C1 Four eyes

Paige was startled awake by the sound of her alarm clock. It was just 6.a.m in the morning. She had woken up very early to get ready. She quickly went to the bathroom to wash up. She was done in about half an hour. It was the last day of her exams and she didn't want to be late. The weather was a bit warm these days, so she put on a pair of light wash jeans and a lose t-shirt. Then she quickly got her backpack ready.

She ran downstairs quickly to make breakfast. Her mother, Karen Ashton - people called her Mrs Warren after she married Mike Warren. and her little brother Trent were still asleep. Trent's was 8 years old and also very annoying. But he was a cute child. No one could stay angry with him. Paige quickly made breakfast for herself which consisted of eggs and bacon. She also made vegetable porridge and put it into the fridge when it had cooled down. Now her mother didn't have to worry about lunch. She the made pancakes for her mom and brother. She made a glass of vegetable juice for her mother. She had recently sustained a head injury and the doctor asked her to rest and eat well.

After she ate, she left a note for her mom on the table. Then she put on her converse and ran out the door. It was only 10 minutes till the bus arrived. She arrived at the bus stop panting. She wiped the sweat from her face and waited for her breathing to return to normal. After a while the bus arrived. She took her favorite seat at the rear by the window. For some reason that seat was always free. She said hi to Camila and Peyton who both faked smiles at her. She had noticed this, but she just quietly took her book out of her bag to study.

The bus slowly sped along the road and the pine and acacia trees at the side cast shadows on the tarred road as the morning sun shone brightly in the sky. She adjusted her glasses and carefully studied the equations. She silently prayed that her grades would be good. Not that her grades were bad, she had managed to be among the top 5 students in class every year since 10th grade. She was grateful for that. But now she was nervous because she didn't want to let her mother down. Her poor mother had suffered a lot since her father passed away. She didn't want to make her sad.

As she thought about her father who had died too early, tears stung her eyes. She quickly took off her glasses and wiped her tears, afraid that someone would see. She couldn't afford to cry on the bus. She made up her mind to smile, because she knew that her father would've been proud of her today if he was still there with her. And he never liked to see tears in her eyes. She kept on studying for a bit before she felt dizzy. She hadn't slept at all last night. She took out her phone and set an alarm for 30 minutes. The bus would be at the school in an hour.

She closed her eyes and instantly fell asleep. The other kids kept chatting about the party they attended during the weekend. The party was at Brett's house. His parents were out of town for a month and he had the house all to himself.

“Hey Stella". Camilla said to the girl behind her. “Were you at the party on Saturday?. It was so much fun"

“No" said Stella. “I wasn't at the party. I was busy. Besides we have finals this week so I had to study".

Ahh no! Said some boys at the back. “For goodness sake Stella. Nothing's gonna happen if you don't study for a few hours. Stop sounding like ‘four eyes' over there". Dan said pointing at Paige who was fast asleep. Their laughter roared through the bus, which was a disturbance to the old bus driver Mr Jerry. “will you kids shut the hell up?" He said angrily. “I'm trying to drive here. And if you kids keep disturbing me, I'll send you to school when the exams are over".

The bus suddenly became quiet. The students only dared to speak softly. The old Mr Jerry was a sweet old man and always treated all of them like his grand kids. But they knew that when he got angry, only God could save them. And he always says what he does.

Stella silently picked up her books and started studying. She looked back at Paige who was sleeping so peacefully. She smiled faintly at her and slowly retracted her gaze. She bent her head to look at her books as tears started to fall uncontrollably. Her tears fell into her book and soaked the page. She quickly wiped her tears away and continued studying.

Stella was actually two years older for this class. Her scores were bad in the last two years and she couldn't get into college. So she had to repeat 12th grade twice. She knew better than going to parties and having sex. She looked at Paige again and wished she was like her during her time. At least the other kids would call her a nerd or four eyes, but she'd be in college by now. She calmed herself down and hoped that no one saw her crying.

Her alarm went off and Paige slowly woke up. She took off her glasses to rub her eyes. The bright sunlight hurt her eyes and she immediately covered her eyes with her hands. Her eyes slowly adjusted to the brightness. She looked in her bag for her water bottle. She found that the water wasn't as cold as when she took it out of the fridge this morning. She sprinkled a little water on her face towel and dabbed her face with it. The temperature of the water made her feel refreshed. She drank a bit of water to soothe her dry throat before she continued studying.

Paige felt like she was ready. She couldn't wait until the bus arrived at the school. She had a glow on her face. She didn't mind that people called her ‘four eyes'. She felt like she was going to ace this and nothing would stop her. Not even the downgrading words of her classmates.