"Put your name on it! Put your name on it! Put your name on it! Put your name on it! Put your name on it!" Mr. Elwin yelled. He could say it a thousand times, but would the kids really put their name on it? Never.
But Ally obeyed. She quickly wrote her name on the top of the paper, in her always lovely chicken-scratch, and handed it to Mr. Elwin. He walked around and grabbed papers, which most likely did not have a name on it. Ally might've laughed--if this didn't happen every day. Instead she sighed. Her head hurt from the long day of school, and over the past few weeks her headaches had gotten worse. She rubbed her temples, waiting for the buzzer they called a bell to sound. The kid next to her, Kyle, started to poke her and tried to have a whisper-conversation. She ignored him, still waiting for the bell. A minute later she violently twisted her head, her wavy blond hair brushing across her shoulders, and glared at him. He backed off.
Finally the bell rang. She grabbed her back-pack and swung it over her left shoulder. She used her free hand to pick up her chair and stack it at the end of the row. Seriously, they were eighth graders, why did they have to stack chairs? Didn't they have cleaning guys?
She pushed her way through the students and out the door. Then down the packed hall and out through the main doors. She gasped, the middle-school-kid-stench-free air filling her grossed out lungs. Ally almost smiled as she ran across the parking lot, weaving effortlessly through the cars. Not even her hair could sweep across their shiny hoods. She reached the grass on the other side and waited for her friends. They weren't nearly as fast as she was, and loved to talk in the halls. Slow plus talking equals slower! Easy math.
Ally pressed her back against a small tree, the leafy branches hanging down in front of her. Minutes later, Mia and Sasha joined her.
"Girl, how are you so fast?" Sasha teased in her African American accent. Ally thought it was awesome, and always had wished she had an accent, too. Mia popped a bubble.
"I can't stand being in there," Ally replied, her tone flat.
"Come on, guys," Mia said, popping another pink bubble. "I don't want to stand here all day."
She began walking, Sasha and Ally close behind her. They waited for the cars to pass, the cross walk guy long gone. He only did it for a few minutes, then he leaves. A gap opened up and they dashed across. Ally looked around to make sure they wouldn't be run over. They reached the other side, unharmed. They stepped onto the wet grass, water oozing out of the ground around their feet. Mia looked down, clearly disgusted. She groaned and stomped forward, spraying more mud on her shoes and clothes. Sasha followed, stepping carefully so as to not do the same as her friend. Ally followed suit, taking the rear. She let them go ahead, listening to their conversation.
Like a sharp jab, the light seemed to increase, as did her headache. She looked up, and noticed that the clouds hadn't moved from their spot, covering the sun. It felt a bit like the world was swaying, vey slowly. She stopped for a moment to let it settle back into place. Ally sighed for the millionth time and started walking again. Mia and Sasha took no notice that she was behind them. They just kept talking.
Ally looked toward the mushy ground as she trudged forward. It almost seemed to offer comfort as the light kept begging for attention. Bit by bit it brightened, causing her headache to evolve into a migraine. Ally stumbled, her mind in too much pain to make her body corporate. She forced her leg to lift up, and bright spots danced in her eyes. She planted her tired foot into the ground with a thud, her other leg trying to do the same.
The light came in waves now. Ally wimpered, her friends oblivious to all the pain she was in. She decided to stop moving, and bent over, her hands clutching the sides of her throbbing head. She cried out in pain, calling for help that would never be givin. She gave her legs one last go, the light so bright Ally could barely see anything but white. It took control of her sight, blinding out anything that might want to help her. She fell toward the dirt, awaiting the cold, muddy ground.