Despite being a morning person, the crisp September mornings made it just that little bit harder to get out of bed. After being able to freely sleep in until 10 in the morning for 2 months, I had a hard time waking up to the sound of my alarm at 7 in the morning. It just seemed so much earlier. It didn't help that my alarm clock woke me up by suddenly blasting Girls just Want to Have Fun. It scared me so badly that I almost fell out of bed. With a loud grunt, I reached over to my alarm clock that was playing K94.5 at a ridiculously high volume. My brother Jack most likely thought it would be a good prank to crank the volume on my alarm. He always did dumb things like that. I clicked the alarm off, and let my arm fall loosely off the nightstand. I really didn't want to get up to go to school, but I knew I had to. So, despite not wanting to, I pulled myself out from under my warm blankets, grabbed my glasses, and dragged myself out of bed.
Groggily, I got up, and headed to the washroom to clean up a bit. The bathroom had a mirror to the left, right after the doorway. So of course, I walked into the washroom, caught a glimpse of myself, and scared myself for the second time that morning. As usual, my hair was a curly mess of dark brown, and golden blond hair, and stuck up everywheres. Ah, yes. The curse of curly hair. Since I just wasn't feeling up to fixing it, I simply threw it back into a messy bun. In all honesty, I don't even know why I got an ombré in it if all I was going to do was throw it into a bun. But I suppose on the rare days my hair looked decent, it was nice to have the ombré. After putting my hair into a bun, I finished up in the washroom, and went down to the kitchen to grab a quick breakfast.
My siblings Jack and Bella were already up and ready which I was surprised by. Usually I was the morning person. Bella was more like me, but Jack was the complete opposite. He hated getting up early, and usually he was cranky as hell in the morning. Heck, most days, he went to the bus stop half asleep.
"Morning sleepyhead!" Jack said once he saw me. "Get enough beauty sleep?"
"I could've used more." I replied with a yawn.
"No kidding. Your hair is disastrous."
I rolled my eyes at Jack's comment, and then proceeded to grab some cereal for breakfast. Cereal wasn’t exactly the best option for me, as I had problems with blood sugars dropping, but oh well. Normally I would make something that would keep me feeling good until noon, but I really didn't have the energy. I had also 20 minutes to finish getting ready and catch the bus, which wasn't a lot. I quickly poured some cereal into the bowl, then the milk. And as odd as this sounds, I then went and got dressed before eating. Yes, I know I’m crazy. I like soggy cereal. Sue me.
After throwing on a olive green shirt, and some black skinny jeans, I went to sit down with my breakfast. Suddenly my phone went off. Odd. Nobody really texted me in the morning unless we had a test later that day, and they needed notes to study from. I debated checking to see who texted for a bit before grabbing it and taking a look. The phone addiction is real.
Robin : hey the bus is early today. Dad said he saw it driving on his way to work. Get moving
Ugh! Of course the bus would be early. The bus driver sometimes liked to give us all a big morning surprise and come 15 minutes earlier than every other day. And if Robin’s dad saw the bus, then the bus was going to be at our place within 5 minutes at least. Quickly, I ate what I could of my breakfast, and then ran to the door.
"Jack! Bella! Robin said the bus is coming early today! We gotta get out there!" I yelled as I ran to the doorway to grab my jacket and bag. Turns out, Jack and Bella were pretty much already ready to go. They were just waiting for me. As they went out to the bus stop, I did my best to get my boots and jacket on as fast as I could before running out to the bus stop.
"Lock the door!" Bella yelled from the end of the driveway. Our Dad left for work before we went to school, so one of us always had to lock the door when we left for school. I ran back to the door, fumbling to find my key. After I found it, I locked the door, and turned around to run to the bus stop. Unfortunately, the bus got there before me.
Bella, Jack and Robin were just getting on the bus. I shoved my key into my pocket and ran over to the bus as fast as I could, just barely making it in time. The chilly September air burned the inside of my lungs but I didn't care. Missing school wasn’t an option. I had to keep a good attendance if I wanted an exam exemption. I ran up to the bus and hopped on just slightly after Robin did. Tired and out of breath, I fell onto the bus seat right next to Robin.
"Rough morning?" Robin asked with a snicker.
I nodded. Robin was my best friend. We've known each other since we were about 5, so we basically knew everything about each other. She was also my neighbor, hence why she was at the bus stop with Bella and Jack. We practically did everything together, and it was rare to see us separated. Even our families were close, and would often spend holidays together.
"Yea, I didn’t expect the bus to come early. And I had a hard time waking up." I said whilst trying to catch my breath.
"Wow. That's not like you at all! You’re usually up and ready to go super early! You sick or something?" Robin joked.
"Maybe. It is flu season."
Robin laughed, and for the rest of the bus ride we chatted and joked around like always. It was always nice to be able to spend time with Robin. I couldn’t have asked for a better friend. She was always there for me, and I did my best to be there for her as well.
--
The morning classes went slowly. I knew it was going to be one of those days the hours dragged on super slowly. Since it was my junior year, my classes were a lot harder than last year, which made it more important to pay attention. I tried to pay attention, but I couldn't help but to stare at the clock.
Finally, lunch hour came along. Like usual, I met up with Robin in the cafeteria. Robin looked just as tired as I did. She wasn’t a huge fan of school. She did super well academically, but she really had to try. She would spend hours studying for tests and trying to understand the material. And unfortunately, her depression got in the way of being motivated to do that. Poor Robin had a bad history of depression. It all started after her mum died when she was 7. She refused to go to school, wouldn’t leave her room, and had even started cuttung and contemplating suicide at a young age. Luckily, she got help and was doing better thanks to therapy and antidepressants.
“Tired?” I giggled when Robin sat down next to me.
“Gee, you think?” Robin rolled her eyes. “Math class is going to kill me.”
“If you need help with anything, I’ll happily help you out.” I smiled.
“Honestly Diane, I don’t know what I’d do without you.” Robin laughed as she pulled her lunch out of her school bag. I frowned when I saw she only had a granola bar. Robin didn’t come from a well off family, and it happened quite often that groceries weren’t prioritized. Usually Dad would help Robin’s dad out, and pay for their groceries if they needed it. I guess I was going to have to let Dad know they needed money again.
“Money tight again?” I asked.
Robin nodded. “Yea.”
“Here.” I pulled out some change out of my school bag. “Go get something from the cafeteria. That’s not a proper lunch.”
“You sure?”
“Yes.” I was a bit of a stickler when it came to health. Especially for Robin. I didn’t need her getting depressed because she wasn’t eating right.
“Thanks Diane.” Robin gave me a tired smile as she took the money and got up to go see what she could get at the cafeteria. I waited for her to come back before pulling out my lunch. It was always more fun to eat as a group.
“What did you get?” I asked as I pulled out my peanut butter and jelly sandwich.
“Pizza. It’s the best thing they got.” Robin smiled. “Especially compared to that mashed potato rubbish they got.”
We both laughed, and happily talked and enjoyed our lunches for the rest of the lunch hour.
--
It was finally the end of the school day, and I was relieved. Pre-calculus was a right pain in my butt. The teacher was boring, and the work was way too easy. I was just cleaning up my stuff when one of my classmates and her friends approached me from behind.
"Hey Diane." Lucille said to me. Lucille was a pretty chill classmate. Despite looking like she came straight from a mean girls musical, she was actually super kind.
"Oh, hey, Lucille. What's up?" I replied. I really didn't know what they wanted from me but they were super nice, so I figured it was probably just help with the class. Though, I did notice she had a weird tone going on that I wasn't too sure about.
"The ceiling!" Lucille's friend Pat said. Pat was a very bubbly person and would often pull these types of jokes. Lucille, on the other hand, wasn't so bubbly, and simply rolled her eyes at the comment. She never really liked Pat’s jokes.
"Nothing much. Just wanted to ask you something." Lucille said.
"Shoot." I replied. As I figured, it was probably a math question. Pre-cal could really stress people out.
"Do you think you're better than everyone else here?"
The question caught me completely off guard. What type of question was that? Of course I didn't!
"No, of course not! Why would you ask that?" I asked, extremely confused.
"Oh, just because it really seems like it." Lucille stated coldly. Her chill and kind vibe was gone. "You know, perfect grades, loads of friends, always walking around like you're the next top model."
"I, uh, don't mean to come off as that." I was kind of hurt by that. If she saw me like that, how many others did too? I was just trying to survive high school! I had good grades because I worked for them! And yea, I was social, but i really only hung out with Robin outside of school.
"Well, you do. Just thought I'd let you know. It's not right to have people like you walking around with that confidence." Lucille got in my face. “Reality is going to hit once you can’t be a teacher's pet anymore, and will be so fat and ugly that no one will talk to you. Except Robin, maybe. I don’t think she’s got standards anyways.”
I couldn't believe what I was hearing! Did I really just hear this?? Lucille was a really nice person! There was no way in hell she would've said this without it being a joke. Then it clicked. It all had to be a joke right? So, that's how I decided to take it.
"Fat and ugly? Oh c'mon! Really? Now, who made you say that? I mean, bro, my doctor is constantly on my back about gaining weight because I'm underweight." I laughed nervously. Lucille was getting way too close to me, and I was getting scared she wanted to hurt me. “And I’m definitely no teacher's pet! And, uh, please don’t say that about Robin. She’s actually super cool.”
"Bragging now, are we?" Lucille countered then started mocking me. "Oh, look at me! I'm Diane! I'm underweight! And smart! And I’ll say what I want about who I want."
Pat giggled at Lucille's sarcasm, and I just laughed nervously, trying to play along. This couldn't really be happening. With nothing to argue back with, I grabbed my stuff and ran out of that room as fast as I could. Behind me, Lucille and her friends shouted things like "fatty" and "bitch". I was super sensitive when it came to being picked on, so of course I started crying. Normally if I got picked on (which was usually for having big, round,thick glasses), Robin was there to stand up for me. I wasn’t one to stand up for myself.
Normally I would've gone to Robin's locker after class, but I couldn't risk letting her see me so upset like this. If she found out about what happened, she would probably end up in a fight. That was the thing with Robin, she was constantly getting into trouble with other people and always involved with fist fights. I don't even know why, she just always seemed to have found herself in the wrong place at the wrong time.
So, instead of going to Robin's locker, I took a pit stop in the bathroom. I sighed out of relief when I saw it was empty. At least no one would see or hear me crying like the baby I was. As quickly as I could, I cleaned up and did my best to cover up any signs of crying. Once my eyes didn't look puffy and red, I decided it was good enough and finally headed to Robin's locker. Robin was there waiting for me, and didn’t sense anything unusual.
On the bus ride home, I was sitting with Robin. We were talking like normal. Robin told me all about her day, and I told her about mine, leaving out the Lucille situation, of course.
"So! Do you wanna hang at my house tonight? We could watch a movie." Robin asked. She absolutely loved movies. She would spend most of her free time watching movies.
"Uh… I don't know. I don't really feel good." I lied. I wasn't up to hanging out after what happened. I really just wanted to go to bed. I needed to think about what just happened.
"Oh, that's fine! I wouldn't doubt that you're probably getting a cold."
"Yea. Probably."
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