The morning was cold and rainy, just as she remembered it.
Instead of her mother's voice, the alarm clock woke her up.
It wasn't a special day, not at all. In a way, for some, it was.
It was the last day of sixth grade. The last day at the elementary school before their move to the big high school. For the students with status, life was looking up. For students like Michelle, especially under her circumstances, it was anything but wonderful.
When Michelle opened her eyes and looked around her bedroom, she tried hard to keep in her scream.
It was her princess bedroom. Her little girl bedroom. And she was planning to redo it, as it had been in the seventh grade. But she realized that she was twelve once again, and she'd have to live through yet another day of torture.
So, she got ready for school. She brushed her teeth and combed her hair, and put on the most mature outfit she could find in her closet. Then, when she went downstairs and grabbed her things for school.
She skipped breakfast. She couldn't stomach what was happening to her.
She walked to the bus stop in the rain, and stood there with the other kids who waited there.
Rocky, a fourth grader and friend of Tommy's, who was yet to show up, and Paul.
Oh, dear. I remember Paul!
Paul was her crush. He was a handsome boy, with dark hair and striking blue eyes. She knew other girls had crushes on him, and that she didn't stand a chance. Even in high school, she still swooned over Paul. By then, she knew, he was dating a cheerleader. It was all just a fantasy, then and later. It made no difference.
She shivered in the rain and tried to remember what happened that day. The whole of it, because to tell you the truth, she didn't. It was too far back to remember.
"Good morning, Michelle! Isn't today exciting?" It was Rocky, who even then had dark, frizzy hair. She adjusted her glasses and wiped the rain from them.
"No, not really." She kept watching in the rain.
"Not really? It's our last day at Leo El! We've got a whole new horizon ahead of us!"
"Not really. It's just a bigger school. The same people, the same classes, and the same everything.
"Michelle was right, remembering her own experiences in the bigger school. Everything terrible about society was learned in places like those. Like the school, and like the town of Leo itself.
"You're kidding, right?"
"No."
Tommy was running to the bus stop as the bus was coming by.
As Michelle prepared to get on the bus, Tommy put his hand underneath her ankle. The plan that failed at her birthday party worked on the bus. Michelle landed face first on the steps, and scraped her face.
Every student in the bus and on the bus stop laughed.
Michelle, unamused, picked herself up and sat in the back of the bus alone, waiting patiently to arrive at school. She headed to her classroom and sat at her desk, waiting for the festivities to begin.
On the last day of school at Leo Elementary, they had a field day. Out by the playground and the blacktop, they put out bouncy houses and other attractions. Ice cream, grilled hamburgers and hot dogs, and soda pop was readily available. But now, with the rain, the school had to figure out another way to celebrate.
An announcement over the intercom gave the school the answer to their question.
"Today, we'll have an indoor field day! All bouncy houses and other this will be in the gymnasium. Lunch will be served in the cafeteria. Thank you for listening."
So, the students piled in the gym by grade. First, the fourth graders, then the fifth graders, and then, the sixth graders.
When the sixth graders finally got their chance at the gym, they took it and grasped it like they never had to before. The bouncy houses were all full, which left Michelle out of the fun. She went to the cafeteria to get a hamburger and a soda, and began to eat.
She kept her eyes shut, trying to pretend she was fifteen. Trying to think of how to get to the antiques shop.
"Uh... Michelle? Can I sit here?" It was Paul.
"Oh! Sure!"
Paul sat across from her, observing hee distressed expression. She tried to ignore him while eating her hamburger and drinking her Pepsi.
"What's wrong?" He asked, while putting ketchup on his hot dog.
"I wish I could say it without sounding crazy. I really do. It'd help to talk to someone."
Her voice was higher and her hair was shorter, at her shoulders. She was skinny and had yet to gain any womanly features. Paul was of course, cute, but was almost the same way.
"Well, I'm fifteen. I'm going backwards in time, but in my body."
Paul chuckled, "Well, I think that's pretty cool! It sounds like a good book! What am I doing at fifteen?"
She grinned and looked at his future girlfriend from across the room. Then, she was nerdy. Covered in acne and wearing big, bulky glasses.
"You'll be dating Rachel. And on the varsity football team."
"No way! Her?"
Yeah. Her. She becomes really pretty. She's got potential."
"Well, I'll believe it when I see it. And what about you? What will you be doing?"
"The exact same thing I'm doing now. Nothing."
"Well, are you sure about that?" Paul asked.
She sighed. "Yeah. Thanks for sitting with me."
"No problem."
Michelle's friends never caught up with her. And Paul's never did either. So, Michelle and Paul stuck together. They never went to the bouncy houses or outside after it stopped raining. They sat and spoke at their table until school was out.
"See you next year!" Paul shouted, as they parted ways at the bus stop.
"See you too!" Michelle answered back, as she walked in the direction of her house.
Dinner was unappealing. Tuna casserole.
Yuck!
Before she knew it, the day was over, and she went to bed.
Don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep, don't fall asleep! You can't fall asleep!
Her pleas didn't matter. She did anyway.