How the Day Changes

Partly cloudy, and completely predictable, the weather was the same as it’d been the previous week. And nearly the entire month of September. It was a typical Monday morning and Camilla Davis, the average teen, sat eating breakfast. Scrolling through her feed, she didn’t notice the droplets of milk hitting the tablecloth, falling from her half suspended spoonful of cheerios.

Derek's yells punctuated the house, reverberating against the walls. That combined with the baby’s crying and my mother’s voice trying to reason with Derek made it feel like two stakes were being pounded into my eardrums. “Camilla!” I jumped at the harsh tone and turned to see my mother walking into the kitchen. She held Liam, baby of the family, against her hip, her other hand clutching an assortment of items, including a toothbrush, diaper, and several broken crayons. Two full lunch sacks hung on the edge of her fingers, knuckles white from the strain. “You need to leave in two minutes!” I scowled down at my phone and took another bite of cereal, not looking up. Mom was clearly frazzled trying to get 6 year old Derek ready, but I didn’t see why she had to take her frustration out on me. Mom began talking in a great rush, and the pounding in my head increased as I tried to comprehend what she was saying over the noise. “Don’t forget you have soccer at three, so you’ll need to be ready to go once I get back from picking Derek up after school. Liam needs to be..” She was cut off short by the arrival of Derek stomping into the kitchen, still screeching his head off. Tears streamed down his face and mixed with the snot dripping out of his nose. I cringed.

“I don’t wanna wear these ones!!” he yelled, holding up a gray pair of pants.

I sighed dramatically, and stretched my arms above my head, leaning my head back over the chair, so that I faced the window. Typical Derek, I thought. Complaining about everything. But my train of thought was cut suddenly short when in my upside-down view out the window, I saw the bus pull up to the curb. I couldn’t stand up fast enough. “Dang It dang It dang It!” I muttered angrily.

Unexpected tears stung the corner of my eyes. Why did the day already have to suck?

I sprinted to the bathroom, leaving a half-eaten breakfast and a stamp-sized puddle of milk on the table. My thoughts swam as I snatched hairspray, mascara, my brush, and everything else in reach and stuffed it into my backpack. I set my phone down on the counter, and began tugging a jacket on with one hand and brushing my teeth with the other. Quickly rinsing my mouth, I turned sharply, swinging my backpack over my shoulder. Too late I realized I’d hit my phone while doing so, and could only stare in horror as it flew off the counter and landed in the open toilet bowl with a splash. “No! No! No no no no!” I moaned and as quickly as I could, I reached down and snatched it back out. I grimaced at the toilet water dripping off my hand and I quickly began ripping toilet paper off the roll as fast as I could, wadding it into a ball. Glancing out the bathroom window, I could see the last kids stepping onto the bus. Running as fast as I could, I dashed out of the bathroom narrowly dodging Derek walking down the hall. I wrenched the door open and sprinted toward the curb attempting (and failing) to dab my phone dry with the toilet paper. The bus’s doors closed and the tires screeched slightly as it began to pull away. I forced my legs to pump harder, and I waved my arms at the bus in desperation. After a moment it stopped, doors swinging open. I nodded gratefully to the bus driver and walked down the aisle, finally collapsing into the seat my best friend, Emma, had saved for me.

“Running a little late?” she asked.

“Yeah, I lost track of time.” I replied wearily.

Glancing around the bus, I could see Ava Pollock glaring haughtily at me. We’d been enemies since elementary, and Ava still tried to ruin every day of my life. Well, I thought ruefully, that’s the one perk about starting your day crappy. Then you didn’t get your hopes up thinking you were going to have a good day. Ava certainly made sure I never did. We sat in silence for most of the bus ride, and upon arriving at school, I headed straight to the bathroom to finish my hair and do my makeup. Once the bell rang, me and Emma went opposite ways to our first periods. She had math, and I had english. The day dragged by slowly. I’d forgotten about half the homework that was due, and I fell asleep in science. In art, instead of finishing my project I stared into space, thinking about Chris, who was my crush, and probably the hottest kid in the school. Blonde hair, green eyes, not to mention the fact that he was super nice to everybody, which was rare for such a good looking kid.

When it was finally lunch time, I opened my locker only to realize I forgotten to grab my lunch before dashing outside to catch the bus. It seemed like the world was against me. Resting my head against the locker, I sighed and fought the tears of frustration again brimming in my eyes. I was so sick of having crappy days, and sick of people whose only purpose seemed to torment others. Sick of dropping grades, and nothing good ever happening. Ava had sat behind me in Math, giggling with her friend and calling me a word I’m not allowed to say in front of my mom when I turned around and told her to be quiet. I knew I shouldn’t let her get to me, but she always does. She’d even had the gall to crush on the same boy as me. I got a text from Emma, asking me why I wasn’t at lunch yet. So I finally shut my locker, and headed to bathroom to dab my eyes dry before heading to the cafeteria. ‘Well speak of the devil!’ I thought glumly. Well, think of the devil more like since I hadn’t actually said anything out loud about Ava. She stood at a sink, running a brush through her flawless, shiny black hair.

“Do you just follow me around or something?” she asked with sneer.

I turned sharply and, eyes on the ground I hurried back out of the bathroom. Wham! I was suddenly thrown backwards, and my arms pinwheeled in circles, as I tried not to fall on my rear. Chris had just ran into me. Or maybe I’d run into him. “Oh my gosh! I’m so sorry!” he said in alarm. He watched me with concern etched on his face. I just stood there dumbly. Cami, Chris is talking to you. Talk back Cami!

“Sorry,” I stammered. “I wasn’t watching were I was going.” “That’s okay.” He said easily. “Neither was I. Your name’s Cami right?” “Yeah, Cami.” I repeated smiling stupidly. “We should hang out sometime.” he said running a hand through his hair.

Out of the corner of my eye I could see Ava, who’d emerged from the bathroom scowling, arms tightly crossed as she stared daggers at me. “Yeah,” I replied, smiling up at him. “We should.” Part of me couldn’t comprehend that Chris wanted to hang out with me. But even more mind blowing than that, was how my day had just done a 360, and it was finally for the better.