Broken Records

2. Five stages of 'ugh'

♛Ayanda King ♛

I REGRET a lot of things in life but my biggest regret right now is making the horrendous sound that's blaring through the speakers of my phone my alarm. It's what I imagine the gates of hell to sound like when you first arrive. If this sound doesn't stop ringing soon, i think I'll find out.

I reached for my phone and I couldn't feel it. So for a solid 30 seconds I hunted for my phone by banging my handing all around my pedestal till I felt the coldness of the back of the phone. I absently pressed the 'Stop' button before drifting off to sleep unknowingly.

My mental alarm has got to be worse than my physical one because a feeling I couldn't describe developed in the pit of my stomach, stopping me from falling asleep again in fear of waking up and have missed school.

I groaned and cursed multiple times before throwing my sheets off my bed and sitting up. I grabbed my phone and checked the time.

6:00.

I had about an hour to get ready for school. The first day of Senior Year. The last dance. The final stretch. You get it.

At this rate I was gonna be late for my first day and curtesy of being in a family of Over achievers, I'd get shit on for it. You'd think that it wouldn't be a big deal but in this household everything is a big deal.

When I was 15, I forgot to lay my hair and my mom was not happy. I had to stay in the car until I magically got them done. It was outrageous and spoiler alert, I never did get them done. I missed the event and endured a lecture afterwards about always looking good no matter where you go because people are always watching. Always waiting.

I slipped on my slippers and groggily made my way to the other side of my room. I pressed the white button on the remote to open up my curtains. The bright hands on the sun touched the corner of my room, painting it orange. I like that. I love how my room illuminated in the mornings.

I started making my way to the bathroom to brush my teeth. Afterwards, I took the most scorching hot shower that I had every morning. The steam filled the bathroom, completely misting up my mirrors as I stepped out and wrapped myself in a towel and slid on my slippers ones again. I wiped myself down, moisturized and slid on my cream silk robe with my name stitched in white at the back. I ambled across my room like time wasn't chasing me.

I pushed open the large white sliding door that led into my closet. I made my way the spiral stairs that led to the 2nd story of my closet to an isle that was specifically there to keep the different variations of my uniform.

I liked how our school had different uniforms for days where we didn't wear formals. We had dresses, tight skirts, A-line skirts, pants, blouses with short puffy sleeves, long shirt, short shirt, sweater vest, cardigans etc. all with different color variations too. It was liberating to be able to pick and remix the uniform but today we were forced to wear our formal wear because it was the first day.

I opened the closet door and reached for the hanger that held my neatly pressed attire. I grabbed the red, pleated A-line skirt and slipped it over my wide hips, zipping it up on the side and buttoning it up. I then slid on the white button on shirt that left goosebumps as I slid it on due to the coldness of the material. I folded the sleeves so it could reach my forearm.

I then took the black low cut scoop neckline waistcoat with our schools emblem stitched on the right and slipped it on, adjusting the belt at the back to fit my waist. I grabbed the black and red striped tie and draped around my neck, pulling it down to tighten it then lastly tucking it into the waistcoat.

Finally, I slipped on my cotton ankle socks and my black double strapped Mary Jane heels. For a private school they were pretty lenient with what shoes you were allowed to wear, they just had to be black and a reasonable height and that's just one of few things I loved about Royal Woods.