Original Stories Fan Fiction ❯ Totally There - NOT!! ❯ Chapter 1

My eyelids were as lead, as I struggled to keep them open while the teacher droned on and on about something on the exam. My temples and eyes throbbed until I could stand it no longer and let my head fall on the desk with a crack.

 

The next time my eyes opened, the bell had rung and the classroom was empty. I gathered my things and stumbled out the door in a bleary-eyed stupor. The next class was fairly easy so I finished the work early enough to put my head down till lunch which our class had last.

 

Barely a few minutes seemed to pass before it was time for lunch. I grabbed my bookbag and walked out toward the library, my stomach growling in protest at this turn of events. I wanted lunch but I had a paper I needed to start and hand in first thing tomorrow morning.

 

I set to work and typed the entire time. I produced double-spaced page after double-spaced page. To this day, I have no idea what the hell I typed. Since I had fulfilled the length requirement, I turned it in when the bell rang and ran back across school to my last class for that day. It was AP Calculus AB.

 

I tried and tried as hard as I could to stay awake but everything seemed 10 times as hard as usual and I gave up and took the nap.

 

That night, I had 3 projects, 5 5-page essays, and other assorted homework. I was reaching for my dear old friend, gummi bears, till the next morning. Of course, sleep was not to be had.

 

The next day was much like the one before, with me sleeping in most classes and not getting any at home. The day after that I was set to work and so got home at 12. When I got home, there was a note saying: “Don't overdo it.”

 

Too late for that, I thought ruefully as I crumpled said note and aimed for the trash can. It missed and normally I would have picked it up. But lately, it seemed trivial compared to work, school and home. I worked the next night till 12 and came home to Chinese take-out in the fridge.

 

Bless you, Mom.

 

I sat down in one of the chairs at the kitchen table and about collapsed. I knew I was tired. I knew I couldn't keep this up much longer but... I just needed a little more time. In a few weeks it would all be over. Then I could get some rest and finally relax.

 

I inhaled the rice and noodles and egg roll and set to work. Still up the whole night. I noticed my hands shaking in the shower so I decided to take the bus for once. I had gotten a car at the beginning of the year and usually drove but not lately. I had been too unsteady from the sleep deprivation. It took effort now to effectively wield a pencil, much more so a motor vehicle.

 

I think I waved at someone I knew who said hey, but I honestly don't remember. Quietly I climbed onto the bus and found an empty seat, praying that no one would sit with me. Someone did - damn! - some faceless entity I probably had known. Or a freshman. Slowly our bus creaked away from school onto the actual road. It was an old bus but still in working order so the cheap district wouldn't replace it even thought it broke down more than they'd planned.

 

The rest of us were pretty sure it had seen the Vietnam War, though the bus driver only boasted it to be about 10 years. We scoffed in our seats. “Yeah right.”

 

The first block passed uneventfully. The teacher lectured while we copied stuff down frantically. It's not that I don't like her class; it's just that not sleeping for the better part of 3 days can really get to you. Next block was Calculus.

 

Whoo. You can practically feel the excitement in my voice. Go Calculus. Once again, three days of not sleeping with a handful of calories and loads of coffee can really wear you down. The whole time I kept sending death glares to Austin, hoping he would get the message to leave me the hell alone today. `If he just stays right over where he is and I stay right where I am, then there should be no problem.'

 

I didn't really expect him to leave me alone. He was an annoying spoiled brat who knew I hated him. Which is a lie because I don't really hate him. I hate what he stands for. That is, all the lazy spoiled self-centered brats who treat people like crap and everyone just lets them get away with it. That's what really pissed me off. I had watched it happen for years since he was in the same class as me. Before I was never really in his class, or if I was I was not the focus of his “attention” - if it can so be called.

 

And I knew that if I would just be nice to him and stop giving him a reason to keep trying to bait me then he'd shut and leave me alone. But that meant that I had to act like I liked him, that I thought he was all right, that I condoned how he acted and behaved. I'm a senior, dammit! Why should I still have to pretend that I like somebody when I really, really don't? This is my last year with any of these people. It's too late to continue to lie to them and me. The truth must be revealed now or it could get awkward.

 

They could still think that you and them are cool and see you years later and ask you for a favor. You don't want to be bastard and not help them, especially if they really need it. But they haven't changed so your attitude about them hasn't changed either. Now it's really awkward and all because you didn't want to let them know the truth before this time.

 

I know it seems like I'm obsessing...

 

I'm not. But when I see something that I *know* isn't right and I can do anything about it, I just get mad and I get passionate and start thinking.

 

I don't know what the hell we talked about in Calculus that day. All I caught was that it was something about numbers with some letters thrown in. I figured I'd ask Randall next block in English. Now next block, I really liked. So I tried to stay awake. I was doing good as a matter of fact - for all of 20 minutes. After that, it all started to slur together and there were two teachers and two boards and two worksheets.

 

I think we even took a quiz. Hell if I know what was on it. We went to lunch. I practically sprinted at the bell. I ran people over and pushed people out of the way to reach the cafeteria. (All I had for breakfast was a cup of coffee and a donut; the sugar didn't even affect me I was so sleep-deprived.)

 

Today, there were hot fresh chicken nuggets with a flaky soft roll, hot green beans, mashed potatoes still steaming, and sweet juicy mandarin oranges. Truly it was good day to bring my... money?

 

`What the hell?'

 

I searched my pockets twice and came up empty. I started asking around and came up with the 40 cents. I could have leaped for joy in the middle of the cafeteria - if I had the energy that is. Right then all I could do or think about was eating. At that moment, this big guy is running and isn't looking where he's going.

 

CRASH!!

 

You can guess what happened. In less than 5 minutes, I had attained a priceless Faberge egg and then let it slip out of my hands onto the floor as I tripped over a crack in the floor. I could have cried right then. The cafeteria monitors apologized but no one else had any money that they were willing to donate to a poor kid down on her luck.

 

I had to find sanctuary and so ran to the library. I lost myself in the literary world before having to return to third block. I was still hungry but at least I could read a while and ignore the raging headache and drop in blood sugar. Fourth block was such a blur that I blinked and I was on the bus rattling and jerking and sputtering home. I was trying to hurry down the steps. It had rained last night and there was still some puddles in the gutters. Well, of course I had a shoelace loose that I didn't pay attention to.

 

Next thing I knew I was lying on the ground in a puddle, the wind knocked out of me. I waved people away saying that I was fine. (I wasn't.) The entire front of my t-shirt was so soaked that you could see my nipples and my bra and everything. Of course one of the dicks on the bus, Charlie, pointed it out.

 

“Hey look! You can see her boobs!”

 

Any passing concern on how okay I was was lost in giggling as they all peered at the front of my shirt to see if Charlie was correct. (He was.) I grabbed my bookbag and stalked off to my house, thanking God I lived right by the bus stop so I wouldn't have to endure walking down to my house looking like I was trying out for a wet t-shirt contest.

 

I changed my shirt before walking my dog around the block once. I got back, grabbed some cereal, and promptly laid down. The next time I woke up, it was 10:30 A.M. I about fell out of bed when I looked at the clock but I didn't think I had the energy. Instead, I shrugged and rolled over. I could make everything up later. Now I *had* to sleep. I decided not to call Mom and act like I'd just gotten home at about 4.

 

She can find out later when I'm rested.

 

[Disclaimer: This is mine; please don't take it.]