Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
The incessant ticking, ticking, ticking of the clock fills my sharp ears with sound. A low hum follows close behind it; my computer has come to life.
My stomach growls as I begin to surf the internet. I feel the churning of it and I push my hand against the skin there, hoping to stop the extra noise. But my attempt is futile and its gurgling grows louder as the seconds tick on.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I inhale deeply as I try to calm myself. Yet, anything that I do seems to draw things into me. I smell the burnt popcorn from last night, the pungent kernels making my nose scrunch up in disgust. I feel the skin crinkle there, each wrinkle forming, and I immediately make my face fall back into the poker face it had mastered so well.
I swallow loudly, my ears once again alerting to the sound my saliva makes as it trickles down my throat. I swallow again, trying to get the bad taste out of my mouth. It is a mixture of the food from the day; pizza, chocolate milk, cookie. My brain is whirling as it tries to process everything--I can almost hear the gears turning.
My hair falls into my face and I instinctively push it back behind my ear. The soft tendrils brush against my neck. It tickles. I flip my head once, hoping to get the hair away from my face. Instead, it falls back into the same place and, frustrated, I scoop the strands into a ponytail, once and for all keeping it away from my neck.
My eyes flick to the mismatch of items displayed on my desk; the odd green vase, the battered pages of a dictionary, the intricately made silver heart sticker on the front of my journal, the water droplets in an empty water bottle. I look closer at the bottle, my eyes zeroing in on my reflection made in the droplets. I am a thousand tiny, upside down heads.
I force my eyes to move back to the computer screen in front of me. Focus, I tell myself. But a fat chance that will happen...
The incessant ticking, ticking, ticking of the clock fills my sharp ears with sound. A low hum follows close behind it; my computer has come to life.
My stomach growls as I begin to surf the internet. I feel the churning of it and I push my hand against the skin there, hoping to stop the extra noise. But my attempt is futile and its gurgling grows louder as the seconds tick on.
Tick. Tock. Tick. Tock.
I inhale deeply as I try to calm myself. Yet, anything that I do seems to draw things into me. I smell the burnt popcorn from last night, the pungent kernels making my nose scrunch up in disgust. I feel the skin crinkle there, each wrinkle forming, and I immediately make my face fall back into the poker face it had mastered so well.
I swallow loudly, my ears once again alerting to the sound my saliva makes as it trickles down my throat. I swallow again, trying to get the bad taste out of my mouth. It is a mixture of the food from the day; pizza, chocolate milk, cookie. My brain is whirling as it tries to process everything--I can almost hear the gears turning.
My hair falls into my face and I instinctively push it back behind my ear. The soft tendrils brush against my neck. It tickles. I flip my head once, hoping to get the hair away from my face. Instead, it falls back into the same place and, frustrated, I scoop the strands into a ponytail, once and for all keeping it away from my neck.
My eyes flick to the mismatch of items displayed on my desk; the odd green vase, the battered pages of a dictionary, the intricately made silver heart sticker on the front of my journal, the water droplets in an empty water bottle. I look closer at the bottle, my eyes zeroing in on my reflection made in the droplets. I am a thousand tiny, upside down heads.
I force my eyes to move back to the computer screen in front of me. Focus, I tell myself. But a fat chance that will happen...
