School Life

Unfold figuratively an ordinary day of school life

I notice the yellow leaf falling gently on the windowsill, drawing in my attention more than any teacher ever could. I love the way it dances and twirls in front of my eyes, showing off all its wonder, before settling on the paint-cracked rotten white wood. It has its life more together than mine has ever been, or maybe I should say it has a stable life. It grows on a branch of a tree, turning green then yellow, before falling off and becoming one with the wind. What an easy life. Sighing, I turn back to face the front of the classroom, taking into account how my teacher is so disconnected he can’t even see that half of my classmates have nodded off. It has been roughly half an hour since class started, and usually something interesting ought to have happened by this time. Waiting, I stare at the door. Nothing. Still nothing. As if God would grant my wish. I laugh out of spite. Welcome to an introduction of my life. Not to mention the stoned dude to my right, who I don’t think has ever turned in an assignment on time. I can feel him staring at me, but being the dignified person I am, I try my best to pretend that I don’t give a s***. Needless to say, nothing much happens in the next twenty minutes of that class that I feel the need to make note of. The next thing I know, my teacher calls the dismissal of class, and to be honest, I think he is more relieved than I am. Imagine what his life is like. Something I would never like to experience, thank you very much. Walking out of the door, I feel my oily hair cascading down my back, caused by the lack of showers I have been taking recently. I mean, when your life feels like a f***ing mess, do you feel the need to take a shower every single day? Let me give you a run down of what my life has been like recently, I-

“Hey girl.” I feel a warm arm wrap around me, slightly annoyed by the interruption to my thought process. Turning my head, I see a poof of curls and a smile so bright it physically hurts to look at.

“Hey love”, I respond back. Jennie is one of my friends, if you would call it that. She’s the nicest person you’ll ever meet, but that doesn’t add up to friend material for me. Here’s my definition of a friend: Someone who gives a f*** about your life and also supports you in your various endeavors, dangerous or not. I can suffice to say she does not make one of the marks. I’ll leave it to you to figure out which one that is.

“So, I got the latest Cosmopolitan magazine. You won’t believe how many hours I had to work to pay for those.”

Yeah, the countless hours you spent flirting with boys at the coffee shop sure was hard. 

“...and I was wondering if you wanted to come with me to shop for the cutest clothes ever. Well, not just me, Amanda and Rach are coming over too. Oh, and I almost forgot I invited Sheree too, and we’re gonna get some amazing food as well. You name it. Peach raspberry lemonade, sugared-”

Okay, I think that’s enough talking for the day. Walking out of arm's reach, I turn back to face her.

“Hey Jen, I have class in a few. Talk to you later!” 

Not.

“Oh okay, bye now…Kisses.” I watch in spite as she blows air kisses towards me. Smiling like an idiot, I return the favor.

Author's Note

This work has been published at the 2022 Spring Issue of TeenWriterProject Lit Zine. https://www.teenwritersproject.org/#/