All We Are

Five

*****

"Love is like the sea, leaves you on your knees, then it pulls you in, then it takes you, takes you over. Love is like the sea, leaves you on your knees. First you're floating high, then it takes you, takes you under."- Love Is Like The Sea, by Alicia Keys

*****

Rose

I woke up at 7 a.m.

I swear mornings are like the seven circles of hell for me. I mean it practically takes a freight train to get me out of bed. But I'm on my own, and after five alarms that blare out G-Eazy I'm stumbling into the bathroom for a shower.

"I've been sittin' on the charts like a beach chair, my last album spent fifty-two weeks there, almost finished with the second you should be scared..." I'm so weird. I absentmindedly rap in the shower.

It's understandable. If you have to listen to one song repeatedly in the mornings, when your trying to haul your butt out of bed, it sort of sticks with you. The worst thing that could happen though, is when the song sticks with you all day.

I finish my shower, and get dressed. I'm not really a fancy dresser. Jeans and a t-shirt are my "go to" items. I do love makeup, don't get me wrong, but any day that's not the weekend, you can forget about anything that's beyond the realms of mascara and tinted chap stick.

Yesterday I managed to convince my dad to drive me to school so we could spend time together, insisting that Sarah could take me home. But today, I'm forced to drive myself. My car is nothing special, which is what I like about it.

It was my dad's old Ford, but now he drives some fancy car. It's a pretty big car too, and it fits five people, and has a lot of space in the back. The only thing about it, is that it sort of rattles on the inside, and the tires screech sometimes, but the car mechanics insist that it's perfectly safe. Which is good, because I keep on driving it.

At 7:50 I'm running out the door with a granola bar in hand and keys, coffee, and my bag in the other.

I didn't have time to check my e-mail this morning, so if Dr. Wong replied, I won't know until later, but I wouldn't be surprised if he marked my address as spam.

The drive to school was pretty quiet. I don't have a fancy bluetooth speaker in my car, or a aux plug, which is also a downside to my vehicle, but I do have CDs. So I listened to an old Lady Gaga CD.

I thought of the previous day. I was still getting over the fact that I feinted, and not to mention in the arms of James. There was no way I was getting over that easily, even if it wasn't my fault. Truthfully I had no idea that James could be a trigger for my anxiety, which begged the question now, was it just Ryan that caused my anxiety?

I pulled into a remote parking space, and walked into the school. I got the same stares from a few students, but I think the reality that I used to go to school with all these people when we were freshmen, has finally hit.

"Rose!" A voice called from behind me.

"Hunter!" I said trying to match his cheerful tone.

"Hey. Are you okay?" He asked. His eyebrows were furrowed in concern.

"Yeah, I just wasn't feeling well, and I guess you all caught me at a bad time." I lie through my teeth.

Hunter seemed to accept my response. "So when did you get back?" He asked.

"A few weeks ago." I reply.

"And you didn't think to tell me?" He said with an over-exaggerated hurt tone.