Summer Days

Chapter 21 - Back To Reality

I woke up to the insanely annoying sound of my alarm clock. 

"Here we go again"  I muttered to myself. I laid in my bed for a moment and rubbed my eyes. 'Jeez,' I thought, 'this is the time I'd be going to bed.' It was time to go back to reality again.

After I laid in my bed for an extra 5 minutes and my mom yelled upstairs to get me up, I dragged myself out of bed and into the bathroom. I got ready at the pace of a sloth. I was exhausted and not excited whatsoever to return to the devil's lair. I walked downstairs and grabbed a muffin that my mom had made and a cup of coffee. I really wasn't feeling it today. I ate, brushed my teeth, put some perfume on and I was out the door. At least this year I could finally drive to school and leave at my own time. I plugged my phone into the auxiliary, and picked "Photograph" by Ed Sheeran. As I drove I really listened to the lyrics, and they made me think about Dakota so much. I was with my friends so much the last few days before school, that I really didn't think about it much. Of course, I texted him all the time and we FaceTimed a few times, but just being surrounded by people who always made me smile just made things better. 

But now, I'm all alone, and there's a sudden lump in my throat 'Don't cry, you fuck,' I kept telling myself. I couldn't roll up to school on my first day being a complete mess. I somehow managed to keep it together until the song ended. That'll probably be one of my biggest accomplishments of the year.

I pulled into the student parking lot halfway through a third song, unplugged my phone, and turned my car off. I sat there for a minute, thinking to myself.  

'Alright, you have to keep your shit together today. A ton of people are gonna ask what you did, and all you have to say is you went to Minnesota with your family and keep your shit together.' I honestly felt really bad about leaving out Dakota and everyone else from my summer, but I knew that mentioning them would lead to stories, and stories would probably lead to tears, and I wasn't gonna deal with being a complete wreck on the first day of school. Most of my good friends know already, so at least I don't have to worry about that. 

I slipped my phone in my pocket, grabbed my bag from the passenger seat, took a deep breath, and stepped out of my car. Walking up to the school, I knew I was finally back in reality. It hit pretty hard when I left Minnesota, a little bit more when I got home, and I thought the rest hit when I saw my friends, but I was wrong. It hit hard again as I walked in the doors to the third ring of Hell. It was the same scene every year. Freshman visibly anxious, sophomores just being glad they're not freshman anymore, juniors beginning to get cocky because they're finally upperclassmen, and seniors being hit hard with senioritis on the first day. The first couple days of school, I usually laid low, just trying to adjust to everything before actually showing the real me that everyone knew. 

It was already 6th period (around 11:40, lasting until 12:20), which was odd because first days never go so fast. My phone was always on do not disturb, but I check it stealthily and profusely (especially on boring days like today). As I was looking through messages from a group message my friends started, suddenly something popped up.

"Idiot Boyfriend :)" would like to FaceTime...

What the hell? He was in school too. There's a reason he's "idiot boyfriend" in my phone.

But. there was also a reason I was "idiot girlfriend" in his phone. I clicked answer, immediately turning my volume all the way down before we connected. I looked up so the teacher didn't expect anything. Once he turned his back to get papers (the common "course syllabus" routine of every first day), I looked down to see what Dakota was doing. He was looking up, but he had a piece of paper on the fold of his shirt. On it was written "Im in english class lol"