adolescents - mo (monroe) harris

3

Anna woke up to her blaring alarm and she rolled over to turn it off. She cursed under her breath at the ungodly hour she had to rise for school. She got up and began getting around, shuffling back and forth sleepily. She decided against wearing sweats to school since it was her first day, even though she wanted to, and instead chose some loose jeans and a tee she'd picked up the day before at the thrift with her favorite platform high tops. She checked her reflection in the bathroom mirror as she brushed her teeth. She never thought too hard about the way she dressed, she was fortunate to be moderately comfortable in her own skin and in tune with her style. When she was ready she walked out of her room with her backpack on her shoulder and her phone and charger in her hand.

"Good morning!" Anna jumped as she was startled by Zeke, who was in the kitchen, which was only lit by the light of the refrigerator standing open.

"What're you doing up? It's 7am." Anna said exasperated.

"Oh, I never went to bed." Zeke smiled, waving the video game controller he was holding in his hand. Anna laughed and shook her head. There was a ding and Zeke grabbed something from the toaster. "Here I made you this!"

"Wow, this is... actually nice." Anna said as Zeke handed her a toaster waffle after quickly spreading peanut butter on it. "Thank you."

"It's cool, takes like a minute and a half to cook, wasn't that hard." Zeke shrugged and put another toaster waffle in for himself. Anna smiled. Her cousin was goofy in every way and even if he had an odd way of showing it, he had a big heart. Anna used to eat the same waffles with peanut butter as a kid when she visited grandma's. She remembered a few times in particular when she'd sleep over and she would sneak them, with Zeke's help, in the middle of the night. She relished in the sweet memory for just a moment.

"I'll see you after school." Anna said, heading towards the door.

"Hey, make sure Mo doesn't die at school today, he's gonna be in rough shape after last night."

"Sure. And if he does die?" Anna said, halfway out the front door.

"He was never here." Anna laughed and shook her head as she let the front door shut behind her.

Anna slipped earphones in and shuffled her music. She let her mind wander as she walked to school, subconsciously laying out a map of the neighborhood in her head along the way. As she got closer, the houses started getting nicer and she started seeing more kids making their way on bikes and skateboards. She made a mental note to try and find a board or a bike for her to ride to school. As she approached the school, she noticed how much nicer it was than her old school, and much bigger.

"What can I help you with, dear?" The secretary asked Anna as she walked into the office. She pulled her earphones out and shoved them in her pocket.

"I'm Anna Presanti." She said, placing her arms on the tall desk. The secretary nodded and turned around, grabbing a folder from the table behind her.

"This is for you, it has your schedule, a building map here, and the student handbook." The secretary opened the folder and pulled out her schedule before handing them to her. "I've already emailed all your teachers and let them know, welcome!"

Anna looked up from her building map and smiled, nodding a thank you before leaving and making her way to her first class.

The day moved slowly. Anna repeated the same cycle in every class, find a seat in the back of the room, introduce herself, sit bored until she could leave. Her teachers were nice enough, the other students hardly paid any mind to her, and the coursework didn't seem any different from her old school. She was in her 5th hour chemistry class, just before lunch, when a dark haired girl a table over smiled at her. She smiled back weakly, unsure if she was smiling at her or not. The girl got up and came to sit in the empty seat next to her.