Tuesday

8:30am Alarm #1 goes off. Snooze.

9:00am Alarm #2 goes off. Snooze.

10:00am Alarm #3 goes off. I roll over and grab my phone and aimlessly scroll through social media for far too long considering I ignored my first two alarms.

10:30am (approximately) I exclaim, “oh shit!” when I notice the time (yes, this happens every morning) and jump out of bed. I get half-undressed and then sit on the edge of my bed staring my floor deciding if I want to actually get dressed or just go with a sweatshirt and no make-up.

10:40am (approximately) Now that it is past the time I do anything except throw on a sweatshirt and my hair in a bun and still be on time for class, I decide I want to actually get dressed today. I pull out my makeup and sit on the floor in front of my oversized leaner mirror.

10:55am I should have already left my house, instead I run around frantically trying to find my keys and maybe (on a good day) grab a granola bar or something. I brush my teeth with the bathroom door open and hear Maribeth come back from her class. She walks in and laughs at me, “class at 11?” she says. I nod, toothpaste foaming out of my mouth. “you know it’s 11:01, right?” I nod again.

11:06 I pull up to Antone and answer Alyssa’s “Where are you” text with a “walking in right now” as I cross the street, without looking, and click the bottom on my fob to lock my car. Except it never works the first time so I have to stand there, across the street, holding my fob at different angles and pressing the button until I hear the beep. I grumble to myself that this is why I’m always late even though it’s not. I take my seat in the back row next to Alyssa and wave at Dr. M as I walk in the door.

12:30am Alyssa and I trekk across campus from Antone to McCauley for our Jane Austen class. It’s obvious that in this 300 level class filled with freshman hockey boys that no one has read. Alyssa and I share several side glances and eye rolls.

2:00pm I walk into my apartment, Mb is just getting back too, we catch up in the kitchen while we both make lunch and then sit at the table to do whatever homework we put off doing for our 3:45 class.

3:45 Me and Mb carpool to class, she usually drives. We park at the library and inevitably run into that one guy we’ve been trying to avoid. In McCauley I go right and Mb goes left. I say hi to Robbie who sits in the front row and then take my seat next to Trevor. We chat while we wait for Alyssa.

5:00 Walk out of Harlem to Maribeth waiting for me on the couch in the lobby. Her class got out early again, we joke that maybe we should just take separate cars but we know we never actually will. When we get back to the apartment I run inside to change into my work uniform and call bye to Mb as I run back out the door. “Have fun!” she yells, “I won’t!” I yell back.

5:20 (ish) I walk into work and say hi to my cashiers. Usually on Tuesday nights it’s Isabelly and Devin, but Isabelly put in her two weeks and Devin just stopped showing up. I go up into the office to do the evening paperwork and then I start to face the aisles.

8:00pm I start counting all of the register drawers. I put on my pandora in the office while I count the money and hope that the morning manager doesn’t watch the office camera and see me dancing to Red Hot Chili Peppers.

10:00pm (a likely a little after) I leave work and go home really quick to change. Mb is already sleeping. I get out of my uniform and into comfy clothes. I grab my bookbag and a blanket to meet Alyssa at the library. I leave a post-it note on the counter for Mb to let her know where I am if she wakes up.

1:00am We’re kicked out of the library. We pack up and I offer Alyssa a ride home, she says “sure” as if it’s an offer she didn’t expect, even though it had already been the unspoken plan. I park in front of her house and we sit in the car talking about all things boys and life and writing until the Salve Safety and Security car passes us three times and we look at the clock to see that we’ve been sitting there for hours.

4:00am (ish) I try to come into the house quietly. I know I fail and Mb hears me coming in, but she always acts like she doesn’t in the morning when I tell her what time I got back. I get ready for bed and crawl in, half-asleep already and set 3 alarms for tomorrow morning.