Lunar

01 | Enchanted

I stumble down the stairs as my mom continues to yell at me. I struggle to pull up my black knee-high socks and adjust the length of my skirt.

"I got you up an hour ago, Lanie! What have you been doing up there?" She yells from the dining room, not bothering to look away from the magazine she's been reading.

"I didn't mean to take so long," I mumble as I grab an apple from the kitchen. My hair was extra tangly this morning, and I had quickly lost track of the time while trying to tame it. 

I take a bite out of the apple as I slip on my school shoes and make my way towards the front of the house. I pull my obnoxiously large backpack over my shoulder and yank open the red door, yelling a quick goodbye to my mom on my way out. I walk down the gravel driveway to meet my older brother, Alex, for the school bus. 

"You're late today," he says, staring straight ahead.

"So is the bus it seems," I respond, looking down the road for any sign of our only way to school. "Odd."

It's chilly today – a reminder of the upcoming winter. I shiver a bit and put my hands inside my skirt pockets. Our thin uniform sweaters are primarily for show and offer very little warmth in the cold.

I look over at Alex to see him in his school-issued black slacks, white button-up shirt, and dark green sweater. He catches my glare and I raise an eyebrow at him. "Isn't it senior spirit wear today?" I ask. 

He shakes his head. "I don't have anything like that to wear."

I scoff. "You've only gone to school there for four years." 

I hear the roar of an engine and look down the street again to see our green and white bus approaching. "It's here," I report to Alex. He nods at me.

The bus slows down as it comes to our house, stopping at the end of our driveway. The doors swing open and I step on, gripping onto the stair railing. Falling while getting onto the bus would be humiliating, and Alex would never let me hear the end of it. 

I make my way towards the middle of the bus and sit down on the grey seat. Alex goes towards the back of the bus to sit with his friends. The doors close and we begin to drive towards the next stop. I place my backpack to my left and lean my head on the cold window, staring at the houses passing by. The tree leaves have begun to fall and make a red and yellow mess on the neighborhood's front yards. 

It's October 23rd today, and there is one-hundred and twenty seven days until summer time. 

I'm a Junior at St. Ailbe Catholic High School, and we've been hearing about a group of students enrolling this week. Our school is small, so getting new students is pretty exciting news – especially when they're such a large group. I've heard faint gossip about a very tall, handsome boy being part of the new kids.

I'm interested to see if he'll live up to all the talk. 

The ride to school takes a while – almost forty minutes – but the scenery is quite nice. Lots of red trees and bushes line the bumpy and worn down road to school. The recently risen sun likes to poke through the leaves and warm my tired face through the window. 

The bus stops abruptly at the back entrance of the school. I take up my backpack and swing myself out of my seat, my clunky shoes making a loud sound across the metal and rubber floor as I make my way down the aisle. I hear Alex come up behind me as I walk down the bus to the doors. 

"Please don't be late for the ride home," he pleads. 

"Okay," I promise.

"I won't tell the bus lady to wait for you," he threatens.