Hello Dolly

Chapter Four

When my alarm went off that morning, I glanced over at the doorway first thing to make sure it was still shut. It was. I breathed a sigh of relief, turning my alarm off. It was the first day of school and I of course couldn't wait for it to already be over. I already wanted my junior year to be over with and for my senior year to already be here so I could focus on applying to my dream college, the SATs which I've been preparing myself for since freshmen year, and so I could be miles away from High Point.

I got my towel and robe and walked out my room. I looked down at the doorway first and then up and down the hallway. I didn't see anyone so I went ahead and walked down the hall to the bathroom. I took a quick shower and walked back out. I did the same thing as I had done earlier. This time I could hear dad in the kitchen whistling a tune, getting his cup of morning coffee ready.

I walked back into my room and started getting ready for the day. I picked out a short, red dress out of my closet. I put it on along with a black belt and my red boots. I stood in front of the mirror and put my hands against my sides, making sure the dress was at least down past my fingertips. My school had a dress code and one of the rules was that if the dress wasn't past your fingertips, then you had to call your parents and have them bring you a change of clothes. Although since it was the first day of school, they didn't really care. After about a week that's when the teachers start looking out for kids that aren't following the dress code so they can get them in trouble. I sometimes think they enjoy making us miserable about our clothes. I on the other hand had never once gotten in trouble with them and I never wanted to 'cause I'd probably go off on the teacher for embarrassing me in front of my friends and classmates just for wearing a shirt that showed my shoulders. That to me was so bothersome.

I walked into the kitchen a few minutes later, grabbing a bowl off from the cabinet and grabbing my Corn Flakes cereal box and placing them down on the kitchen table.

"Ready for your first day of school?" Dad asked, looking up over at me from his newspaper.

"Ready as I'll ever be." I said, reaching across the table for a banana, opening it up and slicing it with my spoon.

"What about you pumpkin?" Dad turned to Lori who was eating a bowl of Cheerios, Lucy sitting right next to her in the chair.

"I'm really excited!" Lori said happily, stuffing a spoonful of cheerios in her mouth. "What I'm not really happy about is that I have to leave Lucy alone while I'm gone." She turned her head and gave the doll a sad look.

"Well, it'll just be a couple of hours. I'm sure Lucy won't mind you being gone for a little while." Dad said, patting Lori's head. She giggled and went back to eating her cereal.

Later as we got ready to head out and wait on the bus, I went back to my room, having realized I had forgotten to pack a binder for Spanish class. I got near my room but stopped in the middle of the hallway when I heard voices coming from Lori's room. Her door was cracked open.

"Please don't be sad Lucy." I heard Lori's voice come from her room. I carefully walked over and peeked through the crack. Lori was sitting beside the bed, looking up at Lucy who was sitting at the head of the bed, looking straight at her.

"I'll only be gone till 3 o'clock. I'll be back before you know it." She reached up and brushed a hair strand from Lucy's face. "I promise to come and play with you when I come back from school." She then leaned in towards the doll and tilted her head so she her ear was near the doll's face.

"Daisy! The bus is here!" Dad called out, making me jump.

"O-Okay!" I said back to him. I turned away from Lori's door, hoping she hadn't seen me there, and ran into my room real fast, grabbed my binder, and ran back out. Quickly, I grabbed my book bag and ran out of the house as fast as I could towards the waiting bus.