I'm the Bad Boy's Princesa

The Chance to Begin Again

The Lord is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. (‭Psalm‬ ‭18‬:‭2‬ NIV)

Serena's POV

My hands press snooze before the alarm even blares. There's no use in putting myself through that kind of torture when I'm already awake. Now the question is, do I want to leave my bed? No, not really. In all honesty, I'd rather hit myself in the head with a bat so I can knock myself out and go back to sleep. But I can't do that, can I? Damn, I hate arguing with myself. I groan as I lift the covers off me and head to the bathroom.

"Hello, morning reflection," I say as I scowl. And, as it should be, my reflection scowls back at me.

Once I've done all my morning bathroom necessities, I re-emerge from the bathroom and head to my closet. I take out a simple black t-shirt and some light-wash jeans. I whine audibly as I put on some socks and my black converse. Maybe Mami will take pity on my and let me stay home... for the rest of my life. Doubtful. I smack myself in the face a little and stand up tall. This is a new start, this won't be as bad as my prior home. I can do this. As a confidence booster, I plant myself in front of my body mirror and put my hands on my hips. I can do this. I am stronger than this. After a couple seconds of me watching myself in this pose, I snort. Yeah, right. I bet as soon I get to school, I'll freak out and lose all my confidence. It's inevitable.

"Okay, perfume, deodorant, lotion. What else?" I go through my mental checklist a couple times, trying to find if I've missed anything. I haven't, so I head downstairs to the kitchen.

Mami is already there, standing in front of the counter by the stove as she waits for the Keurig to finish making her coffee. Her nails tap against the countertop and I snort.

"Mami, let the machine do its job in peace, stop rushing it."

She gives me a look. "Aha, mira quien habla. You were impatient with the oven last night for the cookies."

"Mami, era chocolate chip."

She squints her eyes at me and removes the mug from under the nozzle. She walks to the fridge and takes out some creamer. After she adds that and a couple packets of sugar, she turns back to me.

"Hurry and eat breakfast before you get late for school. You wanted to walk, right?"

"Yeah, it's only ten minutes away. Figured I'd get some exercise."

"That's good. So go and don't be late."

"I'm going," I tell her, shoving a granola bar in mouth as I say it. "Bye, Mami."

"Adios, hija."

Once I'm past the driveway, I realize that school doesn't start for another half hour. I make a face. Mami rushed me for no reason. Does she even know when school actually starts? Too late now, I guess. Sighing, I begin my walk. Siri's voice disrupts me music occasionally, and I walk a slower pace than I would have if I left later. This walk isn't even that bad as there aren't many hills, which I'm grateful for. The school appears in my vision but still a long distance away. Only a couple buses have shown up. I have nothing to worry about. I won't be late, and if I am, I will blame Mami. I snort, like she won't argue once I blame her. As if I'd blame her, I choose to live life peacefully and I can't do that if I make my mom angry.

Minutes pass by as i continue to walk. Soon enough the silhouette of the school reaches my vision. Oh no, that's a lot of people. I smack myself mentally, of course there'd be a lot of people. It's a school. Reaching the sidewalk by the parking lot, I watch as those around me greet each other, having conversations, enjoying each other's conversations. This is what I get for moving a month after school already started. I mean, I would've had no friends anyways because I'm in California now and not Massachusetts anymore, but at least I would've had the benefit of starting when everyone else did. Now I've gotta make up for lost time.