Off To A Great Start

“Shoot!” Zoe yelled as she jackknifed from her warm pillow. 

She could tell by the amount of sunshine filtering through her curtains that she’d overslept. Zoe turned and looked at her cellphone screen - black. Dang it! Her battery must have died again last night. 

Zoe hurriedly put her feet on the floor and plugged in her cell phone. She’d told her dad that she needed a new phone. This stupid phone would randomly go from showing a fully charged battery to saying it only had 30 percent charge left. She never knew when her battery would die. But Zoe didn’t press the issue with her dad because she knew they didn’t have the money for a new phone right now. From now on, she’d just have to leave her phone plugged in all night.

“Malcolm, Malcolm! Time to get up! We’re late!” Zoe called to her little brother as she dashed down the hall to his room. Malcolm was a great kid, but he was a slow mover in the mornings. Zoe had to get him up and get his engine going before she did anything else, or they’d never get out of the house.

Malcolm was sitting in bed, stretching his arms over his head, when Zoe came in. “What’s wrong,” he mumbled.

“Nothing. Nothing’s wrong, bud, but we gotta hurry. We’re late, and you know Dad will kill us if we miss school,” Zoe said, running around Malcolm’s room and throwing clothes and underwear on his bed. “Come on, and get dressed while I brush my teeth.”

“Okay,” Malcolm said, slowly getting out of bed.

As Zoe rushed to the bathroom to complete a speedy version of her morning routine, her foot landed on what felt like sharp rocks in the middle of the hallway. “Ow! Sonofa…”

“Zoe, no bad words, or you have to put money in the swear jar,” Malcolm mumbled from his room.

“I didn’t swear!” Zoe yelled as she hopped on one foot, trying to rub where the offensive Lego had stabbed her. “You’re not supposed to leave your Legos in the hall. Why can’t you remember that rule?”

“I needed a place for the people of Saturn to set up their new colony,” Malcolm answered.

“Ugh,” Zoe responded as she limped into the bathroom.

Zoe quickly went through her morning routine, brushing her teeth and washing up as fast as hygienically possible. She might be in a hurry, but she would not go to school funky. Funky music was cool. A funky body was not. Zoe looked in the mirror and removed her satin bonnet, unleashing her mass of curls. Why did today have to be a day without braids? If she had braids, she could put some oil on real quick and go, but these curls needed some love. But braids cost money - which she did not have. Fine. She’d have to keep it simple and pull it all into a cute puff on top of her head. It made her look a little younger than she liked, but this was an emergency.

Zoe was so busy thinking about how she was going to do her hair; she didn’t realize that she’d picked up the wrong bottle until the product was already in her hair. “Ohmygawd!” She screamed.

“What happened?” Malcolm asked, running to the bathroom.

Zoe pulled the bathroom door open and looked at Malcolm with wide eyes. 

“What’s that in your hair?” Malcolm asked, his face scrunched up in confusion.

“I accidentally put lotion in my hair!”

“Yuck,” Malcolm said. “It’s all white.”

“I know!” Zoe cried. “I have to wash it out.”

“But, I have to pee,” Malcolm said, doing the side-to-side step commonly referred to as the “pee-pee” dance.

“Ohmygawd. Can this day get any worse?” Zoe asked no one as she grabbed a towel and some shampoo. “I’ll go wash it out in the kitchen. YOU pee and brush your teeth,” she said to Malcolm. She turned around quickly as she left the bathroom and pointed at Malcolm. “And don’t forget to wash your hands - before you brush your teeth.”

“I knooow,” Malcolm said as he closed the door.

Sure, he knew, but Zoe knew she had to remind him. She didn’t want to think about him touching that toothbrush before he washed his hands.

Zoe went down Malcolm’s checklist with him as they headed out the door. “Do you have your homework?”

“Yeah,” Malcolm answered, slipping his arms into his backpack.

“Do you have enough money in your account for lunch?”

“Yeah. Ms. Ingram said Daddy doesn’t have to add money until the end of the month.”

“Are your glasses in your backpack?”

“Yep!”

“And what about your magic cloth,” Zoe loudly whispered as they walked quickly down the hall towards the stairs.

“Zooeey,” Malcolm whined. He was embarrassed about keeping a piece of his old baby blanket in his backpack and didn’t want anyone in the hallway to hear her.

“I was whispering,” she said, lowering her voice. “I just want to make sure you have everything.”

“I do. I have everything,” Malcolm angrily whispered back.

“Okay, okay,” Zoe said as they hit the sidewalk and headed for the city bus stop.

Malcolm was still in elementary school, so he only had to walk two blocks to get to school. On the other hand, Zoe was in high school, and that required a 15-minute bus ride.

“Look,” Zoe said, pointing up the street towards the elementary school. “There’s Tavon. Catch up to him so y’all can walk together. I’ll see you later.”

“Okay, bye,” Malcolm said, taking off toward his friend.

“Don’t forget. Daddy is taking you to the dentist after school today!” Zoe yelled at Malcolm’s back as he kept running towards Tavon.

“Okay!” Malcolm yelled back.

Zoe stood at the corner and waited for him to reach Tavon before she headed to the bus stop. If the bus arrived on time, she’d only have to wait a couple of minutes.

The bus was late. Jeez, Zoe thought. She just couldn’t catch a break this morning. Now, she had to jog up to the school’s front door. If you arrived after they closed the doors, you were automatically sent to the attendance office to receive a late pass. The late pass wasn’t a big deal, but getting to Mr. Butler’s class was. English was Zoe’s first period and favorite class. That was mostly due to Mr. Butler and how he made everything they did so relatable. Zoe had always loved reading and shined in English class, but she’d never felt as connected to the lessons as she did in Mr. Butler’s class. No matter what book or writing rule they talked about in class, Mr. Butler always brought it back to their real lives and showed how things were similar - even words written back in the 1800s. Although he was her favorite teacher, Mr. Butler didn’t play. He believed in being on time and deducted points for tardiness. If you got three tardy deductions, he wouldn’t write you a college recommendation letter - and Zoe needed him to write a recommendation letter for her. Mr. Butler had relationships with most of the Admissions offices at their state schools, so his recommendation letter held extra weight. Zoe planned on attending one of their state schools because of the lower tuition, so she made sure to stay on Mr. Butler’s good side.

Zoe made it to the door of the school and tripped over what she had no idea, but she went forward, flailing her arms, trying to get her balance. Zoe landed on her hands and knees, preventing herself from being completely embarrassed by face-planting in front of everyone else trying to get inside before they were considered late.

“Ohmygawd. Could this day get any worse?” Zoe mumbled to herself.

“Aye! Are you okay,” the school Resource Officer said, rushing over to Zoe.

“Yes. I’m fine, thank you,” Zoe said, rising to her feet with the woman’s assistance.

“Let me see your hands, hun,” the officer instructed while holding Zoe’s arm. “I gotta make sure nothing is broken or bleeding. Wiggle your fingers.”

Zoe turned over her hands and wiggled her fingers as she pulled away from the woman whose name tag read Mrs. Moreno. “I’m fine. I promise, but I gotta get to class. Thanks for your help.” Then, the bell rang.

“Okay,” Mrs. Moreno replied. “But walk, don’t run.”

“I will,” Zoe lied. As soon as she turned the corner, she ran down the hallway to class. Never mind that her knees and palms were throbbing from taking the brunt of her fall. Zoe had to hurry; she only had seconds before Mr. Butler closed his door.

Zoe saw Mr. Butler walking towards the door to close it as she was coming through it.

“Good morning, Ms. Blackwell,” Mr. Butler said as she passed him.

“Good morning, Mr. Butler,” Zoe said as she flopped into her seat and tried to catch her breath.

“Hey, girl,” her friend Brianna said from the desk next to her.

“Hey,” Zoe said, still breathing hard.

“You alright?” Brianna asked.

“Gurl,” Zoe said. “You will not believe the morning I’ve had.”

“Yeah?”

“Yes, but that’s okay, ’cause it’s gotta get better, right?” Zoe said, grinning at Brianna.

Then, before Brianna could respond, Mr. Butler stood at the front of the class and said, “Okay class! Pop quiz.”

Ohmygawd! Brianna thought, could this day get any worse? And put her head down on the desk.