I’m sound asleep

My fleece blankets swallowing me in their cuddly softness

All of a sudden my alarm clock shrills to life

Screaming annoyingly in my ears

A cold, icy dread engulfs my heart

I have to get up and get ready for school

Oh yeah and it’s a Monday

It’s also 4:41 in the morning

I need to get in the shower

But I don’t wanna!

I’ll just shut my eyes for a few more seconds…

Don’t want to be tired and groggy at school today

Alright I guess I’ll get up now

I reach to turn on my light when I notice the time

It reads 5:31 a.m.

I stare at my clock, my heart pounding

How could that be?

Did I read it right?

5:31 a.m.

WAIT!

I need to move!

But now I won’t have time to shower!

I’ll be all dirty and gross at school today

Sigh

I did all my homework, right?

Washed my gym clothes, took out some lunch money…

I pull on a t-shirt and jeans

And brush my teeth and do my hair and all that

Then I walk downstairs to eat breakfast

God, there’s nothing to eat

Even though my pantry is full of food

I look in the fridge—YES!

Looks like I’m heating up a leftover baked potato for breakfast

I need some coffee

Don’t want to be sleepy and boring at school

I down a half-cup of coffee and look at the clock

6:10!

Omigod I have to go outside soon!!

In, like, 10 minutes…

I nervously pace around the family room

Taking deep breaths

Trying to prepare myself for what I’m about to face

I probably look like an idiot

Don’t want to be an Ameri-can idi-ot!!!

Ah, I love that song

Dang it! My i-pod!

Did I charge it?

Yes, it’s good, and now it’s time to get ready

I bundle myself up in everything I have

Because it’s pitch black and below zero outside

My mom kisses me goodbye

"Have a great day," she says

A great day

I snort to myself

“Bye Bogie, I will see you in seven and a half hours,” I solemnly promise my dog

He just looks up at me then goes back to sleep

Why can’t I be a dog?

WHY GOD? WHY!!?

Shut up! I yell to myself (in my head of course)

Focus—I’m going to have an ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS day!!

I open the garage and walk to the bus stop

Like a guilty man walking up to the stand to give his testimony

Then I realize that I am the only one here

Hopefully no one mugs me

Or tries to rape me

Pretty soon people start showing up

Which means the two girls I stand by

But the talkative girl isn’t here today

So it’s just me and that other girI

I see her come and stand in her spot

I sniffle, kick some snow around

It’s soo quiet and awkward

I pick at my nails

Is that girl on her phone or

Should I be talking to her?

But I don’t have anything to say

And no one else seems to be talking much

I’ll just stand here and kick some snow

Do I look uncomfortable?

Why can’t the frikin bus just show up already?!

The awkwardness is stabbing me like a million knifes!!

Finally the bus rolls by

My heart starts beating fast again

What if I can’t find a seat today?

The bus is always so full and the people are always so unpredictable with where they sit!

What if I have to sit by those boys?

Or worse, what if I have to sit next to them?

Oh please God don’t let that happen!

I’m freaking out right now

Today’s not going to go down well

I walk down the aisle of the bus and

Try to make out people in the pitch blackness

Because the bus driver obviously doesn’t have the actual energy to

Turn on the lights for a second!

I see a sophomore girl sitting by herself

But wait, that’s where that one girl usually sits, right?

I look around again, desperately

Why can’t there be enough room for me to sit with the freshman girls I actually know?

I need to flipping find a seat

The bus is about to move

I miraculously find another seat with one girl who looks non-threatening

“Can I sit with you?”

I sit down graciously, making sure only to take up my half of the seat

But what if those boys over there turn around and say something to me?

I keep my head down and try going to sleep on my backpack

Hoping I don’t look weird or anything

Everyone around me is poking on there I-phones

And I’m just sitting here like a loser

This is so not fun

Half an hour later, we arrive at school

We are super early so we are basically just sitting here

Waiting for other buses to come

It is so quiet

All of a sudden, the boys nearby blast a song on their phone

I feel myself about to hoot out loud with laughter

But I can’t draw attention to myself

I try to stop but I can’t

I think I’m the only one laughing at them

Then it’s time to get off the bus and everyone stands up

Including me, but I have a heavy load of a backpack

I almost take out the girl I sat next to as I try and swing it over my shoulder

I’m off the bus

Walking fast in the brisk winter cold towards the school doors

Wondering if people are looking at me walk

Am I walking too fast?

I find my friend and try to sound

As if my morning was absolutely perfect

“Hi!”

That didn’t sound energized enough

I sound like a dying cow

She says hey back and now we are still walking

Think of something else to say, moron!

she's like one of your only friends!

My mind just can’t shut up

“Ugh, I hate Mondays”

Well isn't that true!

I’m going to walk inside school

Have to see more people

Going to have to converse with them all

 Wait—who says “converse”?

It’s only the morning

And the coffee is not making me more fun and energized

But at least in seven and a half hours

I’ll be back in the comfort of my house

With my dog and my fleece blankets

Seven and a half more hours…

That’s like twenty seven thousand more seconds I have to endure this misery!!!