It was Friday evening, and Annabelle arrived home later than usual due to the fact that she had to retake a test she nearly failed. It wasn’t that she didn’t want to do well in school, because she did, but it took too much effort for her to get a decent grade. In any case, some days, despite staying up, studying all night for an exam, Annabelle would still do poorly. She wasn’t stupid, but she was also no rocket scientist like her friend Hadley. Hadley was half Korean and her parents would always get mad if she started slacking in school. One time, she brought home a B- on a quiz that everyone else bombed, and was grounded for the weekend. Annabelle felt sorry for her friend. She always tried her best but it was never good enough for her parents.

“Annabelle, where have you been?” interrogated her mother.

“I was at school, retaking a test,” she replied.

“I’ve called you four times. You couldn’t have just sent me a text to let me know?”

“Sorry, Mom,” Annabelle whispered. She then continued along upstairs, throwing her heavy, navy blue backpack into the corner of the den on the way up. Once she reached her bedroom, Annabelle shut the door behind her and collapsed onto her soft bed, letting out a giant sigh. Closing her sleep deprived eyes; she allowed her mind to drift off, soon falling into a deep slumber.

Two hours passed by and Annabelle remained, sleeping in her bed until she was awoken.

“What are you doing in there?” her mother yelled, knocking on her door. Annabelle’s eyes slowly opened and she sat up, wiping the drool off the side of her chin.

“Annabelle!”

“Coming mom,” she said in a hurry. Standing up, she opened her bedroom door, only to find her mom standing uncomfortably close to her with a giant wooden spoon in her hand.

“What’s with the spoon, Mom?” she asked.

“Never mind the spoon darling, I’m cooking dinner,” her mother explained.

“Don’t call me darling, it’s weird,” Annabelle ordered, rubbing her unfocused eyes.

“Why are you always up here in your room sleeping after school? Why don’t you go out and do something with your friends?” her mother wondered aloud. Annabelle’s mom did not understand. It wasn’t that easy. Annabelle wasn’t popular in school and was never invited “out.” Boys did not find her attractive in any way, shape or form and she was not the kind of person to invite herself places where she was unwanted. But Annabelle was not going to explain this to her mother. Instead, she came up with a decent excuse.

“I’m tired, Mom. I’ve had seven different tests this week, four of which I had today, not including the retake after school. So if you don’t mind, I’d like to return to my bed where I am comfortable and can catch up on my sleep.”
“Well, come down for dinner. It will be ready within an hour.” With that, Annabelle’s mother returned to the kitchen to finish cooking dinner.
Annabelle was not in the mood to eat tonight and crawled back into her messy bed, curling up into the fetal position. She closed her eyes but this time started to cry. They were silent tears falling from her blue eyes. Annabelle was sure she was depressed but was in no way going to inform her mother about this. It was all of the “silly things” she was crying over. She was fat and ugly. No boys liked her. She was not good in school and a terrible athlete. Annabelle tried to think of one thing she was decent at but couldn’t come up with anything. She just wanted to go back to sleep. The deep sleep she was in before her obnoxious mother had to wake her. Sleep was Annabelle’s way of escaping from the world she hated. Anything was possible in her dreams, and thinking that, she closed her eyes and wished sleep to take over.