Late Again! ©
By Philip
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Jack Lombard walked down the bumpy sidewalk of Timeville. He was walking in the hot sun of Alabama, going to school. He should have been in his seat by now.
Once he got there, he was not afraid to open the door. He knew what was coming, and there it came. He let all the yelling from Ms. Butterscotch, his teacher, soak in. He did not say a word. He was used to this by now. “How could you be late AGAIN?!?!?” Ms. Butterscotch screeched. He wasn’t embarrassed, as she screamed at him in front of all his friends. He was late too many times, that it would be awkward if she didn’t yell at him. He looked at Zuri, his best friend, because she usually makes him laugh at this time, just to cheer him up. But she was in her thinking mode this time.
That night, he was in a bad mood. He was late so many times, so he didn’t know why that was making him feel blue. “Are you okay Jack?” his mom asked him while they were eating dinner. “I was late again today. I really want to stop this.” he replied, not looking up. “I think I have an idea, Jack!” His dad happily announced, “I can drive you to school every morning! That way you won’t be late! What do you think?” Feeling that someone cared gave Jack some more energy. He imagined being early. He just imagined Ms. Butterscotch greeting him every morning with a nice smile. “I would LOVE that!” Jack exclaimed. “Then thats what we will do” his dad said proudly.
BEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! BEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! BEEEEEEEEP!!!!
Jack’s alarm sounded at 7:30. Jack pulled himself up, but remembered that he was going to get driven to school, so he decided he could sleep in a little bit. He laid back down, and relaxed. But he forgot to set his alarm back on…….. Jack woke up when there was 5 minutes until he was late. Jack laid back, and looked at the ceiling. “How could this not have worked?” Jack thought. “It seemed like such a good idea.” Then Jack faced reality. “No time for talking, I HAVE TO GO!” He announced to himself. He put on his clothes, and brushed his teeth in no time. His dad woke up right when he did. They both were rushing, and neither of them said one word. It would just slow them down.
Jack got to school 25 minutes late. To compensate for being that late, he had to have a 25 minute detention after school. He did not want to encounter lateness
anymore. Patrick, his second best friend, walked up to him at the detention center. “ Hey, I’m sorry you keep getting here late,” Patrick said in a soft tone. “ It’s not your fault. It’s mine, but thanks anyway,” Jack replied. “ Well, I came here to give you a suggestion. How about you take the bus? I am on it.” Jack thought that was an amazing idea! He said thank you to Patrick and Patrick left with a smile. Jack was happy that he was introduced to the bus. “ See you tomorrow morning then,” Patrick said from far away. That night he told his family the awesome idea. They were quite excited just like him. They told him that Patrick is a great friend, and he should always have him as a friend. And that night he went to sleep easily. He forgot to put on his alarm clock though...
“Jack wake up! You are going to be late to the bus!!!” his mom yelled, rushing her own words, and trying to get every sound out. Jack didn’t get it. Was he unlucky or something? He was speechless. He hated this. All of this MESS!! It was just so frustrating. He looked at the clock. Yeah, he was going to be late. He did the best he could getting out of the house, but it was no use. “It can’t happen,” he thought, “Something is missing and I can’t find it. No, no! I have to be determined if I want it to happen! I must believe in it. “ All of these thoughts were bumping in his head. Maybe it was just him, but there was so many obstacles for being on time. He now remembered what he needed to do. He knew he was going to be late for the bus, so why go there? Why not just go to school? Jack thought that was a good idea. He trudged down to school, and was not confident AT ALL. He was sentenced for detention, and got the daily screaming from Ms. Butterscotch. This was not working.
At detention, Zuri came up to him. She looked confident, and Jack did not.
“ I can help, you know,” Zuri commented. Jack wanted to laugh. “ Zuri can’t do anything about it “ he thought. After the situation with Patrick, how could he trust her? He looked up at Zuri. It seemed as if she was waiting for him to say something. He had nothing to say. “ I will agree,” Zuri added, “to pick you up from your house every morning and take you to school.” For one moment, Jack was speechless. He couldn’t breathe. It was like he froze. Then the next moment, Jack melted, jumped up, and hugged Zuri right then and there. He heard the other people in the detention center laugh and giggle, but he didn’t care what they thought. He felt so confident now. This could truly work! He imagined being on time, maybe even early! He imagined Zuri picking him up from his house every morning, with her bright smile she wears all the time. It felt so nice in his stomach. He was cheerful again. But then, all those bright thoughts vanished, and the evil thought army marched in. The two ideas of his dad driving him and taking the bus were leading the army, smashing in his head. Will this third idea work? He didn’t have a clue. He was so impatient for the outcome.
That night, he told his family the new news. “ But how could you trust Zuri when Patrick’s idea didn’t work?” His dad asked. “ Because Zuri is my best friend. Patrick is my second best friend.” Jack replied. Mr. and Mrs. Lombard looked at each other like Jack just said something childish. Jack hated when they did that. He will show them. They don’t believe in this, but once it works, Jack will show them. He went into his bed after dinner, taking a shower, and brushing his teeth. He tried to go to sleep, but something didn’t seem right. It felt like he needed to do something else before he went to bed. He thought for a moment, and decided he felt that way only because he was nervous about if this plan would work. But still, he felt… THAT WAS IT! He needed to turn on his alarm clock!! He ran over to his clock and set the alarm. There. Now he felt good about all the late business. He was making a change. And that change will work.
BEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEP!! BEEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!!! BEEEEEEEEEEEP!!!! Jack’s alarm clock beeped at 7:30. He got right up this morning, did his morning routine, sprung out the door, and now, all he could do was wait. His hands were trembling. He was shivering, even though it was spring. This was what he was waiting for. Could it work? It kept popping in his head. Could it work? Could it work? Could it work? Suddenly, a blue Toyota pulled up. Time stopped. His shoulders went down to a relaxing position. He finally felt the nice, spring air. He couldn’t help but smile. “ Are ya ready?” Zuri called from the street. This was what the on time people felt like. “ Yeah! Let’s go!” Jack called back. He rushed to the car, got in the seat, and realized it was only 7:57. He was going to be early.
“ YOU CAN’T BE EARLY TO SCHOOL!!!! THE TEACHER HAS TO GET READY FIRST BEFORE YOU BARGE INTO THE DOOR!!!” Ms. Butterscotch screeched. Oh boy. Here we go again.