Young Writers Society

The day before the first day of school, I locked myself in my room and listened to music for almost half the day. School started on Wednesday, and it was Tuesday now. I was already freaking out and my hands were shaking. Already.

I had thought about the game Jason mentioned. GoalBall... It sounded interesting, especially since it was for blind people only. But was I even capable of doing that? Just carrying the ball, for example. What if it was heavy? Or what if the ball hit my head and I got a concussion? I wanted to do it, I really did, but there were many problems. I don't even know where I would play it.

She Will Be Loved by Maroon 5 came on after Don't Stop Believing slipped by. I thought about the song. Maybe that "She" they were referring to could someday be me. It was hard to imagine, though. I was loved, sure, by about four people. Mother, Father, Sheila, and even Jason.

Hours passed by, as did my almost my whole playlist. I stopped when Father called to me. "Ember, come eat a snack," he said.

Making my way to the kitchen, I grabbed the banana and bowl of goldfish he offered me. I knew from listening to people that gold was some color. And from feeling them, the crackers were obviously fish shaped.

I ate my snack in my room then set my bowl and banana peel aside. I sighed heavily, and for some odd reason, since I had already been sleeping a lot, I fell into a slumber.

When I woke up, it felt late. Also, I couldn't feel the sun's warmth burn on my arms, and the air felt colder. I guessed it was night time. Had I really skipped dinner? I didn't feel tired at all, so I pulled out crumpled sheets of Braille, unfolded them, and skimmed my fingers over the mysterious communication. I was getting better at it. In fact, I could read all the vowels, plus a few letters. I made something out that seemed like: G O O M O N I N G, U. There were many letters I couldn't recognize. It obviously wasn't a complete phrase.

I breathed in and out as the thought of school came to mind. It was night, so that meant only a couple hours until morning, which would mean school. I waited in bed for what felt like forever. Fine, it wasn't forever, no one could wait forever, but it felt like a long time. I threw my arm to the left to find my iPod I had left on my nightstand. When my fingers accidently hit a button, I knew I had found it. My earbuds were already in it. I listened to music for a while, with the earbuds stuck in my ears. I heard about ten songs when I heard and banging on my door. Panicked, I moved my finger to the pause button, paused the song that was playing, then shoved my iPod under my bed and pretended I was asleep.

I didn't want to get in trouble for listening to music when it was night time.

"Ember, wake up!" a voice said. The banging continued. Oh. Oh! Someone had come to wake me up. For a second I thought they had heard the music. I recognized the voice as Father's, even though Sheila usually wakes me up.

"Already?" I said, my voice quivering the slightest bit. There was a pause, then Father said, "Yes. Come down for breakfast. You don't want to go to your first day of school tired, do you?"

And that's when I felt a stab of regret in my stomach. I was going to school. Oh.

Father left, and I dragged myself out of bed glumly. "Sheila!" I called. I wanted her to help me pick out an outfit for school. I didn't care all that much, but I didn't want to wear torn pants and a cut up shirt.

I heard a skid down the hall and the Sheila came in, breathless. "Why are you panting?" I asked her.

"Morning jog," Sheila replied. A jog? Sheila hated running. I wonder why she did, though.

"Can you help me decide what to wear?" I asked.

"Sure," Sheila's panting ceased, and I heard my closet door open and Sheila digging through my clothes drawers.

"This top is cute," Sheila said. I was sitting on my carpet picking at little fuzz that tended to come out.

"Okay," I said. I wondered which one it was. She handed it to me and I put my hands on it to try and determine which one it was. It felt soft and had a pocket in the corner. It seemed pretty casual to me.

"And these jeans would fit nicely with it," Sheila said, giving me a pair of jeans. I owned a lot of jeans, but all of them were skinny. Not super skinny, or flare, or boot cut, but just skinny.

"Thanks," I said quietly and Sheila left without saying a word. Before putting on my clothes, I changed my underwear and undershirt. When I was fully dressed, I walked to the kitchen.

"Can I have cereal please?" I asked. Father was always the one to cook, so I was pretty sure he was in the kitchen. Well, I knew someone was in the kitchen because I heard the water of the sink running.

"Honey Nut Cheerios or Frosted Mini Wheats?" Father asked. I was right, he was in the kitchen.

"Mini Wheats," I replied.

"Good morning, Ember," Jason said. I hadn't heard him walk in, and I jumped. "Gosh, you scared me!" I said, shivering.

"Excited for school?" He asked.

"Actually, no," I said back matter-of-factly.

"Great, because this won't spoil your mood, since you're already grumpy," Jason said.

"What won't spoil my mood?" I asked, suddenly a bit scared. Was he going to do something to me? Or maybe say something mean? I sat in my seat still and quiet, waiting for him to respond.

"You're in my class!" He almost seemed happy about the four words he said. But wait. If he was in my class... That could not be good.