Am I Pretty Yet?

Chapter Ten

This chapter was edited 08/13/16.

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One, bus rides to sports games are not given justice in teenage films. Two, Michelle held a vengeance against her ex-boyfriend Will that was so strong, it could burn down a bridge.

"Are we almost there?" I mumbled, my eyelids drooping shut.

Coach Tracy had demanded for us to be in the school parking lot, standing in front of the bus at exactly seven a.m. Therefore, Faith thought she would be an A plus friend by waking me up at five thirty to ensure I wouldn't sleep past my alarm. I had to quickly leave my mom a note stating that Faith had wanted to go to a mall outside of town and that we had to beat traffic. Of course, she didn't know that we were supposedly leaving for the mall at five thirty in the morning, but by the time she woke up, she'd probably assume we'd left much later than that.

Faith had a hair tie now in her mouth and was gathering loose ends of her hair and pulling it back. "If you ask that one more time, I will bite your arm."

"How specific," I groggily replied before hitting my head against the window, feeling the road bumps rattling my brain.

I was not good with mornings. Michelle sat just one row behind us, blabbering angrily about how she was going to "do some serious control damage" and "beat her ass after the game" - said "her" being the girl her boyfriend left her for. The other girls on the bus were either attempting to catch some sleep before we arrived to our destination or blabbering about the game with adrenaline running through their veins. Courtesy of a Gatorade, I was sure. The bus seats were a squeaky leather and the windows had the occasional fingerprint smudges. Coach Tracy sat up front behind the bus driver, chatting his ear off. He clearly could care less about her, and was very much like me: in great need of more hours of sleep.

"What you need is a bran muffin. Here," Faith said, rummaging through her black overnighter before pulling out a Ziplock bag with a medium sized blueberry muffin inside. "These are organic. They give you that boost of energy that you clearly need right now."

"Where is the remote control? You sound like a health commercial," I groaned, pulling the hood of my jacket over my face. She plopped the bran muffin down onto my lap regardless of whether I wanted it or not. I knew Faith was just trying to be a good friend, but I felt exhausted. I had gone to sleep late last night helping Mom do inventory for the shop, then continued to finish up the missing half of my essay on To Kill A Mockingbird for English that was due on Friday. Then there was the fact that Richel had sent me photos via email of possible dresses that I needed to choose from for the luncheon tomorrow. I wasn't used to my schedule being this jam packed. My days were once filled with mundane events like school and work. Now, I could barely squeeze in some time to watch Starcrossed reruns in bed or even waltz around the greenhouse and admire the blooming roses.

Faith bared her teeth at me. "Eat it. You need to stay awake. We have to beat Trinity or else -"

"Michelle will lose her head?" I finished, lifting my hood out of my face and bringing the bran muffin up to my mouth, taking a small bite. Not bad.

"She might make that other girl lose her head," Faith corrected. She turned to look at the window, her eyes widening. "We're here!"

I turned to my left and felt my whole body sit up straighter. Trinity was gigantic: tall buildings, a clock tower, green lawns holding benches and lunch tables that looked like they had never seen a spot of dirt before. A lot of the buildings were built from glass, with see through window panes that showcased the gleaming desks inside of the classrooms and a globe sitting atop the principal's desk. It was all too bright and unreal for an academic institution. I squinted my eyes, putting a palm up to protect myself from seeing stars later.