“BEEP-BEEP-BEEP-BEEP!” Urgh! My stupid alarm… maybe I can just sneak in five minutes. “CASSIDY!”, my Mom yelled out, “You’re going to be late for school!” “Huh, OH MY GOD, I thought it was only 7:45!” I responded in a voice thick with tiredness.

“Well, it’s not, Cassidy. In fact it’s almost 8:16! GET UP!!!” “Sorry, I’m getting up now, Mom.” Geeze, I mumbled under my breath.

“RING RING… RING RING!!!” Oh no, the school bell, I thought, as I ran up the walkway into school. I hurried to my locker but of course it was one of those ‘off days’ where I couldn’t unlock it. I tried at least five times to open my lock using the combination that was so familiar to me, but I finally got the lock open.

“Ok, boys and girls – if 22 X 2 is 44, then how much would 25 x ….. CASSIDY SUMMERS?!? WHY ARE YOU LATE FOR MATH… AGAIN!?!” “Umm, I, I – ” “Don’t Uh, I, me! I need an answer or else your parents may be getting a call from someone… ” Her voice was very loud in my head. “Um, I kinda’ slept in I guess…”

“SIT DOWN!”

“SQUEAK SQUEAK!!” Of course, I thought, I got the squeaky seat! The kids in my class were all laughing hysterically. Like, I thought that by now that we were 14, that they would be over immature things like that, but nooooo, I guess not!?? My best friends Carrie and Toby were the only ones NOT laughing. That’s why I love them.

“Hey Cass!”, yelled Toby from all the way across the lunch room. “Wasn’t that the most boring math class yet?” “Um, oh yeah, I guess”, I said, sounding sad and gloomy. “Cass? Is something bothering you?” Toby asked me with concern, I could tell he was worried about me. “Oh, not really, I guess.” I didn’t want to tell him the news that I got this morning, when my Mom texted me after Mrs. Mellrose called her after math class. “Cassidy, I’ve known you for long enough to know that something’s wrong. You can tell me, it’s safe between us.” I asked him to get Carrie, and meet me in the janitor’s closet ASAP.

Shortly after we were all in the closet, I broke the silence and told them what had happened this morning, and what was going to happen. “Guys?”, I said with my light blue eyes filling up with tears. “Cassidy, are you ok?”, Carrie questioned me. I took a deep breath, and sighed right before my response, “My Mom texted to tell me that Mrs. M called her to tell her that I’ve been late a lot, and my Mom thinks that Mrs. M is giving me a tough time. Now she wants me to transfer schools! So I’m leaving this school, and going to Spirit High!” I felt tears spill out of my eyes, and felt them leaving wet tracks on my cheeks. Now I couldn’t stop crying, and Toby and Carrie started crying, her chin was quivering in an attempt to stop. Toby looked at both of us and his eyes glistened with tears. “Guys, I’m leaving this week!”

“RING RING RING!” The school day was done! Toby was about to say something to me, but I quickly interjected, “Can you guys meet me at my house in an hour?” They both nodded their heads, each of them looking about as gloomy as I felt.

“Knock knock knock!” IT’S OPEN, I yelled from my room, wiping my eyes. I had been crying. Carrie and Toby ran as fast as their long legs could go. “So”, said Toby as he sat down on the window seat beside me, “How can we get your Mom to change her mind?” We sat for about 15 minutes, trying to come up with ideas, each silent as we thought. We heard a noise come from downstairs, sounding like heavy footsteps!! My Mom wasn’t home yet, and my Dad was still working. “Cass, what do we do?!?” asked Carrie, in a high pitched scared voice. I shushed Carrie as I turned on music really loud, so that whoever was in the house would know that someone was home. I told them to follow me to my closet, which had a lock on the door. “Cass, this is pretty freaky,” Toby muttered to me as we all scrunched ourselves into the closet, buried in my clothes piled in a heap.

We heard a loud knock, and a ‘BANG’ on the door to my room! Next came a smashing noise, it sounded like a hammer breaking glass. All I could think of was family, as I thought of all of my pictures of relatives, animals, and my grandparents who had died, that were getting smashed to bits.

I asked Toby and Carrie if they locked the door when they came in, and they said yes. We heard what sounded like a pop bottle opening – “Fizzzzzz” – then the music from her laptop into garbled sounds, as it became clear to them that someone had poured a bottle of pop onto the laptop.

Then we heard footsteps running away from my room, as we heard the garage door opening. PHEW! My Mom was home! She came running in to ask us if we were ok – she had seen the man running away from the house. She had already called 911, but while we waited for them to come over, my mom looked over at Toby and Carrie, then at me, saying, “You know what? With friends like this, I can’t possibly let you switch schools. These two are here for you!”