really not in the mood."

"C'mon, Dani. You know you love talking to me. A girl would die to be you right now. Enjoy the moment. Have a conversation."

I continue to ignore him as I tune up Marvin, my own old, beat up baby, and start strumming a few chords. I love the feeling of deep, melancholy songs but Maddie always urges me to play the bright, happy ones. How could that little girl have so much happiness and smiles running through her, even after she was-

"Dani? You okay there?"

Ms. Dawson's gentle voice interrupted my swiftly darkening thoughts and brought me back to reality, where I still had my fingers lingering over the G string and was staring blankly into space.

"Oh, yeah. Sorry."

I could hear Jared "inconspicuously" snickering behind me.

"Okay, great. Now, class, after you finish tuning your guitars, flip to page 42 and we will pick up from last time on measure 13. One, two, one, two three four,"

-AUTHORS NOTE-
Hey everyone! So this is my new story, If You Open Your Eyes. Please don't hesitate to point out mistakes and plot holes! You will figure out more about Dani as the book progresses, don't worry. As for Maddie, who do you think she is? And what happened to her? Comment, vote, and let me know what you think! Also, I'm just starting out with my first book on Wattpad, so if you're enjoying this book, please feel free to recommend!