5:29
5:30
Bettes alarm went off with a shrill beeping which could have wakened the dead. The brunette sat sharply up in bed, brushing her tousled locks out of her eyes as she reached over to silence the clock. She hopped out of bed and walked slowly toward the bathroom, taking care to tread lightly to avoid waking her father in the room down the hall. While in the shower Bette tried to allow herself to relax. As she stood under the cascade of warm water her thoughts followed a tract which had become nearly habitual over the last few weeks. Today was her first day at her new high school, St Marys. She had tried to convince her father that transferring schools for senior year was a genuinely bad idea but her efforts had been fruitless. The only person Bette had ever met that was more stubborn than she was would have to be her father, Melvin Porter. When Melvin described himself or his daughter he substituted tenacious for stubborn, but there was really no avoiding the truth, father and daughter were both flat out stubborn. End of story.

Bette rolled her eyes as she remembered the conflict over the transfer. It had lasted an entire 15 minutes. After that Bette knew there was no point in continuing to try. Her father had said that her school was losing several of its best teachers and that St Marys had recently gained the top spot in the local school ranking system. Bettes opinion was not important, St Marys was now the best school in the region and that was where Bette was going. Bette grudgingly turned off the hot water and stood in the warm, steam filled bathroom wishing that that moment could last for several hours, wishing for anything that could delay her arrival at her new school.

Bette stepped out of the shower, wrapped a towel around herself and tidied the bathroom before walking back to her room. There on her chair was the uniform she had put out the night before. Itchy plaid skirts, yet another reason for Bettes opposition to the transfer. After glaring contemptuously at the skirt, oxford shirt, sweater, and white knee highs which were so neatly laid out for a few moments, she gave up. She was going to St Marys, there was nothing she could do about it, so she might as well (she heard her fathers voice in her head) stop acting like a petulant child. She knew that she had a very important day ahead of her. Her type A personality would not let her try to just blend in on her first day, oh no. She had to make sure that she left a good impression on the members of the administration and faculty that she would be meeting today. After all, these were the people that she would be asking for college recommendations soonCollege. The thought made Bette pause in the process of buttoning up her shirt. Her father had been breathing down her neck about which colleges she should apply to and where he expects her to get in since the middle of her sophomore year. Now that senior year had rolled around he was constantly nagging her about it. Not nagging exactly, because it wasnt verbal, it was the look he gave her every time she had gone out with her friends this summer, or done anything simply because she wanted to. It was the look that played on her conscience, the one that had engrained the idea that having fun was a waste of time in Bettes mind, the look that made her feel guilty against her will every time she went out.