"Kaylie? Are you up yet? You don't want to be late!" Her mother said. Kaylie groaned and flopped back in her bed, banging her head on her headboard. 

"Ow.." Kaylie rubbed her head, grimacing. She reluctantly lifted her comforter, the cold air rushing over her body and sending shivers up her spine. Getting out of bed, she stepped on a small object. She looked down and saw a paper clip. She leaned down under her bed and saw a small stack of papers. She reached out and read over the pages. 

"Oh no.. no!" Kaylie sighed, angry with herself. Her summer reading lay before her eyes, unfinished and covered with dust from being under her bed for the whole summer. It was too late now, as school started in less that an hour. Speaking of which, she should really take a shower. She stood up and walked over to the bathroom. In the bathroom, she peeled off her clothes and turned on the water. The water woke her up, and she thought about excuses that she could make for her work not being done. More than that, what could she tell her mom?

As Kaylie came downstairs, her mom was sitting at the table reading the news on her computer. She was sipping a cup of coffee that she would probably pour the rest of out later. Not even looking up, she pointed to the seat across from her. 

"Sit, Kaylie." Her voice was cold, and she was scrolling with a rather angry touch. Kaylie bit her lip, wondering what she had done this time.

"So I got an email from your teachers."

"An email?"

"Yes, an email. It was asking if you had finished your SUMMER READING."

"S-Summer reading..?" Kaylie's mouth was dry. Of course she hadn't! But she couldn't tell her mom, she would freak out. For a lot of people, not finishing work wasn't a big deal. But for her mom, it was the difference between college and homelessness. 

"You didn't finish."

"What?"

"I can see it. You didn't finish."

"Ok.. I didn't finish.."

"YOU DIDN'T FINISH?! That summer reading was 35% of your grade! You are going to fail! What did I tell you? You are going to fail and flunk out of high school and you won't go to college and you won't get a good job and you won't get married.." Kaylie droned out the rest of her ranting by quickly eating her breakfast and kissing her goodbye. She caught the bus just in time and sat down in her seat.