An Alienating Secret

The New Kid

--Anith--

My alarm clock went off. I opened my eyes groggily and shut off the annoying beeping. 6:45. A.M. I hadn't woken up this early since summer started. And of course, I wanted to go back to sleep. But then Mom opened my door.

"Anith, sweetie, you got to wake up now."

"Mom, can't I take a minute to get up?" I propped myself up on my bed as I spoke.

"A minute for you can take an hour. And you know I'm right, missy. You can't just skip school to sleep." Mom crossed her arms.

I smiled. "Would you rather me sleep in class?"

Mom looked annoyed. "You know, I'm getting your father."

"Go right ahead." I snuggled back into my blanket. I've honestly liked whenever my dad has scolded me. Of course, that feeling of shame is awful. But seeing my playful father put on a serious face...? It's so unusual that it's amusing.

"Anith, are you causing trouble?" Dad entered the room with Mom.

"I just want to sleep."

"But aren't you excited to see all your friends again? And to learn really interesting stuff?" Dad took a knee besides my bed.

I looked at Dad. "I've seen my friends a lot this summer. And as for learning, the first, like, month is just review."

"What if there are new students?"

"I'll meet them eventually. It's not like I'm trying to sleep through the whole year. What if I'm just fifteen minutes late?"

"What type of parents would we be if we let you go on your first day of school fifteen minutes late?" My dad cocked an eyebrow, but he didn't smile. "Do you know what I think your problem is?"

"What is it?" I asked in a blunt tone.

"You think that everything is going to be same-old. You don't see how this school year can be any different from all the years before, and so you'd rather skip it."

"So my problem is that school is repetitive?"

"No, your problem is that you want new things to just appear everywhere. You want things that are unusual. That pique your interest. But because you have the expectations that those new, weird things should be ginormously unnormal, you diminish the treasure of small changes in schedules and regular life."

Wow, you might be right on the dime, Dad. I looked away and didn't answer him.

Mom smiled. "Anith, I was like that when I was younger. A girl with big dreams in too small a city. But, trust me, causing your parents trouble and not going to school is a bad idea."

"Very bad." Dad nodded. He smirked at me, "Plus, how are you planning to go on big adventures at home? Are your dreams that interesting?"

I laughed. "You know, I better start getting ready." And, if anything, I can sleep in the car.

My parents left my room and I quickly changed. My outfit wasn't anything special. Cute and a bit nicer than normal school days, but not anything that would draw attention. It was perfect for 8th grade at Maddleheim, since I knew practically everyone in my class wouldn't care what I wore. We've been a stable group of 23 kids since the elementary campus. If I did wear anything super different, they'd probably look at me weird. Wouldn't want that.