My eyes opened as if something had happened. Of course things were happening; the low hum of the radiator in the corner of my bedroom, or the tick, tick, tick of my wall clock, or the slight glow around my bedroom as the sun slowly crept over the roof tops.
No. This something was specific. It was the ringing of my cell phone placed on my bedside table where it charges. I flip open the phone and the chanting ceases. I press the disable key and set my alarm for a time that is a little less like five o'clock in the morning. I calculate when I have to get up so I can still be on time.
My alarm goes off again at six-thirty. "that's more like it," I think to myself. I get up, get dressed and get ready for school. I pull open the front door, walk out and lock the door behind me.
It's unusually warm outside for this time of day and I think of that saying, "the calm before the storm." I try to shake it out of my head, but the phrase latches on for a ride into my garage. I get into my car and contemplate it for a minute before I turn on my car. I place the key in the ignition and give it a quick turn. Rap, Rap, Rap. The storm has arrived.
My car will not turn on. The lights and the radio are working just fine, it just won't start. I give a quick call to my best friend and she leaves school to come get me. If I could have left when I reached my car, both she and I would have been on time. Since she came to get me, we were late and I received a detention from my first period teacher. It wasn't my first time being tardy.
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