"Honey, it's time to wake up," A soft voice said, shaking Sophie awake. "It's the first day of school today."
At those words, Sophie suddenly blinked her eyes open, squinting in the bright sun streaming from her windows. Then a figure with copper-red hair and turquoise eyes emerged in her vision and she suddenly bolted straight, remembering what day it was.
"Ohmigosh ohmigosh ohmigosh!" Sophie said, struggling to scramble out of her blankets. Her mom only laughed, watching her with an amused expression on her face.
"What time is it?" She demanded, glancing up at her mom. "How late am I?"
"Honey, you're not late," her mom said, smiling. "I just decided to wake you up early. Good thing too, because I was here for almost ten minutes trying to wake you up. Your alarm should be ringing... now."
Right on cue, the alarm clock on Sophie's nightstand jumped into action. It was a shiny silver sphere that would beep loudly and yell, "Wake up!" right at Sophie's face. After a couple of minutes, its little legs would peep out and start to tickle her, immediately waking her up. Sophie smiled affectionately at the strange little alarm clock, whom she'd christened Dawn. She was now scuttling on the bedsheet with her little legs. It had been a birthday gift from her best friend and cousin, Dex, since he knew how much she struggled with waking up.
After the sequence had gone by and Dawn was back on the nightstand, Sophie yawned and rubbed her eyes. "Yes, but what time is it?" She asked blearily, stretching her arms.
Edaline, her mother, checked her watch. "7:30. Which leaves just enough time for you to eat, prepare, and have Dex pick you up so that you guys can walk to school together."
"Can I have mallowmelt for breakfast today?" She asked hopefully, giving Edaline her best puppy eyes. Mallowmelt was a famous dessert that her mom made, but it was sadly not allowed for breakfast. She hoped that since it was the first day of school, Edaline could make an exception.
But Edaline only shook her head and laughed. "Sorry, nope. But you can have butterblasts and a cup of cinnacreme!"
She was slightly disappointed but perked up when Edaline mentioned the butterblasts and cinnacreme. Butterblasts were round, golden pastries topped with giant sugar crystals. They were chewy like doughnuts but tasted like hot pancakes filled with maple-flavored cream. Edaline rarely made those since they were so difficult. Cinnacreme was like a thicker hot chocolate, but it tasted like melted snickerdoodles.
"Yay!" Sophie cheered, then hopped off the bed and proceeded to brush her teeth and change. She decided to wear something cute but comfy. She chose a simple gray tunic that had longish sleeves. Even though the heat was still raging in the middle of August in California, Sophie didn't mind the heat so much. She chose to pair it with some jean shorts, then braided her hair loosely.
Sophie's Outfit ^^^
By the time she hopped down to the kitchen, it was already 7:40. However, since her breakfast was so delicious, it only took her seven minutes to polish it off. As she brushed the crumbs from her tunic away, the doorbell rang.
"Coming!" She said, fighting to get to the door before her overprotective father, Grady, could.
"Hi, Dex!" She said as she opened the door, awaiting his dimples and slightly red hair. Instead, what met her was tousled, messy blonde hair and piercing, ice-blue eyes with a mischievous sparkle.
"K-Keefe?" Sophie said, gaping at the familiar figure in front of her.
He smirked and stepped closer to her. "Miss me?"
<<<<< End of Chapter >>>>>
Dun dun dun! I hoped you guys liked that first chapter of Stay With Me. I'll try to update this as often as I can while juggling my other books. Sorry for the cliffhanger!