Beep! Beep! Beep!

Lurching awake, sharp breaths came from my mouth as I looked around quickly.

It wasn't real... It was just a nightmare...

My body relaxed after a bit, as I took deep breaths to settle my thundering heart. My shaky limbs settled, and I could finally think straight. I had been too panicked to notice that my alarm was still going, but quickly turned it off when my ears picked up the blaring sound once more.

Getting up, I stretched out my aching body, letting reality set in. It was Friday, the last school day for the week. That was nice. It meant I could stay up late, if exhaustion didn't hit first.

Hurrying my pace a bit, I headed to the bathroom, taking a nice steamy shower to relax my body even more and kick the day off with a nice start. I washed my face, leaving myself feeling refreshed and clean, as I ate some breakfast and then brushed my teeth as well. I was finally ready to grab my bags and get to school.

My mom drove me to school, before going off to work. I met up with my best friend, Sally, after stopping at my locker to put my bag away. She was one of the few friends I had. We spoke plenty, and she ended up reminding me of the talent show going on at the end of the day.

Oh crap... I forgot that was today...

She also reminded me that we had a bunch of quizzes and tests in school, which made my natural anxiety start picking up a bit. This was gonna be a long day...

The bell finally went, and we were all off to class. Math was first. The quiz was short, only a few questions, and they were quite simple, but with my anxious mind I over complicated things and probably did something wrong. Next, we had a spelling test in English. It was about a hundred words, and I could feel my stress hiking up even more in my body. I forgot some of the words entirely, and just blanked out, leaving them empty since I just couldn't think straight anymore. After what felt like an eternity, the bell went! It was lunch break! Finally!

I quickly darted out into the crowded halls, tucking into myself with my lunch-bag and going to the cafeteria to meet up with Sally. We ate lunch, and she helped me relax and clear my mind a bit, before the next class started.

Brrrring! Brrrring!

There was the bell. Time for Science. We had a quick quiz, and then wrote down notes. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be, but the quiz confused me and my anxiety started building yet again. Today was just not my day...

The next class we had was Social, and a quick quiz on World War II. I'm pretty sure I flunked the entire thing, half the answers I couldn't remember, or my mind blanked out and I guessed randomly to avoid stressing myself too much.

Gym was the last class of the day. My anxiety was really bad at this point, I felt like my head was gonna explode. Every step I took, I could feel it. Tremors made their way from my feet to my head, from my hands to my torso; my breath came out in fast short puffs of air, that barely got enough oxygen into my body and to my brain. My heart pounded in my ears, and a headache was building up in my skull. I couldn't stay still anymore. I had to move. Suddenly, I was up.

Quickly walking out of the gym, I hurried to the nearest fountain, chugging water a bit to try and settle myself. Sally was out within minutes, hugging me and helping me calm down. I hugged her, crying into her shoulder as the stress and anxiety became too much for me to handle. Thoughts and worries built up in my mind, but eventually they faded. I got control of myself, calmed down and headed back into the gym class. No one stared, no one questioned it, and everyone gave me space. Mr.Jameson, the gym teacher, even let me sit out when I asked. He was a great teacher. He understood and would give us space if we needed it.

Eventually, school ended for the day, and I got a ride home. I had enough time to eat, and go over my song and dance for the talent show a few times. Mom came to drop me off, but she had a meeting to go too, so she couldn't stay and watch.

I watched a few others go up, and my anxiety rose more and more as it got closer to my turn. I slowly got up onto the stage after they said my name and what I was doing. I took a deep breath and tried to settle all the stress going through my body. My body was shaking, pressure building in my chest and head. It was terrifying to just stand there. I had to do it though. I had to prove to myself that I could, that my anxiety didn't control everything I did.

After a moment, I nodded to the student who was DJing the talent show, before the music slowly started. I took a deep breath as I started singing along, letting my voice carry. I could hear how shaky it was, the mistakes I made. I started dancing as well, I choreographed the dance for this song myself, and it took forever to get perfect, but I could feel it crumbling this time. I stumbled over words and my feet as I shook and had a bit of trouble with breathing.

When it was done, I waited for someone to laugh... No one did though, they just clapped and smiled for me. I went and took my seat, relief washing over me.

It was done... I did it...

I was surprised it went that well. I went to get a drink and calm myself a bit more after the talent show ended. I met up with Sally and a few of her friends, all of them saying I did a good job and being kind to me. It was... nice.

They invited me to join them to go to the mall, so I texted my mom and went with them after getting her 'okay'. We walked around, talked, and got food. It was nice for a while, but the amount of people and the noise started getting to me. My anxiety was slowly building again. I asked my friend if she could drive me home, and she agreed easily. I thanked her as we drove, and she just smiled and said 'of course'. Other than that, we didn't talk on the way back.

When I got home, I had some dinner and talked to my mom. She was so proud of me for doing that. For going in front of the school and showing off my talent. I could barely present in front of a class, but the entire school?! Now, that was quite the feat. I smiled and gave my mom a hug before heading off to my room.

I brushed my teeth, and then texted a few friends. As it got darker, I turned on my reading lamp, and read a book for an hour or so before dozing off and getting some sleep. The day had been long, but it was nice overall. I had faced my anxiety, even though it followed me all day. I was just glad it was the weekend. I finally had time to get some air, and just relax in the solitude of my room.