Another Day In 7TH Grade Chapter 3

Chapter 3

'Beep beep' went my alarm clock. I tried to turn it off, but couldn't find it. My mom must have done her classic 'move alarm clock out of reach' technique to get me out of bed. I sat up and looked around my room. I found the clock on my dresser. Very nice Mom. I walked across my room and turned it off. I rubbed my eyes and looked at the little black mirror hanging on my wall. "Another day of school… Whoopee..." I said to my reflection. I grabbed my clothes from my dresser, then drug my feet down the hall to the bathroom. The hardwood floor in the hall was freezing, I was thankful the bathroom was covered with rugs. I jumped in the shower and got ready. My sisters were banging on the door, complaining about me taking too long. I came out and slowly walked down the steps.
I felt like a zombie these last few days. School was definitely taking its toll on me. My mom was sitting at the kitchen table, eating oatmeal and reading the paper.
"Good morning sweetie." She said without looking up at me. I moaned and opened the fridge. I decided on a yogurt for breakfast with a glass of water. Keyda was the first of my sisters to come down. She must have won the fight to the death of getting into the bathroom after me. She walked across the room, grabbed a banana, then went to the fridge for applesauce. She mixed her banana with applesauce, chocolate pudding, and green beans. I gagged a little at the sight of it. I looked over at my mom; she was also watching Keyda with the same confused expression. Then Keyda ran off into the living room leaving us looking at each other in disbelief.
"What is wrong with her?" I asked.
"I don't know, but when I was pregnant with them I was always craving the strangest things. Now I know why." She put the paper down and cleared her spot.
Not long after Isabel and Keyda came down. They were bickering about something, I didn't care enough to figure out what. I looked at the clock and was glad I was making such good time today.
. . .

At school I met with my friends at our usual spot. Or at least, the usual spot when I'm not running late. We always met under this big beautiful weeping willow tree at the end of the schoolyard. It was perfect! Half of the branches covered a large grassy area, where its roots were, and half of the branches shaded a section of the pavement, so whatever we wanted to do during recess we could do it. I usually liked sitting in the grass  under the tree. I would lay on my stomach, with a notebook in hand, and  write short stories. Lidia would sit next to me and read her magazines. During most recesses Tommy would be playing football or basketball with the guys, but sometimes she would spend time us. If we all sat around and just talked she would dribble a ball from hand to hand on the pavement under the tree. It was lucky for us the tree was even there. I guess a few years ago the school board wanted to cut it down, but decided not to because it was one of the oldest trees in town. It was planted right when the school was built, and our school had to be at least one hundred years old!

I walked over to the old tree. I could see Lidia sitting in the shade. She waved at me and patted the grass beside her. I assumed Tommy was playing morning football with the guys. I sat down next to Lidia and looked out at the grassy area the boys were playing. Lidia had her eyes on them as I walked up.
"What are you up to?" I asked, even though I already knew. She pointed to the field and started giggling.
"Whenever Darrin makes a goal thing he does the cutest victory dance."
"You mean a touchdown?" I asked.
"Whatever, but look it's so cute!" She repeated. She watched him with a dreamy look on her face. I shook my head. She really was too boy crazy for her own good, or at least, too crazy about him. Lidia and Darrin had been 'together' since 6th grade, and before that she watched him from afar. A lot of people thought they were related because they looked so much alike. Both Lidia and Darrin have light blonde hair and light blue eyes. Darrin was everything a girl like Lidia wanted, he was the best football player in our school, and according to her looked just like a movie star. They paired up perfectly. She had big dreams of becoming a high school cheerleader, and one day the prom queen. She thought they were destined for each other. I didn't have the heart to argue with her, she had simple dreams, but to her they were everything. I didn't think Darrin was that impressive, sure he was the best athlete around, but when it came to anything else he was dumber than a box of rocks. Plus, he was loud, obnoxious, and annoying most of the time!
"Look he did it!" Lidia squealed. I looked up and nodded. "Isn't he the greatest? I just love his dimples! Do I have dimples? I think I have like one, but it goes away sometimes." She rambled. I rolled my eyes and opened my notebook. I tried to remember what the last thing I wrote about was. I scanned to the last written page, now I remembered why I stopped there. I had writers block. I closed my notebook and laid down in the grass. I looked at the branches swaying back and forth in the breeze. I felt like today might be a good day after all. The bell rang and I quickly rose to my feet.
"Come on Sofya." Lidia yelled as she ran up to Darrin. Everyone ran through the old halls to their lockers. I tried to open mine, but of course it didn't want to budge. I must have done the combination wrong... Again! I ran to the office to get my combination. I told the people at the office what happened, and they started searching for my combination. While I waited the tardy bell went off. Yup, another fun day of school… They found it a few minutes later. I ran back to my locker as fast as I could. I did the correct combination, but it was still sticking. After a few tugs it opened. I grabbed my books and ran down the empty halls to my first hour class.
I walked in and took my seat quickly. "It's nice of you to join us." Miss Steven said sarcastically.  
"I'm sorry. My locker wouldn't open." I tried to explain.
"I don't want to hear it! There are no excuses for being late!" She snapped. She turned to the chalkboard and began explaining today's lesson. I felt a tap on my shoulder from behind me.
"Here." Lidia whispered. She handed me a piece of paper folded up like a diamond, that's how Lidia folded notes. I opened it up quickly and read it in my lap.

'If it makes you feel better check out Miss Stevens skirt! Tommy pulled a little prank before she came in.'

I looked up and noticed on the back of Miss Steven skirt was a big brown stain from where she was sitting. I couldn't help but laugh. The whole class was trying to hold back their laughter, but it was useless. Miss Stevens turned around angrily and demanded to know what was so funny. A girl in the back of the room walked up to her and quietly told her what had happened. Miss Stevens face turned red and she quickly left the room. Once she was gone the class burst out laughing.
I turned to Tommy. A bunch of guys in the back were giving her high fives "What did you do?" I asked.
"I put a little bit of paint on her chair. That should show her not to mess with us."
"Nice!" Darrin yelled. He held up his fist to hers.
"Serves her right!" Another guy yelled.
"I don't think it was very nice." Said the girl in the back. Everyone pretty much ignored her. I looked over at Alex to see what he thought. He didn't seem to think it was very funny. He looked as if he was trying to block everyone out. He just watched the trees swaying in the breeze out the window. He leaned on his arm and tapped his books with a pencil.

The principal, Mr. Morris, walked in and the room fell silent.  He studied us carefully as if the person responsible would come forward on their own. "Well I hope you kids are pleased with yourselves." He said angrily. He paced in front of us, looking each of us in the eyes. "Your teacher had to go home because of your little prank."
"For the rest of the day?" Lidia gasped.
"No, for a change of clothes. She'll be back to discipline whoever did this."
"What makes you think it was us? Maybe she just wanted to leave." Tommy joked. Mr. Morris walked closer to her. He stared her down but it didn't seem to bother her.
"I have a sneaking suspicion it was you."
"You can't accuse me without proof." She argued. She crossed her arms and smiled. Everyone watched as Tommy went against the principle.
"Your brother was the same way." Mr. Morris snapped. He stood tall and looked around the room. "Alright, if nobody wants to talk." He studied each of us for a moment then continued. "Everyone here will get detention after school." Quickly the girl in the back raised her hand. "Yes?" He asked.
"It was Tommy!" She blurted.
Mr. Morris smiled and looked down at Tommy. She shrugged and continued to smile. "Come with me Miss Veronics."
"I can't believe I'm caught already! It's not even lunch time!" She joked. His face became red and the visible vein in his neck started throbbing. She stood up and followed him out of the room.
"For the rest of you use this time to study." He ordered. He shut the door behind him. I could hear Tommy making jokes as they walked down the hall. I pulled out my notebook and started doodling. The guys started making paper airplanes and flirting with the girls, while the girls stated gossiping with each other.
We didn't see Tommy much the rest of the day. I assumed she got another in school suspension. It wasn't anything new; she was in trouble so much it didn't faze me anymore.    

The next day Miss Stevens acted like nothing happened. Even so, Tommy was not allowed back to class for the rest of the week. Classes were pretty boring without her around. I think I might have actually learned something!