The rain beats against Maria's bedroom window. The loud noise wakes her before her alarm clock can, causing Maria to silently curse the weather. She glances over at the bright red letters on her clock. It reads 6:42 AM, almost a full ten minutes after she was supposed to get up. She gasps and flings her legs over the edge of her small bed.
"My alarm clock didn't go off!" Maria thinks bewildered.
She rushes into her bathroom and turns the light on. After shutting the door, Maria grabs a fluffy green bath towel and hangs it on one of the three hooks that are right outside the shower. She pulls aside the shower curtain and turns the water on. When Maria had taken of all her clothes, she steps into the shower. The water turns cold and feels like a thousand tiny ice cubes smacking against her bare skin. She makes a squeaking noise as she forces herself through the wall of ice and quickly turns the silver knob to warm. What feels like eternity later (although it's only a few seconds) the water turns warmer.
Around eight minutes later, Maria was already out of the shower and blowing her wet brown hair dry. She had dried off her body and put her robe on only a minute earlier. After her chest length hair was dry, she zips open her makeup bag (which was decorated with flowers) and began putting on her makeup. She took out her concealer and after applying that she does her foundation, blush, powder, eye liner, and mascara.
Ten minutes later she walks out into her bedroom searching for an outfit to wear.
Maria pulls out her dark blue skinny jeans and a gray sweater. She checks the clock and sees that it's already 7:20.
"Oh crap!" Maria gasps to herself while shoving her black boots on. She runs over to her mirror that hangs on her door and looks at her reflection. Her dark brown wavy hair falls just past her chest, and her eyes are a bright blue. Her freckles on her rosy cheeks are barely even visible, and her skin tone is a light tan. According to the doctors she's only a pound or so under weight.
Maria brushes her hair back and puts it in a high ponytail. She grabs her black book bag and rushes down the stairs.
Maria enters the kitchen and grabs a banana for the road. Both her mom and her dad are at work, even at this early in the morning.
She quickly grabs an umbrella and steps outside. Maria opens up her umbrella and shuts the door behind her. She walks down the old patio steps and follows the thin path beside the road, towards her school.
The rain hits her red umbrella with a "thump thump." As Maria walks on, she would step into the small puddles that the rain had created on complete accident, making her more and more frustrated each time it happened.
Her school starts at 9:00 but it takes her a while to get there when she walks (usually about 15 minutes) and when she normally gets there it's around 7:50. But, since she is the best friend of the class rep. She offers to go early each day and help her prepare that months "special activity."
Her friend's name is Lexi Andrews, and she is always in high spirits. She's always the one making Maria laugh.
The rain continues poring down onto the small pavement sidewalk which Maria walked on. It was getting harder and harder to avoid the rain on her boots.
Maria looks at the clock on her phone. It reads 7:42. She sighs and thinks to herself, "that means I should be there in less than ten minutes...good."
*************************************
Maria opens the front door to her school, Meadow Creek High, and walks down the long white walled hallway.
She eventually finds the room 227 where Lexi is waiting with a clipboard in hand.
"Right on time!" She exclaims as her brown eyes sparkle.
"Of course! Just like always," Maria smiles.
Lexi sways over to Maria, causing her long blonde hair to bounce.
"So, what should we work on first? The annual Fall Festival, or the Halloween Party for October?" Lexi asks.
Maria pauses to think until she says, "Since the Fall Festival is closer, let's work on that."
Lexi giggles and replies, "Great idea! Now should we work on the food stands, the decorations, or the activities first?"
"How about today we work on the food stands and tomorrow the decorations!" Maria suggests.
"Yes! Then the day after that we can do the activities!" Lexi says excitedly, jumping up and down. She was wearing pale pink skinny jeans, white sneakers, and a black sweatshirt. It looks as if Lexi had spent extra time doing her eye makeup this morning, but Maria didn't know the occasion.
"So, for the food stands I was thinking that instead of one big concession like last year, we could do what we do with the activities, and have a couple of the classrooms set up like a food stand. Do you think that's a good idea?" Lexi questions.
"That's a fantastic idea, Lexi!" Maria praises.
Lexi blushes and says, "Aw, it's nothing really."
"How about each of the three floors of this school have one room with food?" Maria asks.
"Good plan!" Lexi says, fist-pumping Maria.
This went on until school started at 9:00, which is when the two girls went to 1 period. They enter their trigonometry class and take their seats next to each other.
Mr. Barnett, their teacher for that period, walks up to the front of the classroom and begins teaching the lesson for that day. Maria and Lexi both begin taking notes on their notepads with matching dolphin pens.
*************************************
Maria walks out of her last class of the day and heads toward her locker. She puts up her books and grabs the ones she will need for homework that night. She runs down her checklist and goes to meet Lexi at her locker.
Lexi had just finished with putting up her books by the time Maria got there.
Lexi's sparkling white eyeshadow the corners of her eye surprised Maria, mainly because Lexi usually doesn't where eyeshadow period, let alone sparkling eyeshadow.
"Why the eyeshadow? Did I forget the holiday or something?" Maria asks curiously.
Lexi blushes but before she could say anything, hundreds of other kids rush into the hallway eager to go home. Lexi smiles and shouts over the rest of the voices, "I'LL WALK YOU HOME!"
"OKAY!" Maria shouts back.
Maria and Lexi fight their way through the crowd of other students. When they are almost there, Lexi shoots up next to Maria and grabs Maria's hand.
"I'll help you through!" Lexi whispers in Maria's ear with a smile.
Lexi pushes through the people guiding Maria, while holding her hand tightly.
"She's been acting like this ever since last month when her parents divorced. She's been wearing a bit more makeup, snuggling up closer to me, holding my hand, hugging me, asking me to sit on her lap, etc. I told mom about it and she reassured me it was how she copes," Maria thinks.
Finally, after they forced their way through the crowd, they make it outside to the front yard of the school.
"Whew! What a rush," Lexi laughs.
Maria laughs and says, "Well, I better get home."
Lexi nods and just like she promised, she walks Maria home.
YOU ARE READING
Strong
Teen FictionMaria Lake is an average senior in high school. She has her friends and she has her enemies. But, when her mother commits suicide and her father becomes abusive and begins drinking, how much does that really change her? She hides behind a fake smile...
