BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!
“Five more minutes…,” I mumbled from under the sheets, rolling over, completely oblivious that this had been going on for the past four hours, my bus long gone. Someone had left the light on in my room, which was extremely obnoxious and got on my nerves.
My phone also wouldn’t stop vibrating. It was starting to bug me on top of my light being on. Someone might think my phone was some sort of spasming massage object because it vibrated so much. Gosh, I hate mornings.
“OH MY GOSH, THIS… THIS ANNOYING PHONE!!” I yelled, completely shutting down my phone to make it be quiet. I could’ve sworn that I turned off all of my notifications, specifically for this reason. I was angry enough to throw that useless rectangle at a wall without a case on, maybe even at the ceiling. With my eyes fully open, I realized just how late in the day it was.
“NINE THIRTY?” I screamed. This was infuriating. Did my parents seriously give up on me this time? Were they already at work? Did I seriously have to take a taxi to go to school? I decided to go down to the garage to see if anyone had actually left the house. Both the cars were still there, which was extremely odd, considering no one was sitting at my bedside, shaking me awake. Was today Saturday? No, it was Wednesday, I had my History test today on World War II. Then the house phone rang. SCHOOL OFFICE it read, but it would be awkward enough explaining how you had no idea what was going on, let alone answer the people who thought you were missing, making them suspicious of anything. Avoiding problems and just having breakfast seemed like the best idea.
Noticing I hadn’t brushed my teeth yet, but I was still in the kitchen, I sat idly for a few minutes, too lazy to want to do anything. I was quite mad that I was missing school, not because I liked school, but I’d have loads of work to catch up on tomorrow. Who knows, maybe they were actually doing something fun in Algebra or some sort of drama happened on the bus.
After the “tiresome” walk upstairs to my bathroom, I brushed my teeth, thinking about how useful I could make today, even though I had no homework to do unless a teacher actually posted something on the school website for once.
My so-called “plan” seemed simple enough to follow. First, I should finish getting ready. Then, I should eat breakfast, do laundry–wait, no–do laundry and then eat breakfast. Work on Algebra homework, maybe call Mom. If she doesn’t reply, go to the neighbors’ house. What am I eating for lunch…? Grilled cheese. Then study a little more for History. Easy, right?
I followed most of my plan, but it was already 4:30, and I hadn’t heard from my parents, so I decided to call the neighbors to see if they could help me with my situation. After calling twice, no one picked up or called me back for the next thirty minutes while I colored in small triangles in my sketchbook. It was tedious, but I had nothing better to do with my time.
For some reason, when I picked up my green colored pencil, I had a great idea. I should call my friends. School ended long ago, and they definitely didn’t have any after-school commitments.
“Look who decided to pick up!” answered Alicia, my closest friend. “What have you been doing all day? And where have you been? I know for a fact that you’re not sick.”
“What? Well, something strange has happened,” I began, ready to answer the bombardment of questions about to attack me.
“What happened?” she asked, with surprisingly no questions other than that.
“Well, I got up at, like, nine.”
“Great.”
Was she even paying attention?
“And… my parents weren’t home… but all the cars were in the garage.”
“Maybe they, uh, went somewhere… on a business trip, or something.” she replied. I could hear the scratching of her pencil on paper through the phone. That’s why she seemed to be uninterested, she wasn’t really focusing.
“Oh, maybe. They usually tell me though and call the babysitter to sleep over, right?” None of this was making sense to me. None of it.
“Check your basement, maybe Melissa is still asleep.” said Alicia.
“You mean Marissa? Okay…” I began to walk down the stairs when I heard a familiar snoring pattern.
“Wow, I can hear her through the phone, someone get her one of those thingies that stops snoring,” Alicia commented, not even making an effort to be quiet.
“Shhh! You’re going to wake her up!” I whispered, probably making as much noise myself.
Marissa’s head shot up from the large gray couch, except it wasn’t Marissa. It was my neighbor, Marie. How did she even get in my house?
“Kristy, you’re going to be late for school!” exclaimed Marie.
“What?” I asked, confused. That was not the sound of a 60-something-year-old retired neighbor who makes gingerbread cookies for the entire neighborhood all year.
Everything faded away and a bright light appeared along with the sound of my mom panicking that I would miss the bus. I think she’s just worried that she’d have to drive me to a school that’s thirty minutes away.
“Kristy! The bus is going to be here in fifteen minutes! Hurry!” yelled my mom, accidentally turning on my fan and freezing my bare arms in a room that felt even more icy than the weather outside.
“Mom? What? Oh…” I rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was 6:15 in the morning. Not 5:45, almost dinnertime.
Everything that I thought was real was just a dream.
What was I even dreaming about, anyway? Who cares? It was just a dream.
Wait, where’s my mom? I swear I just heard her…