“Alex!”
Alex shivered as she thought about what her mom was going to say this time. Alex hadn’t been getting good grades lately. Actually, she never really got good grades. It just seemed that the time slipped away before she actually got to study. She walked over to the kitchen.
“Yes Mo—”
“Alex! How did you get such a bad grade on your science test?”
Alex looked down. There was no explanation. She was watching Stranger Things instead of working on her homework. Magic and excitement, or meanings and plants? Seriously, why isn’t school more exciting?
“Well, uh—”
“You are grounded for three weeks!” Her mom yelled. All of the sudden her phone started ringing. Phew, Alex thought as she slipped away. It’s not like I have any friends to go out with anyways.
“Oh, hi babe,” Alex’s mom answered sweetly. Alex rolled her eyes. It was her mom’s boyfriend. For some reason he could always make her feel better. Alex only inspired her mom to yell.
Alex walked in her room and shut the door. She looked at her pile of homework. I’ll finish it tomorrow. Alex mentally wrote in her head. She grabbed her iPad and lied on her bed. She tapped on Netflix, found a movie of her liking, and watched it.
~ ~ ~
A loud ringing noise came from Alex’s alarm. She tried to hit the snooze button, but her mom came in just in time. She sipped her coffee. “Alex, get up right now.”
Alex groaned. Her mom rolled her eyes and grabbed Alex’s blanket, and ripped it off the bed. “Just—five—”
“No! Up now!”
Alex rolled her eyes and got up. She hated school. She picked out a pair of leggings and a sweatshirt. She got dressed. She went to the mirror, but seeing the tangled mess of her hair, she surrendered to the beast and walked away. “Mom could you pass me a coffee mug?”
Coffee was a necessity. Since Alex stayed up till 4 am watching movies and got up at 7:30 for school, she needed something to wake her up. Her mom loved coffee as well, and had already made Alex coffee. Alex heard the bus pull up to their house. “Bye, Mom!”
“Bye, honey! Oh—don’t forget to bring a safety pin. You never know when you’ll need one.” Alex laughed. She didn’t know how that would help her but she grabbed one and put it in her pocket.
Alex smiled. She felt really happy as she climbed up on the bus. Grabbing her earphones, Alex listened to her favorite Spotify playlist. All of the sudden reality smacked her in the face. Did I pack my homework — wait, did I do my homework?
~ ~ ~
“Alex, where is your 20 page essay?”
“Alex, did you complete your math worksheet?”
“You failed.”
Alex ran to the women’s bathroom. Everything was going terrible for her. She locked her stall. She didn’t have to use the restroom, but she needed to have some privacy. All of the sudden Alex heard two footsteps hurriedly walk in the bathroom.
“Oh my goodness! Do you have a safety pin?” Alex recognized the voice as Trisha, the most popular girl in school.
“How did your dress’ zipper break anyways?” Sassy Stephanie questioned.
“Just give me a safety pin!”
“I don’t have one.”
Alex searched her pocket and found a safety pin. “Hey,” Alex said as she opened her stall door. “I have a safety pin.” She extended it out to Trisha. She snatched it from Alex’s hand and handed it to Stephanie.
“Oh my goodness you are such a life saver!”
I just gave you a safety pin… Alex thought.
“No problem.” She said sheepishly.
“What’s your name?” Trisha said as she reapplied her mascara.
“I’m Alex.”
“We should hang out sometime! What’s your number?”
~ ~ ~
Alex went home that day in a trance. Did she just become friends with the most popular girl in school?
Her mom wasn’t home, so Alex grabbed some food from the refrigerator. She stuffed a spoonful of cereal in her mouth and grabbed her phone which was charging.
There was a notification.
“Hey Alex what’s up?” Trisha