Kendally (9)Ally ~Ally's POV~ I awoke the next morning to the loud, annoying beeping sound of my old alarm clock, and I sleepily reached my arm out to slap the “off” button. My body seemed to have forgotten how to wake up early, so, of course, I had to re-teach myself how to do that. I hated waking up at 60 am, but I also hated staying in this house for much longer, so of course I picked getting up over staying here. I rolled out of bed and immediately rushed to the bathroom. I had to hurry, because school started at 7:15 and it would probably take me ten minutes to walk to from my house to the high school. I didn’t usually wear makeup, except for very rare occasions, so I didn’t have to worry about that today, but I usually did straighten my hair, which I was going to do as soon as I finished brushing it. That didn’t take long, but straightening my hair took up to an hour, sometimes. Fortunately, I was able to speed through getting ready this morning, and when I finally got to the kitchen, I wasn’t surprised to see that Dad wasn’t up and around, yet. Actually, I was kind of pleased. I didn’t have to worry about getting yelled at, this morning. Realizing that the time was really beginning to creep up on me, I took a bite out of a muffin and quickly scribbled out a note for my dad. Everything else was taken care of, as far as I knew. My books were packed into my bag, I had finished my report on my winter vacation as soon as I had calmed down last night, and the only things left to do were fix up the kitchen and do the laundry. Now, I just had to leave for school. I grabbed my bag, slipped on my warm jacket, and walked out into the cold morning air. Again, there was no snow, but there were many clouds already formed in the sky high above me. They didn’t look like rain clouds…and definitely not snow clouds…but there were enough of them to block the sun from shining down; keeping the weather freezing cold. Now that I was actually experiencing the weather, I wished that I had accepted Levi’s offer to pick me up. It definitely was cold out here, even if I had my warm clothes on. The school was usually warm, so at least I had something to look forward to once I got inside. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ The walk was surprisingly but fortunately shorter than I had expected. I must have been walking fast to keep warm…but whatever it was, I got there at record speed, and I was pleased with the progress I had made. It had never felt so good as to walk into the busy high school I had so often taken for granted. Teens occupied all of the halls, and I actually smiled as I walked by them. My locker was sitting right where it always had been, and I put in my combination just as I always had. As soon as it opened, I piled my books in, and suddenly, I felt something squeezing my sides. “Ahhh!” I screamed, and was even more startled when I heard the familiar, goofy laugh that could only belong to my best friend. “Levi!” I shouted, though I was laughing now. He had a huge smile on his face, and when he finally calmed down, he let out a friendly “hi!!” I took a deep breath and offered him a smile. “Hi. Why couldn’t you have just walked up and said that, after I saw you? I seriously thought that my dad came to school to creep on me.” Levi chuckled. “Sorry, Al! I just felt like scaring someone. And you’re the perfect target!” He patted my shoulder, and I rolled my eyes before turning back to my locker. His locker was located two away from mine, so we could still easily talk. He looked at me as he entered in his combo. “So…how was your first day of restriction, yesterday?” I did not look back at him, but continued to organize my locker. “Honestly, it wasn’t quite as bad as I thought it would be.” Levi placed his books into his locker and took out two of the ones he’d need for his first class. “Really? Better than it would have been if you and I would have hung out like we planned?” This time, I did look at him. “Of course not. But I did something that I haven’t done in forever.” He raised an eyebrow as he waited for me to continue. “I played,” I whispered, and smiled as I said it. “You played…” Levi repeated, but it sounded more like a question than a statement. “Played what?” I sighed and looked at him. “The piano,” I replied, almost inaudible. “Really?” he asked, his tone had a little excited-edge to it. “That’s great! Maybe this restriction will be good for you. I mean, maybe you can get back to your music.” I shrugged, though knowing that he was right. Playing yesterday had really made me feel something. I had sincerely missed playing, just for fun. Here at school, I had to play the flute…and I barely found that fun, because it felt more like one of those things that I absolutely had to do, whether it was fun or not. And I disagreed with that. Music should be something you want to do, not necessarily something you are forced to do. The loud bell shook me out of my thoughtfulness, and I shut my locker quickly. “We’d better get to class,” I said to Levi. “If I come home to my dad with news that I got detention on my first day back to school, I am dead.” Levi nodded at me understandingly. “Alright. Let’s go.” I followed him to the English classroom which was located not too far away, fortunately, and I immediately took a random seat in the middle. Levi chose the seat behind me, and I realized that even the teacher was late. I smiled as I shifted into a more comfortable position, and waited for class to start. ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ That was strange. Mrs. Garcia was usually very strict about starting class on time…and she wasn’t even here, yet. There was one empty seat—the one next to me—but other than that, everyone else was here, waiting. Suddenly, we heard the sound of footsteps coming from the hall, and immediately after, Mrs. Garcia appeared. She smiled kindly at the room full of waiting teens, until she finally spoke. “I sincerely apologize for my tardiness,” she frowned, and shook her head. “I suppose I deserve a tardy slip, myself.” Only a couple people in the front of the room chuckled. “I just bumped into one of the new students this morning, and there was a bit of a…confusion. It seems that he belonged in this class first, all along. Anyway, I’d like for everyone to welcome him…Kendall Schmidt.”