Every Dream Ever

Ch 1. Baby Steps

She's trying to ignore the brightness of the sun as she slowly opens her eyes. She picks up her hands and rubs her eyes with her palms.
"Verona! You need to get up!" A voice yells from a distance.
"I'm up!" Verona yelled back with an annoyed tone. It was the second time she has been told to get up this morning. She groans as she sits up in bed, with her hair a mess. She throws the blanket to the other side of her then slides her legs off and plops her feet on the floor. She stands up and makes her way to her window. As she looks out she notices the bright sun being surrounded by grey clouds. She slide the window open and sticks her head out. As the breeze blows her orange hair in her face, she shivers at the crisp air. She puts her head back in the window and slides it shut. After a moment of standing, just gazing out of the window, she turns her head to look at her closet. Instant dread. She throws her head back and lets out a sigh. She stumbles to the closet and looks at all of the clothes she has to choose from. They are all neatly sorted by sections. Her eyes pan from the sweatshirts, to the jumpers, then to the shirts, and then to the pants and dresses. She sighs and clicks her tongue. One by one she grabs an article of clothing off of their hangers. She throw the clothes that she has picked out onto her bed and hangs the hangers back up. She then walks over to her dresser to grab a pair of socks. She then slider her pajama shorts and shirt of and throws them in the hamper across the room. She then pick up the green jumper she picked out and puts it on over her black bra. She then grabs her stone washed skinny jeans/ overalls and slides them on. She buckles them up and puts on her socks.
"Verona! Are you even up?" The same voice as before calls out.
Verona is stumbling around as she's trying to tie her one boot. "Yes!" She yells back as she makes her way down the hall and downstairs. As she makes her way to the kitchen she stops by the bathroom to fix her hair. She flicks on the light than she creates a side part and then combs it put on each side. She looks at her reflection in the mirror. She thought it was good enough. She puts some hair spray in it and then flicks off the light and walks into the kitchen.
"Oh Verona! You look very pretty today!" The lady remarked. It was the same voice that was yelling to Verona earlier, but more calm. "Here, have some breakfast!" The lady puts down a plate on the table. It has a chocolate chip waffle on it.
"Thank you, Mrs.Brighten." Verona says as she sits down at the table. She grabs the fork and knife next to her and begins to cut the waffle. She takes the small pieces and puts them on the fork. The waffle is big and fluffy. She's eating it like she hasn't ate in days.
"Good morning, Verona!" A man says as he enters the kitchen with a cup of coffee in his hand.
Verona looks up and finishes chewing and swallowing the waffle she had in her mouth. She wipes her mouth with a near by napkin. "Good morning Mr.Brighten! How are you, sir?"
"Oh you know. I got out of bed this morning." He let's put a little chuckle and pats Verona on the shoulder. He goes over and put the cup on the counter then walks out of the kitchen.
"Verona? Are you done and ready to go?" Mrs. Brighten asks as she looks at the empty plate on the table.
"Yes, ma'am!" Verona says as she gets up and heads back to the bathroom. She flicks on the light and she grabs her toothbrush from the holder on the counter. She turn the water on to wet the bristles and then puts some toothpaste on the brush. She begins to brush her teeth. Slow, easy circular motions. She recites a song in her head for two minutes, then she spits out the toothpaste into the sink. She rinses off her toothbrush and then rinses our the sink. She looks up at the mirror. She sees herself and she lets out a soft sigh. "You can do this Verona. You got this." She thinks to herself. She turns around and flicks off the light and walks out.
"Here you go dear." Mrs. Brighten says as she looks at Verona. She has Verona's backpack in her hand. Verona walks over to her and grabs the backpack from her and slings it on her shoulders. She looks at Mrs. Brighten and smiles. Mrs. Brighten opens the front door and motions at Verona to go outside and get in the car. Verona walks out of the door and Mrs. Brighten follows her.
"So," Mrs. Brighten says as she sheets into the car and shuts the door. Verona opens the passenger side door and gets in. "Are you excited?" Verona looks at Mrs. Brighten and shuts her door. " To be honest ma'am, I'm a little nervous and all. I think I'll do fine though." She grind a little and looks at the floor of the car.
• • •
About half way to their destination, Verona's favorite song, "Heavy by POWERS," came on the radio. She smiled a bit and looked at Mrs.Brighten. Verona was hoping that it would signal for Mrs. Brighten to turn up the radio. Sure enough Mrs.Brighten grabbed the the knob and turned it up a little bit. Verona began to sign along to the radio.

I'm never gonna give you up
It's heavy
Heavy how I want you so bad
Heavy when it hits me so fast
Heavy and it's driving me mad
But I'm never gonna give you up
It's heavy

Mrs. Brighten turns off the radio as the car comes to a stop. "We are here dear!"
Verona looks at her then out the window. She sees this huge brick building. It seems sky high. "Oh my god, I'm doomed." She thinks to herself as she reads the words above the entrance to the building. Evergreene High School. After a few seconds of just staring she opens the car door and steps out. She puts her hand on the car door and begins to shut the door slowly because she is still in shock over the big building.
"Wait! Verona! Remember, baby steps. Like we talked about."
Verona clamps her lips together and nods her head. She shuts the car door and watches Mrs. Brighten drive away. She watches the car drive away, and down the street a little bit. She turns around and looks at all of the people swarming around the entrance. Some were going in and out. Some were sitting a talking. "Right." She mumbles to herself. "Baby steps." She takes a deep breath and begins to slowly walk towards the entrance.