The birds chirping outside awaken Athena from her sleep. She stares at the ceiling pitifully.

Time for school.

Rolling off the mattress, Athena trudges toward the bathroom to freshen up and get ready. She looks in the mirror and sighs. Athena never did much to look good on the first day of school and yet, for some reason, she felt the need to do so today. Pulling out her hair straightener from the bottom drawer, she lays it on the counter before heading into the shower.

Athena tucks her uniform shirt into her skirt and then untucks it--then tucks it in again. Straightening her hair had taken a lot shorter than she had remembered (probably because she successfully avoided burning herself). But now, looking at the image relayed back to her in the mirror, Athena just felt like nothing was sitting right. Everything was wrong and yet she knew of no way to fix it.

"Sweetie! Have you gotten dressed? Dad wants to see you before he leaves for work," her mother hollers.

"I'm coming!"

With one last dissatisfied glance, the girl grabs her bag and heads out of her room.

~~~

Both her parents smile brightly as they see Athena enter the kitchen.

"My baby's last year of high school has finally arrived. Oh my goodness, where does the time go?" Athena's mom cries dramatically, pulling Athena into a crushing hug.

"Don't break her honey. Otherwise, she won't be able to even start the school yet," her dad says with a chuckle.

Athena's mom sticks her tongue out at her husband and Athena giggles at their playful antics.

"Do you need me to drop you off?" Her dad asks. "I'm heading out now."

Athena shakes her head. "No worries. Felix and I are going to walk together."

Her mom starts to wag her eyebrows spastastically and her dad bursts out laughing.

"You guys are horrible!" The girl grabs an apple off the counter and heads to the door. "I'm leaving, bye!"

"Wait! Don't forget to go to the office today. The principal wants to speak with you."

Athena shouts an okay and then walks out the door. She makes the short trek over to Felix's house and knocks on their door. A low roar of dashing feet could be heard outside the door as --what Athena assumed -- Felix rushed down the stairs. The door opens just as Felix screams a goodbye to his parents. He looked good. His hair was tousled and his uniform had a few wrinkles here and there but overall, he made that seem like it was the latest fashion trend.

"Are you going to keep staring at me or are we going to go to school?"

Athena breaks out from her trance and rolls her eyes. "I was not staring."

"You totally were!" 

"I wasn't!"

And that's how they start their walk; a quarrel turning into a conversation that seemed like it would never end. The two had grown closer than anyone could ever have expected and Athena feared that their whole dynamic would change once starting school. So, she prayed and hoped that nothing between them would.

But, hope is hard to keep afire in the dark cold of others. And, Athena knew that hers would be extinguished the moment she entered the school doors; yet, she held on. Even if it was just for their short walk, because Felix made her feel like she could survive and she desperately wanted to believe in herself too.