Beep! Beep! Beep!

Natasha grumbled as she smacked the stop button on her beeping alarm clock. She glanced at the time. 5:05. Oh no! Natasha jumped out of bed and raced for the shower. She was so behind! She quickly rinsed off and headed into her room. Natasha crossed her fingers that her mother wouldn't notice as she pulled out her binder, hair still dripping.

"Austere. Um, strict, harsh, plain," Natasha muttered to herself. She sped through her next SAT words and switched to history.

"Eiffel Tower. March 31st, 1889," Natasha said as she brushed her hair and tied it back in a simple ponytail. She glanced around her room. It looked welcoming enough. She finished her morning routine with some austere cherry Chapstick and hurried into the study her mother had let her take over after she attended a seminar about helping children improve their grades. She powered on her sticker-covered laptop and glanced at her to-do list for the day. It was, of course, created by her mother.

Morning

Chapter 5 of SAT Prep 101

Chapter 6, 7, and 8 of Writing Tips for Creative Writing Majors

History flashcards for World War II

Extra credit essay for Debate

How to Focus lecture @ 6:00

Algebra 2 for Geometry Students class @ 6:45

Wires of Us mini-class @ 7:30

French Conversation Practice @ 8:00

Natasha groaned inwardly. Her morning was packed. Served her right for waking up late. She clicked over to the virtual book and flipped to Chapter 5. Logic & Codes. Maybe it wouldn't be so bad. Natasha zipped through the chapter and wanted to spend more time thinking about it, but instead she grabbed Writing Tips for Creative Writing Majors off the shelf and read through it. She had just finished Chapter 7 when she noticed she couldn't flip to Chapter 8. Natasha gagged when she saw the sticky mess stopping her from reading the next chapter. This book must've been her brother's, once upon a time.

Natasha's brother, Noah Summerville, was a current student at Stanford, but Natasha knew for a fact that he'd gotten acceptance letters to just about every school he'd applied to, including Princeton, Yale, MIT, Brown, and, of course, Harvard. She'd heard Noah arguing with her mother for hours at night before he decided on Stanford. Mrs. Summerville had wanted him to go to Harvard, the top school in the country, but Noah had his mind set on Stanford, which meant that now Mrs. Summerville was focused on getting Natasha into Harvard and pressured her by constantly reminding her about her brother. Personally, however, Natasha thought Stanford was a better choice as well, but no way would she be going there, even if she did get in. Mrs. Summerville had made it clear that Natasha was expected to go to Harvard and there was no changing her mind.

Natasha had zoned out during the How to Focus lecture when her computer beeped.

"What the-"

An IM window had popped up on her computer.

ArtsyGirl26:

hey :)

Natasha glanced at the screen where the professor was talking animatedly to a bunch of other half-asleep students. She figured it wouldn't do her to stop paying attention for a couple minutes. After all, she hadn't focused for most of the lecture anyways.

NatWrites:

Hi there. Who's this?

The response came almost instantly.

ArtsyGirl26:

amethyst wishbone. you're natasha summerville, right?

Natasha suddenly understood.

NatWrites:

Yup! I can't wait to meet you :)

Natasha added a smiley face emoji in her message, hoping she sounded friendly.

ArtsyGirl26:

me neither!

NatWrites:

Hey, why are you up so early? Are you attending the How to Focus seminar as well?

ArtsyGirl26:

nah, just working on some lyrics. what's the how to focus seminar?

Natasha bit her lip. She wasn't sure she wanted this Amethyst girl to know all about her life so soon.

NatWrites:

Just some online thing. What lyrics are you doing?

Amethyst's three dots indicated she was typing and she kept typing for a while. Finally, the message came through.

ArtsyGirl26:

i'll show some to you when i get there :)

Natasha rolled her eyes.

NatWrites:

Works for me. I've got to get to Algebra 2 class but I'll see you soon!

ArtsyGirl26:

ttyl <3

Natasha closed the chat window and entered her online Algebra 2 class. What an interesting girl.

More into Natasha's life! What do you think Amethyst thinks of her now?

~ writesthetic

P.S. Thanks a ton to abjorklund for helping create Natasha's brother! <3