Ride
As I was running to school this morning --- because, as I speculated, it was one of those days...days when I woke up not remembering what happened, only with a sudden insight that something is happening, and in this case forgetting to set my alarm or do any of my usual routines before going to bed, including plugging the phone in, setting it on airplane mode, turning on do not disturb, and putting it face down on the nightstand-chair with sleep cycle tracking, and waking up to find that I was going to miss my bus, and instead of rushing up and getting going which was possible in 10 minutes, I just lay there, trying to figure out what happened, and despacito crawled out of bed and perform my morning routine, slowly, and decided to run to school, supporting it with the rationale that the early exercise will give a nice boost to my performance on the test and anything else for the whole day really --- I was met with a pleasant surprise.
I went the alternate route today, because, I don't know, I was getting tired of the old path with lots of road crossings and foul smelling chemicals. So it was going to take longer to get to school. Seeing the time on my watch, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't make it on time. The Chemistry Regents starts at 7:50, and I clocked at 7:17 when I just left the house. (My bus came at 7:05...I gave up on chasing it) I needed to get there 10 minutes prior, preferably earlier so I can go through another practice. So that gave me 23 minutes to run. Should be enough.
I got to Berry Hill, where I had to cross. As I ran I had my phone in the duffel blasting Despacito, or however loud of a sound that 5 inch slab can "blast", so I can learn the lyrics. That's been my goal for a while, just to show off my Spanish, and also because it's the #1 song right now. (Speaking of that, I just checked the billboard, and #2 is Khaled, doing his usual things that I don't understand. Still, I feel like he's a friend for some reason. Doesn't everybody? Listening to rap now. It's stupid how some people become famous.) I observe my surroundings keenly in a state when I'm not completely occupied, like running. A car honked in front of me, but not at me, rather at another white car, and then drove off swiftly. The white car must have been slowing down or being annoyingly hesitant. It pulled over to the side. I didn't think much of it, just a curious observation, but the window rolled down and I heard a voice. It was directed at me.
"Would you/do you want a ride?"
I looked, surprised that something like that would happen. Then I saw Joey in the car, and the familiarity came in. It was Mrs. Siegel. I said yes, sure.
"High school, right? I'm safe -" she continued, and I can imagine the arm spread gesture. "I've got 2 high schoolers in here. Saw you running, so we thought you can use this."
Wow, it made sense that she had to assure safety. Assuming we were strangers, it would be risky to hop into a white van. I could improve in my sense of security, seeing that I accepted the offer without much hesitation. Only because I knew them though. I thought Mrs. Siegel meant that she had picked up another student as well, but when I got in, Maddie was there. Of course, it's the famous sisters! Maddie, too, my elementary school crush. That was 6 years ago. Felt like so long. We haven't been so close ever since, although we were in an English class last year.
"So you're running to school! What happened, did you miss your bus or something?"
I said yes, and I forgot to set my alarm last night, don't know why, as I buckled my seat belt, shaking. It's either from the physical fluctuation or the emotional excitement. I realized that my Despacito was still blasting from my bag, so I hurriedly reached for the volume buttons through the blue barrier and turned that off.
"Yeah, we're just listening to some random...here, I'll switch the radio. This is Joey and Maddie - do you know each other? What's your name?"
"Yep. " "Yeah! He won the - what did you win? - Secretary. Yeah."
Yes, for 5 years. Too bad I've never met your parents, they're so kind! Of course, they're leaders of the community. Tyler Hill Camp, and they were the directors last time I checked.
It's hard to reproduce exact words, because I couldn't pay attention well at the moment. I was flustered. Even after calming down, though, I still made little eye contact and couldn't find anything to strike up a conversation. Sociable people never let down a convo, however. The mother kept talking. And I could only reply "yeah!", or other simple stuff. Never good at it, and I was afraid of being too awkward. I did alright, though.
"Do you guys want to be dropped off here, or near the auditorium? See this, Andy was running to school, and I won't even let the girls walk 20 feet..." she went on casually.
"Well thank you so much, Mrs. Siegel."
That made my day. The test comes after, and it was a little dish ("peace of kaeque"). Had I rejected such an offer, I wouldn't have felt so good.
I went the alternate route today, because, I don't know, I was getting tired of the old path with lots of road crossings and foul smelling chemicals. So it was going to take longer to get to school. Seeing the time on my watch, I was a bit concerned that I wouldn't make it on time. The Chemistry Regents starts at 7:50, and I clocked at 7:17 when I just left the house. (My bus came at 7:05...I gave up on chasing it) I needed to get there 10 minutes prior, preferably earlier so I can go through another practice. So that gave me 23 minutes to run. Should be enough.
I got to Berry Hill, where I had to cross. As I ran I had my phone in the duffel blasting Despacito, or however loud of a sound that 5 inch slab can "blast", so I can learn the lyrics. That's been my goal for a while, just to show off my Spanish, and also because it's the #1 song right now. (Speaking of that, I just checked the billboard, and #2 is Khaled, doing his usual things that I don't understand. Still, I feel like he's a friend for some reason. Doesn't everybody? Listening to rap now. It's stupid how some people become famous.) I observe my surroundings keenly in a state when I'm not completely occupied, like running. A car honked in front of me, but not at me, rather at another white car, and then drove off swiftly. The white car must have been slowing down or being annoyingly hesitant. It pulled over to the side. I didn't think much of it, just a curious observation, but the window rolled down and I heard a voice. It was directed at me.
"Would you/do you want a ride?"
I looked, surprised that something like that would happen. Then I saw Joey in the car, and the familiarity came in. It was Mrs. Siegel. I said yes, sure.
"High school, right? I'm safe -" she continued, and I can imagine the arm spread gesture. "I've got 2 high schoolers in here. Saw you running, so we thought you can use this."
Wow, it made sense that she had to assure safety. Assuming we were strangers, it would be risky to hop into a white van. I could improve in my sense of security, seeing that I accepted the offer without much hesitation. Only because I knew them though. I thought Mrs. Siegel meant that she had picked up another student as well, but when I got in, Maddie was there. Of course, it's the famous sisters! Maddie, too, my elementary school crush. That was 6 years ago. Felt like so long. We haven't been so close ever since, although we were in an English class last year.
"So you're running to school! What happened, did you miss your bus or something?"
I said yes, and I forgot to set my alarm last night, don't know why, as I buckled my seat belt, shaking. It's either from the physical fluctuation or the emotional excitement. I realized that my Despacito was still blasting from my bag, so I hurriedly reached for the volume buttons through the blue barrier and turned that off.
"Yeah, we're just listening to some random...here, I'll switch the radio. This is Joey and Maddie - do you know each other? What's your name?"
"Yep. " "Yeah! He won the - what did you win? - Secretary. Yeah."
Yes, for 5 years. Too bad I've never met your parents, they're so kind! Of course, they're leaders of the community. Tyler Hill Camp, and they were the directors last time I checked.
It's hard to reproduce exact words, because I couldn't pay attention well at the moment. I was flustered. Even after calming down, though, I still made little eye contact and couldn't find anything to strike up a conversation. Sociable people never let down a convo, however. The mother kept talking. And I could only reply "yeah!", or other simple stuff. Never good at it, and I was afraid of being too awkward. I did alright, though.
"Do you guys want to be dropped off here, or near the auditorium? See this, Andy was running to school, and I won't even let the girls walk 20 feet..." she went on casually.
"Well thank you so much, Mrs. Siegel."
That made my day. The test comes after, and it was a little dish ("peace of kaeque"). Had I rejected such an offer, I wouldn't have felt so good.
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