How My Life Turned Upside Down

1 - The Grind

Wednesday, November 17

Beep. Beep. Beep.

   My hand shoots out from under the covers of my warm, soft, snugly blankets. I hear various things from my cream-colored nightstand fall onto my plush purple carpet as I drowsily feel around for the snooze button on my alarm clock.

   After nearly pushing my lamp onto the floor, I felt it on the edge of my nightstand, I decide it's probably time to get up. I sit up, stifling a yawn with my hand. It was 5:30am. There were two hours until school started for the day, which left me plenty of time to get ready.

   After making sure that my lamp won't fall, I run to the bathroom for a quick shower, somehow managing to not fall over in my drowsy state. Due to my state of exhaustion, I slip on my way out of the shower and almost break my face. Or some other body part, but I'm tired, so let's go with face.  I brush the few knots out of my hair, then I pick up the curling iron and plug it into the outlet.

   "Shit!" I run cold water over my red left index finger. Ugh. I don't want to wake up my family. And it doesn't help that I've placed the curling iron right next to my face towel, which is, smoking?

   "Oh, carp! Oh, what the hell, oh CRAP!" I grab the iron, burning the same finger in the same exact spot and am barely able to suppress a shriek. "The little children are still asleep, it's not like they can hear me. So, yeah. F*ck it. No one else is awake, so no one can censor me!"

   "Damn it, now I know what they mean by 'feel the burn.'"

   I unplug the curling iron and put it away, leaving my hair semi-wavy instead of curly, like I had originally wanted. My hair still looks nice, so I'm okay with it. Gotta dress to impress.

   As I rummage through my closet, nothing seems appealing to me, which is strange. I mean, I bought these clothes. I know my style.

   Suddenly, something catches my eye. I pull a light gray three-quarter sleeved shirt with the Hogwarts emblem. Yep, Harry Potter. I read the books when I was younger and the movies weren't that bad. I should probably do some rereading and re-watching soon. There's so much to do and so little time to do it!

   I also pulled out a black skirt that went down to mid-thigh. Good enough for the dress code. I added some black leggings to the outfit for good measure and because it can get pretty cold in North Carolina, especially this time of the year.

   I walk over to the mirror and I'm happy to see that it hides the fat that I've been noticing more and more over the past few weeks. Ellie, my best friend, says that it isn't easy to see, but I don't believe her.

   Clothes, Check.

   Once I'm in the bathroom, I check to see if I had gotten my period yet. Nope. Nothing. Nada.

   I was worried- well that's a bit of an understatement. I hadn't gotten it for two months. I thought it was from stress with school and everything, but now I'm not so sure. I'm not that stressed. Right? Am I? Wait, am I stressed?

   I quickly apply some makeup and look at my phone for the time and I see it's six fifty already. Crap.

   I suddenly feel something vile rising up out of my throat and I run to the toilet bowl and empty the contents of my stomach into it. Not this again. What did I eat recently? Why do I keep getting food poisoning?

   Last month, I was home for a week throwing up with what I've self diagnosed as food poisoning and I had also almost been late by throwing up in the mornings.