The Art World

Chapter 4

My eyes opened slightly, my body still feeling heavy. I rubbed my eyes and hit the snooze button on the five a.m. alarm. When I opened my eyes again, I saw that it was six fifteen. My eyes shot wide open.

Shit!

Dammit all!

Why am I like this?!

I leaped out of bed as if it had been set on fire. I WASTED SO MUCH TIME, I mentally screamed. I grabbed my notebook and scribbled down answers to my history worksheet, putting it away to work on the late work for English and the math homework. Shit, shit, shit, shit, shiiiit! My mind was racing as quickly as my heartbeat. I looked at the math equations as if it were a foreign language, which I also sucked at and I did not know why I let Alexandra talk me into a third year of Spanish. I looked at the clock again and saw that it was seven o'clock, and my mom walked in to wake me up. She gave me a toaster strudel for breakfast while I sat at my desk and worked away.

"Get dressed," she said, leaving the room to prepare Austin for school.

I glanced at the clock again. Time was my enemy. I packed everything up so quickly and threw on a pair of leggings with an old vampire t-shirt. My heart could not deal with anymore stress for the rest of the day, but I would force it to at school.

"You're wearing such mismatched clothes, Michaela," my mom complained.

"I can't be bothered to color coordinate, Mom," I viciously snapped.

"You watch your tone with me, young lady." She raised her voice, warning me to watch my boundaries. "Just because you can't manage your work well doesn't mean you need to take it out on me."

"Watch your tone, Michaela," Austin mimicked. I threw him a glare, biting my tongue so that I did not invoke the wrath of my mother.

She stopped in front of the school, and I grabbed my backpack and jumped out of the car. I ran somewhere to sit down and finish up my work before first period. I was scared of doing my work in front of Ms. Ashburn because of the intimidating tone in her voice when she asked me why I did not do my work at home. The bell rang, and I quickly shoved my books into my locker.

"Dammit!" I shouted, running to my first period.

I made it just a few minutes before the bell rang to start first period. Elizabeth took in my thrown together outfit and my slightly messy hair.

"You look like you've been to hell and back!" She commented "What happened?"

"Time hates me," I answered.

"You seem so wired." She said, then lowering her voice to a whisper. "I'm so glad you decided to skip class later today. It'll be fun."

I breathed in and out slowly, trying to slow down my thundering heartbeat. After the bell rang and everyone was seated, Ms. Ashburn stood up.

"Pass in your papers," she ordered.

I opened up my binder, looking for my worksheet. I grew more and more anxious as I could not find it. She walked around, collecting the papers at the front rows. She looked through them to find missing names.

"Where's your paper, Elliott?"

It was at that point I realized that I left it at home. It was still on my computer desk.

"I-I did it," I nervously stuttered. "I-It's at home..."

"Why is it at home?" Ms. Ashburn raised her eyebrow, thinking I was lying.

"B-Because... Um..." I said, feeling tortured by her intense glare. "I-I'm sorry..."

"Maybe you were so busy doodling that you forgot your paper." She said, shaming me for having drawn in her class throughout this year. "And to think you're Alexandra's younger sister."