A World Without Electricity

Chapter 1

Jarlee's P.O.V

      I flinched as I woke up to a loud sound that I hated. A sound all too familiar to me. My alarm clock.

      I groaned, ripping my blue and purple eye mask off my face in frustration. Flinching as it aggressively snapped off my ear leaving a painful stinging feeling.

      I looked over at my buzzing alarm clock. It was the same alarm clock I'd had since second grade. It buzzed loudly, shaking so violently that it rattled against my wooden bedstand.

      I scowled at it, yanking it off from my bedstand and simply staring at it angrily as it shook in my hands, as if trying to get free.

      Not wanting to go to school, I began zoning out, staring into the image of a rooster that was in the back of the alarm clock, staring at each fold in its green and red wing.

      As I continued to observe the rooster, I caught a glimpse of the time on the clock. Seeing that it was already past 7am, I immediately snapped out of my daze.

      Sitting up and tossing my dark gray covers off, I noticed my T.V was on. The well known "are you still watching?" Screen from Netflix was portrayed on the screen, with the ending to a Naked and Afraid episode clearly shown in the dimly lit background.

      I must've fallen asleep while watching. It was one of my favorite shows after all, one that I had learned a lot from. However without a second thought, I grabbed the ice cold remote, quickly clicking the giant red off button. I couldn't afford to get distracted about something as trivial as if Mike decided to quit or not.

      I scooted to the edge of the bed, stretching and staring at my light blue walls. They honestly needed to be redone.

      Shaking my head in an attempt to shake off any drowsiness, I took a swig of the bottled water on my bedstand and stood up, shoving my black, case-less iPhone into my sweatpants pocket.

      I reluctantly dragged myself up the hard wood stairs, making my way to the bathroom, eyes half shut. I flicked on the light with an over dramatic yawn, looking at my tired and disheveled self.

      My normally dark brown wavy hair looked like a messy rats nest and there were evident eye bags under my boring gray-ish brown eyes.

      I grabbed my toothbrush with a frown on my face, not paying attention as I squirted toothpaste on it, some dropping with a splat on the sink.

      I grumbled, too lazy to do anything about it. I began brushing my teeth, the minty flavor seemingly tasting boring and "bleh" because of my bad mood.

      Just as I was about to spit, I heard a familiar ding come from my phone. Toothbrush still in my mouth, I opened my phone to see who texted me.

      It was my best friend, Max. He'd been my friend since first grade. The text read "yo u wanna come over after school? 👀 My new Xbox finally came!"

      I grinned, toothpaste and spit leaking out of my mouth as I did. Max had saved up enough money to buy an Xbox and it appeared that it had finally came. I spat the rest of the toothpaste out, quickly rinsing my mouth out after, all feelings of exhaustion vanishing.

      I continued getting ready, just now in a great mood, ready to get school over with and play some video games with Max.

__________________________

      The second I stepped outside I immediately regretted wearing short sleeves. Although it was the end of winter, cold days still made their way into early spring.

      Cursing at myself for not checking the weather, I lugged me and my textbook heavy backpack to the bus stop, texting my mom that'd I'd be going to Max's house after school. Yet I made sure not to use any text slang as she didn't even know what "lol" was.

      I stood shivering in the frigid weather at the bus stop, amused at how many goosebumps I had from the cold. Although the cold brought my mood down slightly, I made sure to keep my head up, knowing I would absolutely squash Max in Super Smash Bros after school.

      My hopes rose significantly each time I saw a bus in the distance, desperately hoping it was mine so I could get out of the cold, only for me to be disappointed as it drove by, a different bus number on its front.

      However after waiting for fifteen minutes, I saw a bus in the background, noticing one of its headlights was dimmer than the other, just like my bus. Squinting to get a look at its number as it approached, I realized with excitement that it was mine.

      I watched the bus slowly come to a halt, it's doors swinging open welcomingly. I boarded the warm bus, part of me excited for the day, the other half of me dreading the seven hours of school I'd have to endure.

      I looked out the window, head bouncing against it, waiting for the moment the bus turned into the school.