Facade Of Perfectionism

Chapter 5~New Mr. Popular

I struggled to reach my hand past the bed to turn off my alarm. I always set an early fifteen-minute alarm so that I could sleep a little more. The alarm hit again before I could even blink. 

"Ugh. Ten more minutes." I mumbled to myself.

"Maya, get up! You need to get ready for school." My mom's voice called from downstairs.

"Ten more minutes, Mom. I am too comfy on my bed." I whined.

"Get out of your bed, young lady!" She called again, now in a more strict tone.

There goes my sleep. I sighed.

"Geez, I'm up!" I yelled, rolling my eyes.

"I can sense you rolling your eyes from down here."

How does she know everything? 

I rolled out of my tiny yet comfy bed and walked towards my bathroom. I hopped into the cold shower to wake myself up.

I stepped out after a few minutes and quickly changed into my school uniform and my perfectly ironed tie. I tied my hair into a high ponytail and put on some cherry lip gloss.

I fetched my bag and headed downstairs. My mom was busy settling the dishes into the cabinets, and my dad was busy reading newspapers, sipping on his morning coffee. I took a moment for myself as I watched them. I really loved my family.

"Good morning, old folks." I wished playfully.

"Good morning to you too, Birdie." He said, raising his two eyebrows, implying that he won.

I didn't exactly like to be called Birdie. I didn't have the fondest memory of a particular incident. I was six when my parents took me out to a park for a picnic. I saw this really beautiful bird up there in the trees and I started calling for her "Birdie, come down!" She flew away and I followed her, only for her to poop down on me and ruin my pretty new dress. Thereafter, I never liked birds or the name Birdie in particular.

I pouted at him and he chuckled.

Shortly, my mom joined us and we talked about anything and everything, laughing and giggling.

I looked at the time on my watch.

"Shoot! I'm going to be late for school." I gasped. “Dad!”

"Coming honey." He said, sipping his last ounce of coffee.
                                  ~

I went up to my locker and started searching and shuffling my books. I had searched for my math notebook everywhere in my room this morning but no luck. I thought I might have left it in my locker but it wasn't there either.

I scratched my head, pondering about where I might have kept it but my thoughts were interrupted by a too well-known voice.

"Sup, Matthews?" The voice spoke, banging his back on the locker next to mine.

Bradley Williams. I hissed internally. We had been in almost the same class until middle school. Now, we just have Math and History classes together.

To be more specific about my annoyance, Bradley had been clinging to my back since freshman year. He had been trying to ask me out on a date for years.

"Hey, Bradley," I answered, trying to force a smile.

"You seem too busy nowadays. We don't even see each other much!"

Trust me. That's what I want.

"Yeah, I'm just busy doing... stuff."

"So did you think about what I asked you last time?"