7 a.m. Early Morning. Small town. But this morning would be different than any other for two young girls, Arinelle and Shannon.
So the story begins…
Alarm clock rings, waking the red head from her desk, cluttered with overdue homework and unread books. Insomnia keeps all kinds up with thoughts and that night was one of those nights. She raises her head from her papers, one stuck to her face from the drool on her cheek which she throws off in disgust. She glances around the room searching to turn the alarm clock off, but no where is it to be found. She hears the tip-toe tapping of raindrops on the window sill underneath the screech of the alarm clock and notices she had left the window open last night, where by chance her alarm clock had been sitting, now wet with the cold droppings of the night gone by. She looks out the window across to the house next door, where her young brunette neighbor was standing also at her window. Coincidently closing it for she too had left it open in the midst of the rain, and with a smile glances over at Arinelle as if silently saying hello. The red head frantically shuts her window tight and proceeds to the morning at hand. Tossing around random articles of clothing, she finds an outfit to wear. Blue jeans, torn at the bottoms, and a black baby tee fitted nicely, adorned with the word “Blessed” in red glitter letters. She throws back her long flowing hair into a ponytail and shoves all her papers into her backpack, when she notices something lying there on her desk. It was a note, from her neighbor and best friend, and it read, “I’m sorry for the way I acted, I hope you can forgive me. Love, *Shannon*.” She takes it and slips it into her back right pocket and carries on her business. With her bag on one shoulder she rushes to the bathroom and quickly skims over her teeth with a brush. Feeling like a mess, she runs down the stairs and shimmies on her brown boots, takes a second to zip them up to the knee. Stands up, peers at the clock, 7:15. She grabs the keys to her ‘97 white Dodge Dynasty. Dangling from the key chain is a silver heart that says “Only God Can Judge Me” and an old charm in the shape of an angel. She opens the door, steps out into the continued rain, and shuts the door behind her. Stops for a moment, turns and enters her house again. Arinelle throws her bag down and runs to the kitchen scavenging for something to take and eat. She opens the fridge and grabs a ripe golden apple, then quickly rummages through the cabinets and pulls from a shelf a pouch of mini-chocolate chip cookies and throws them into her bag, picks it up and runs out of the house, forgetting to lock the front door. She gets to the driver’s door and notices her neighbor is leaving at the same time. She calls over to her, “ I forgive you!” and motions for her friend to come over . The girl next door has a smile on her face and comes running over in her new pink and black prada heels. A hug is followed, and Arinelle insists she gives her a ride to school, so the two climb into the car and fasten their seatbelts. She checks her mirrors, and decides since it’s raining harder now that she should turn on the wipers. She does so, puts it in reverse, and slowly backs out of the driveway. Conversation is slow and the two sit there in awkward silence for a few moments, except for the sound of the radio playing “Untitled” by one of Arinelle’s favorite bands, Simple Plan. Red light, the car stops, and they glance and each other, and start singing along. She looks up at the stoplight, sight blurred red from the rain, and it switches to green as she lets up on the brake and eases onto the gas, she’s first in line so she doesn’t delay. The both of them glance down at the time as they cross the intersection so not to be late, clock clicks from 7:26 to 7:27. The sound of squealing tires takes both of their stares out the front passenger window at a blue ‘93 Tempo driving ahead in the perpendicular direction. Terror comes across her as she peers at the manifestation on the face of the other driver, looking back at them wide with fear. In panic Arinelle smashes on the brake pedal, dreading what is to come…
Alarm clock rings. Shannon pulls off her comforter and leans over to turn her alarm clock off. She sits up and looks over her shoulder at the window where the rain water is seeping in. She slowly lowers her feet to the floor and gently slips them into her fuzzy slippers. She stands up, yawning, walks over to the window and slides it shut. Across the way she sees Arinelle at the window. Longingly, she smiles, in hopes that she has forgiven her for their recent quarrel. But Shannon doesn’t even get a smile back. Sadly, she walks away from the window and to her closet. Flinging the closet doors open, she ponders what to wear. She pulls down an outfit from a hanger and thinks “perfect.” A knee length, sparkly, pink silk skirt and a long sleeve silk shirt with a tiny heart sewn onto the left shoulder. She quickly dresses and bends to the bottom of her closet and pulls out a pair of new pink and black prada heels with a heart buckle on each ankle. She buckles her heels and heads into the bathroom. She runs a brush through her mid-length chestnut hair and shakes it out, and starts on brushing her teeth. A few minutes go by and after detailed brushing, she smiles in the mirror while applying a light layer of clear lip gloss. She goes back into her room and grabs her messenger bag which was organized the night before and heads down the hallway into the kitchen. Her mother is there making her little sister’s breakfast. She kisses her mother’s cheek and opens the fridge. She scans through the fridge for a moment and pulls out a Tupperware bowl filled with sliced strawberries and grapes. She smiles at her mother and she smiles back. Shannon unzips her messenger bag and gently sets the fruit mix in, and grabs the lunch bag from the counter labeled “Shannon.” Her mother asks to give her a ride to school, but Shannon refuses and says there is too much work to do and that she can take the bus. Shannon looks over at the clock above the doorway and it reads 7:15. She checks her bag for a moment to make sure she has her house key, and she pulls out a silver heart with the words “Only God Can Judge Me” on it with an old silver cross charm, and from it is hanging the key. Feeling relieved, she drops it back into her bag. She opens the door and steps out into the rain, closing it gently behind her. She looks down at her new shoes, wondering if the rain will damage them, but decides its no big deal. She hears Arinelle’s voice calling to her and she looks up in her direction and smiles. She saw her motion for her to come over and without hesitation she runs over and hugs her like they haven’t spoken in years. They separate and climb into Arinelle’s car. Shannon gracefully steps in, and closes the door. She fastens her seatbelt making sure it’s nice and tight. She places her lunch into her bag, noticing the rain, she holds it more tightly. After their latest squabble, Shannon decides not to say anything. “Untitled” comes on the radio and she looks over at Arinelle, looking back they both break out into song. Waiting at the red light, Shannon looks around and it seems as if the roads weren’t as busy this morning at they usually were for such a small town. She looks down at the clock, 7:27, once she felt that the light must have turned green. Suddenly, loud squeals of tires hastily pulls Shannon’s attention away from the time and back out the window she was gazing through before. She caught sight of another car coming at them cross ways. As if time seemed to slow, breathless, Shannon beheld the horror in the eyes of the other driver as his ‘93 Tempo approached her door. She dreaded what was to come…
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