Louise awoke to the sound of a powerdrill screeching nearby. Still in a half-asleep daze, she reached out to the phone on her night stand to see that she had a whole ten minutes before her alarm was set to go off. For a few seconds she entertained the idea of falling back asleep but the unloading of a truck on the road and the voices that accompanied it was just too much to ignore.
"Couldn't wait ten minutes could you!" She marched out of her bedroom door and to the bathroom to brush the morning funk off her teeth. After she brushed her hair and tied it back into pig tails, she sifted through the tiny square box in the medicine cabinet for the perfect barbell for the day. She settled on the one with a pot leaf and carefully slid it through her tongue, placing the tongue ring from the previous day in the box. She knew she probably should have washed it first, but it looked clean to her.
She returned to her bedroom to throw on a green tee and jeans. For a moment, she considered the pink bunny ears hanging from the pole on her bed frame. They were thread-bare, however, and she opted for a black beanie.
"Big day for my little girl," her mother said placing the eggs and bacon in front of her at the kitchen table.
"I guess," Louise replied.
"It's not every day that you start your junior year of high school," her mother reminded her. "I remember my junior year like it was yesterday," she continued still standing next to Louise. "Your Aunt Gale and I started our band. I got asked to my first high school dance. I got stood up at my first high school dance. I cried behind the dumpster because my date showed up with Cecilia Torres and it turns out I was his last resort if nobody better said yes."
Linda Belcher paused for a minute and she scrunched up the waist apron in her hands violently. "Y'know what? Never mind. Junior year sucked. You don't even have to do it. You can just go to senior year next year."
"Works for me," Louise chimed.
"You have to go to school," Bob piped in from behind the newspaper across the table.
There was still the steady stream of construction noise coming from outside as the three sat down for breakfast. It was more noise than they had been used to recently. The morning routine had been much more toned down that week since Gene had moved into his dorm. Bob and Linda had mentioned the difference once in passing to which Louise harassed them by telling her parents they didn't enjoy eating breakfast alone with the accident.
"Don't be silly. You were all accidents," Linda chuckled with a mouthful of bacon.
"Not helpful, Lin," Bob sighed.
"Wow, Dad, you think you'd learn how to wrap it after the first two mistakes." Louise ribbed her old man as she slid her dishes into the sink.
"Not appropriate, Louise," Bob said, trying to sound authoritative, but who was he trying to kid?
A short time later, Louise was bouncing her way down the stairs with pink backpack hanging from her shoulders and a skateboard tucked under her arm. The noise, she discovered, had been coming from the rental space to the left of the restaurant. A new sign was being drilled in above the storefront window that read:
Dawn of the Bread
In the window, there was a cardboard cut-out of a cartoon zombie with a speech bubble that had him say, "GRAAAAAAAIIIIIIINS!"
It seemed to Louise that there was a new business there every week. Maybe they would stay in business if they sold something people wanted. Who goes to a store for bread? What do I do if I want a sandwich? Go to the bread store first, then the peanut butter store, then the jelly store? C'mon, people!
Across the street, Jimmy Jr was bringing out tables from inside the restaurant to set up along the sidewalk. Louise unintentionally made eye contact and it was as awkward as she expected, but at least today he didn't yell across the street, asking when Tina was going to come visit.
As she rolled across the pavement, she passed other business preparing for the day. She hadn't been up this early all summer and it was weird to think that these people managed to get out of bed before 10AM every single morning. Guess it doesn't matter as long as Coffee Waves is open, she thought optimistically.
The tiny coffee shop, a few blocks from the sea wall was her go-to for the morning sugar and caffeine to get her through a rough day. The first day of school was probably going to feel especially long and boring. Nobody ever learns anything on the first day, but that doesn't mean it's any more fun than the rest of the year.
A bell rang as she pushed through the door. She intentionally carried the skateboard with the underside facing outward so all the cool stickers were visible. There were decals for anarchy and heavy metal bands. Can't forget the pentagram with a goat head inscribed. Finally, there was the totally only-there-to-be-ironic Boys 4 Now sticker. The wait didn't look too bad. She might only be 10 minutes late to class. That was practically 15 minutes early.
She took her place behind the tall guy in the tweed jacket and khaki slacks. Another wannabe professional chump trying to act like he isn't in a beach town, she mocked the back of his blond head. The line progressed to the point that tall, dork, and blandsome was set up to order.
"I'm sorry. I've never been in here before. I'll have a, um, a, uhhh…" Louise heard him stumbling to order from the screen of her phone.
"I guess I'll try the, uh, what comes in the #8?"
"ArE YoU FrIcKin KiDDInG mE!" Louise erupted at the guy. "We've been standing in line for like five minutes. What the frickin crap were you doing the whole time? Were you googling lamer jackets to buy?"
The barista at the cash register was shocked and obviously searching for how to handle the confrontation, clearly thinking that she didn't sign up for this. The tall man with the yellow hair just stared at her like he'd seen a ghost. "Louise?"
"Uh, yea. That's my name, don't wear it out. Who the heck are you and why can't you order a FRIGGIN COFFEE ALREADY?!"
"It's me, Logan. I remember when you were like, this high." He motioned with his hand to show how tall nine-year-old Louise Belcher had been.
Then, Louise remembered him. Why the crap was he acting like he was some old friend of the family. This guy made her childhood miserable. She ought to crooked up that straight smile of his for all the torment he gave her. Here he is, thinking he's being charming in his dumb suit. Well, I got news for you, pal. You look pathetic.
Suddenly, she didn't have the stomach for coffee. Screw this guy. First, I lose ten extra minutes of sleep. Then, I have to go to school after a wonderful summer of doing a big, fat load of nothing. Now, I can't even get my favorite drink in peace?
"Sorry, I'd hang around, but I'm about to be late for school because some jerk didn't know what he wanted before he got to the register." With that, she turned and left the way she came, accidentally bumping some other customers in line.
"Oh, crap! I'm gonna be late, too!" Louise had reminded him of his own morning commitment.
She hurried out so that he didn't try getting in another word. The concrete flew under her wheels. Wagstaff High School awaited her, unchanged since she had last seen it. The red building was her old elementary school that had been redesignated as the high school and it honestly hadn't changed much in 7 years. A nice piece of familiarity in her life, especially since everything seemed to be changing at home.
The bell rang as she checked the walls for her name and homeroom, where she'd receive her schedule for the semester. The teachers didn't seem to mind that there were other students still in the hall on the first day, but they gave her dirty looks as she passed, as if to say, "Typical Louise Belcher. Always tardy." Geez, it's the first day, guys. And you should actually be praising me. I planned on being a lot later.
As luck would have it, when Louise entered the classroom, she met with an uproar of other teens caught up in the excitement of reuniting with each other. The teacher was nowhere to be seen. As far as Wagstaff High was concerned, Louise Belcher was perfectly punctual. She found a seat in the front row (all the good ones at the back were taken) and proceeded to lean back in her chair with her feet propped up on the desk.
As she scrolled through a feed on her phone, she heard the door open. A man's panting accompanied the footsteps. You were already late. Why run? Worried you were gonna later? It was then, as she peeked over the screen to take note of her new homeroom teacher, that she saw him. Their eyes met and she let out a high, drawn out scream.
"This is going to be a long year, isn't it?" Logan sighed in despair.
