I woke up to my alarm blaring next to my head and while I usually would've been irritated, I couldn't hold back my massive grin.

Today is the day. On my first day of senior year, I've been looking forward to this for ages! Since I was a little girl, I guess you could say I've always been a bit obsessive when it comes to planning out and organizing my life. I may only be 17, but trust me. I already have my entire life mapped out and absolutely nothing is going to get in my way.

As soon as I hopped out of bed I made sure to head over to my desk that had my outfits placed from the night before, and yes that is plural because I like to have a few backups just in case.

After carefully examining all of the options I had laid out; I decided on a knee-length floral dress with silver accents and carried it on over with me to the bathroom. Luckily since I'm an only child I never really have to fight for the bathroom in the morning.

After eyeing myself in the bathroom mirror, I'm not gonna lie I was a bit frightened by how terrible I looked. I've never been the sort to wake up like they do in movies looking glamorous, if anything I'm quite the opposite.

My eyes looked tired despite my chipper mood, likely because although I had attempted to go to sleep early the night before I was too anxious to get a proper night's sleep. My long black hair was a rat nest atop my head but not to worry, after my shower and some very much-needed hairstyling, skincare, and makeup, I should look decent to start the day.

After setting down my clothes on the bathroom counter I headed over to the shower knob and made sure to turn the heat up. While I know it is better to take a cooler shower, I have to be honest the damage from the heat is absolutely worth it. Nothing seems to get my head in the right space quite like a hot shower.

Dipping into the hot water was exactly what I needed to properly wake up, the water burning so hot that my skin went numb and turned a soft pink, it's perfect. I made sure to plop lots of shampoo and conditioner into my hair and made sure to give my body a good scrub and a quick shave before standing under the hot water for a good while after finishing.

I've always found that leaving the shower tends to be difficult for me, it's like a safe zone where all your problems melt away. There was a slight anxiousness I carried that today wouldn't live up to my expectations, but I swallowed down those thoughts and focused on the fact that of course, everything would work out. I planned out everything that could be thrown at me, so there's no reason to be afraid.

After drying myself off and brushing my teeth, I made sure to do all of my skincare and ultimately decided to do a soft natural makeup look, although to be fair, it's not like I had much of a choice anyway. I'm not very talented with makeup so keeping it simple is more mandatory than anything else. As soon as I finished up and styled my hair into loose curls, I plopped on my dress and headed out of the bathroom to go downstairs to the kitchen.

Most mornings I wouldn't see my parents and today would be no exception, It's not that they were uncaring or anything but they worked long hours and I'm used to it.

I quickly put all the ingredients together to make a kale smoothie for breakfast. Once it was blended I popped it into my puppy-covered smoothie container before heading out the front door with my backpack and smoothie in hand.

While I know a lot of people my age already have a car, unfortunately, my parents just can't afford it. It is fine of course but it does suck since I have to ride the school bus with a bunch of rowdy people I'm not friends with.

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My parents had offered to drive me to school today last night, but they'd have to ask to come into work later than usual and I'd hate for them to inconvenience themselves for me, especially since it's just a bus ride-I'll be fine and I've done it for years now anyways.

But while walking to the bus stop I can't help but feel grateful that it's only a short distance from my house. I've heard from others that it can be a pretty decent distance from their homes.

As soon as I made it to the bus stop I made sure to check the time, It was 7:57 meaning I would have to wait around 10 minutes before the bus showed up. I know it could be seen as a bit excessive but I'd rather be early than late, especially today. Besides, it's not like I mind waiting.

The only thing I dreaded would be if I had to see Jake while waiting for the bus to come. Jake and I used to be best friends, but it's like once high school started we couldn't stand each other. I was worried about my academics and my future. He didn't care for me anymore and that much had been made crystal clear to me. Now all he did was parade himself around like he was a king. He's honestly just a self-obsessed asshole. I can still remember when he used to be so sweet and we would do everything together. But that is in the past. Now he's just a cocky bastard I want nothing to do with. But, unfortunately, I do run into him often considering that he is my neighbor after all.

While caught up in my thoughts I was immediately pulled out of them when I heard an irritatingly loud and familiar exhaust going off. As a civil and good person, I tried my best to pay it no mind that is until the car pulled to a stop directly in front of me and Jake started being himself. God, I hate him.

"You're still taking the bus? It's actually pretty pathetic that you still don't have a car. It's no wonder that you don't have any friends. You know, I'd probably feel bad for you if you weren't such an insufferable bitch," he said casually as if he didn't randomly start insulting someone who was minding their own business.

I felt my face burning a bit from embarrassment and felt my anger rising. Not just because he had called me a bitch but because I knew that he knew exactly why my family was hurting so much financially. His mother and mine were best friends. While we did currently live in an upscale neighborhood, money had been tough lately. And I could hear the hushed whispers at night of my parents being scared we'd lose the house. He seemed to enjoy taking cheap shots as if my misery was something that brought him pure joy.

And It didn't help that he was right, my only friend was Hailey. I did have a few people who I talked to, but they were more Hailey's friends than mine.

I did try to put myself out there, in particular with a guy I've had a crush on for years named Mike, and while he's always been nothing but kind the complete polar opposite of Jake-he seemed to hardly notice me.

"Oh please, as if I need any advice from you. I heard your mom talking to mine about how you had to do summer school because you practically failed every class you were in. You're just going to peak in high school, while I'm going to have a life you could only ever dream of. Your opinion is worthless, just like you," I retorted, While calling someone worthless may seem harsh, that would only be because they don't know Jakes's history with me. Constantly ruining things for me and seeming to enjoy twisting the knife in when I was already in a vulnerable place. He seemed to be incapable of controlling his malicious behaviors.

With that, I walked away with a huff, towards the bus that had now arrived just in time and I heard Jake shout something back. But, I was too far to understand what he was saying, and quite frankly, I didn't care to.

I gave a polite smile to the bus driver before slumping into the front seat on the bus, The back of the bus has always had too much commotion for me to enjoy. I quickly put my headphones in to drown out the noise of everyone shouting and started the song Special by Ashnikko, thinking about how certain lyrics reminded me of Jake.

You're not Special, it's not cute

Only one strike, then you get the boot

There was potential in you

You should get "fuckboy" tattooed

I don't give a fu-uh-uh-uh-uh-uck

I couldn't stop myself from reminiscing on the past when Jake had been my best friend and things were normal between us. Where had everything gone wrong? I guess it doesn't matter anymore though, just need to push those thoughts down. We will never be friends again, so I shouldn't dwell on it.

The rest of the bus ride was uneventful, consisting of me just being lost in my thoughts and drinking my smoothie for breakfast while preparing for one of the best days in a long while.