PART ONE

I can’t really agree that I’m excited for the day ahead of me. I mean, it’s a Monday and Mondays really aren’t very positive for me. Speaking of not very positive things, my body just decided to wake up from a good, deep sleep. I’m not saying that having a good, deep sleep is negative. All I’m saying is that it seems like I just fell asleep and it feels too good to lie in bed rather than to get up. Quite honestly, I’m still tired. And I know that because according to my surroundings, everything is covered by the shadow of the night. Another sign of my tiredness is how my mind doesn’t want to believe the time that my eyes are processing from looking at the alarm clock.

For whatever reason, my body tends to wake up right before my alarm goes off. So, is it right to assume that I don’t need an alarm clock because my body is basically one in itself? No. The problem is that if I don’t set my alarm to the time I need to wake up, I will not wake up when I need to. I don’t know. It’s just something my body does.

THIS IS 105 LKY AND IT’S TIME TO RISE AND SHINE BECAUSE WE HAVE A FULL DAY OF ROCK & ROLL AHEAD OF US...

Shit. Where the hell is the snooze button? It’s funny that I’ve used this alarm clock for a couple of years now and I can’t remember how it works at this moment in time.

BUNDLE UP BECAUSE IT’S A COLD ONE OUT THERE. IT’S 5 DEGREES FAHRENHEIT OUT THERE AT THE MOMENT WITH A WIND CHILL OF -1 DEGREES. BUT GO AHEAD AND BREAK OUT YOUR SHORTS BECAUSE OUR HIGH SHOULD GET UP TO AROUND 17 DEGREES TODAY...

Damn it. Where the hell is it? At this point, I’m just hitting random buttons just hoping to get lucky. Unfortunately, I’m not a very lucky person this morning so I’ve decided to just unplug the damn thing.

At least now that I’m up, I get to take a shower. However, taking a shower can be a risk. The risk is that it will either be the worst part of the day or the best depending on the temperature of the water. I always have it set to the hottest setting. However, some days the water comes out very cold even on that setting.

You see, there are three people in my family: my dad, my mom, and I. It’s unfortunate that I always take my shower at the exact same time every day and my dad decides sometimes to take one at that time, too. I make sure my parents know when I take my shower because besides the fact that I am consistent in taking my showers at a certain time, I tell them, also. I take my shower at the time I do because I usually leave the house around 7am to get to school. My mom realizes that she can take a shower after I’m done because she doesn’t leave for work until around half past 8am. But then, there’s my dad who doesn’t leave until about 9am and decides some days to take a shower at the same time I do. Because of the fact that my parents’ shower is downstairs while my shower is upstairs means that if both showers are running at the same time, they will get hot water while I get cold water.

Fortunately, today was a good day. And on these good days, I just want to stand underneath the hot spray forever. I have to force myself to get out which is not an easy accomplishment by any means.

We’ve got a leather couch downstairs in the living room so that’s where I usually hang out during the time in between taking a shower and leaving. Like most days, I put on a pair of jeans and a t-shirt and go downstairs to make myself some breakfast. But I’m feeling a bit lazy today so instead of making myself something, I just grab some pop-tarts and a glass of orange juice and chill on the couch.

“Hey, Michael.”
“Yeah?”
“You should probably warm up your car before you go.”
“Yeah, okay. Thanks, mom.”

I’ll take her advice. It’s pretty cold and I don’t want to be freezing my ass off on my way to school. So, I put on a gray hoodie and a brown beanie cap and my keys and head out. If you’re wondering, my car is not in the garage. I have to park it outside because even though we have a three-car garage, the space where my car should be parked is filled with a bunch of my dad’s junk. He says he’ll clear it out one day but I think I’ll be out of the house by the time that day comes.

By the way, have I mentioned that it’s freaking cold outside. And along with that, my windows have an icy coating which means I’m going to have to scrape them. All I’m hoping for now is that my car starts. With the key in the ignition, I crank it. After doing my part of the process, the car does its part and starts to run. So I crank up the heat and defrost, grab the scraper and I get out of the car to start removing the ice.

Well, I’m on my way to school. I’m taking the route I always take which utilizes a mixture of main streets and back roads. Usually, I don’t hit any traffic on the back roads but today is not a usual day. In fact, today is Monday so I should have expected this. I’m making my way down the last back road on my route when a black sedan decides to start riding my ass. Usually I don’t get annoyed too much by someone riding my ass because usually it’s just a friend trying to piss me off. But, to be honest, I really don’t know anyone that usually drives a black sedan.

Anyhow, I am approaching the stop sign at the end of the street where I will make a left turn onto a highway. There aren’t any cars on the highway which is kind of weird but I don’t think I’m going to complain about it. Nonetheless, I’ve made my decision to obey the rules of the road this morning and actually come to a complete stop at the stop sign. I could easily make one of those rolling stops like everyone does but I figure of all the days that a cop will somehow see me do it and decide to take action on it, it would be today. And to be honest, I’d rather stop than get a ticket at this moment.

It’s at this moment that the guy riding my ass decides to lay on his horn. If I wasn’t awake before, I am now. So I make my left turn and the sedan follows. We’re on the highway and he still has the courage to ride my ass. Now I’m starting to get pissed off. So I start driving somewhere around 5 mph under the speed limit just to go slow and tempt him to want to pass me because I really don’t want to deal with him anymore. But even with no traffic, my slow speed, and the yellow you-can-pass-if-you-want-to stripes on the road, he passed on passing and continued on riding me.

I’m almost at school, now. I’ve made it to an intersection of the highway I was on and the highway that my school is located on. To get to school, I have to take a right. I’ve got a red light while the perpendicular side has the green. There is a hill that makes it tough to see any traffic coming so I stop before turning right to make sure I don’t get t-boned. And, once again, the sedan’s driver lays on the horn. I decide to give him the finger and turn right as fast as possible.

Finally, I’m at school. Luckily, I’m a senior so I get to park in the senior lot which lets me park closer to the doors. Right now, I’m just happy I don’t have a long walk in this weather to get inside. And don’t even get me started on how glad I am that I don’t have to deal with that black sedan either.

Hopefully the rest of the day isn’t like this morning.




TO BE CONTINUED . . .