A few months later

Julie's pov

First grade is really cutting into my free time. I mean, whose idea was it to make kids go to school all day anyway? School starts at like 8:45am and doesn't end until like 3:30pm. That's like seven hours we have to be there instead of getting to stay home and play and watch tv. The Suite Life of Zak and Cody isn't going to watch itself, now is it?

And the rules at school, oh so many rules. I thought we had a lot of rules here but the number pales in comparison. Sit down, sit still, be quiet, pay attention, raise your hand and wait to be called on before speaking, walk in a single file orderly line, keep your hands to yourself...and so on and so on. Some would say rules are meant to be broken. I say some days it just be like that, and today is one of those days.

Maybe it's because of the way my day began. My alarm went off at 7:45am. I hit the snooze. I just wanted to sleep a little longer. Seven minutes later, I hit the snooze again. Stacey, Lisa and Carrie were already up and getting dressed.

Stacey yells, "Get up, Julie! Breakfast is in eight minutes and you're not even dressed yet."

Usually we all get up between 7:15am-7:45am. Everyone gets dressed and we grab our backpacks, heading for breakfast at 8am. We leave straight from breakfast to catch the bus at 8:17am.

"Relax, I have plenty of time. I'll just skip breakfast and sleep a little longer."

Stacey simply replies, "Your funeral."

I wave her off and pull the covers up over my head after checking the clock, 7:59am. I hear the three of them leave for breakfast. I hit the snooze one more time. I'll just close my eyes for a second, then I'll get up and start getting rea... ZZZZ ZZZZ.

I wake up to the sound of a door slamming, our bedroom door. But what's that annoying buzzing sound? I rub my eyes and pull the covers off my head so I can see what's making that noise, instead I see an incredibly angry Shane glaring at me. His arms are crossed and he's tapping his right foot on the floor rather impatiently. I glance at my clock, 8:23am. It's my alarm making that annoying noise. I guess I must have drifted off. Ooops.

WAIT, 8:23am! I bolt upright in my bed, the post sleep fog starting to lift. NO IT CAN'T BE 8:23am That means I...

"You missed the bus!!!" Shane growls.

Oh yeah, Shane's here. Things are becoming clearer now. I rub the sleep from my eyes again. I'm starting to remember what happened. WAIT, SHANE'S HERE.!!! I am so dead.

Shane slowly walks over to my bed and squats down so he's eye level with me. In an eerily calm voice, he says, "You have exactly five minutes to get out of bed, get dressed, and be in my car ready for school or I'll blister your behind."

I swallow hard, scared to move and scared to breathe. I've never seen Shane this angry. I push myself back as far as I can against the headboard of my bed.

Shane stands and bends over, straddling me with his arms.

He leans in close and harshly whispers in my ear, "GO!"

He slams my door on the way out. I exhale in relief, realizing I had been holding my breath the entire time. I jump out of bed, dress, and brush my teeth in three minutes. I grab my backpack and toss in a granola bar for later. I run out of the room, sprint down the hall, rush out the front door, and jump into the passenger seat of Shane's already running car. He gives me an icy look with his dark eyes before he peels out of the parking lot. Yikes, he is pissed! I scoot myself over as close to the door as possible, putting as much physical distance between us as I can.

Shane's phone rings and he picks up, putting the call on speaker through the Bluetooth.

"SHANE! WHERE THE HELL ARE YOU!?"

It's Dr. Curtis and he's pissed too.

"THE MEETING STARTS IN THREE MINUTES. DIDN'T I TELL YOU HOW IMPORTANT THIS MEETING IS AND HOW IMPORTANT IT IS YOU BE ON TIME?" He pauses his tirade for a moment. "ANSWER ME GODDAMMIT!"

I find myself flinching after every angry word Dr. Curtis spits out.

"I'm really sorry, Neil. Something came up and I had to drive one of the girls to school." He turns his head giving me a look so cold it sends chills down my spine.

"UNBELIEVABLE! I told you this donor values his time and DOESN'T LIKE TO BE KEPT WAITING. If he pulls out his funding because of YOUR TARDINESS, I'm going to be forced to SERIOUSLY rethink your position in this organization."

"Again, sir, I'm terribly sorry. I'll be there as soon as possible." Shane sounds so deflated.

"With Mike in Africa right now, I was really counting on you to step up and take on more responsibilities to help fill the void." You could practically hear Neil shaking his head sadly through the Bluetooth. "I'm really disappointed in you, Shane. You really let me down." Click. The dial-tone cut through the silence like a knife.

I feel so bad for Shane. It's my fault Dr. Curtis just chewed him out and his job might even be in jeopardy. All because I was too lazy to get up on time. I look at Shane and try to find the right words to apologize.

"Shane, I'm so..."

He cuts me off, "NOT. ONE. MORE. WORD, JULIE, OR I SWEAR I WILL NOT BE HELD RESPONSIBLE FOR WHAT I MIGHT DO!" His eyes are dark and cold matching his tone.

I slump down in my seat, feeling about two feet tall, completely ashamed. When we pull up to my school, Shane doesn't say a word. He just glares at me as I fumble for the door handle, trying to get out as fast as possible. Could this day get any worse?