Sarah

I was just finishing looking at myself in the mirror for the third time, when Dad's car horn blared through our wooden house, waking me up from the narcissistic trap I had fallen into.

"DAD!" I said.

"DAAAD!!" I screamed!

"STOP! IT!"

The sound stopped, and I could almost see his snickering.

When he ran out of things to do, disturbing me was Dad's utmost priority. He is a Professor of science, and well, those fellas get real bored.

The old smart speaker in my room was playing an endless queue of my favorite romantic songs, and I just could not turn it off.

"Just a few more hours, Sarah!" I said to myself.

This was the last day of the school. Summer holidays start tomorrow, and God knows how long I have been waiting for this!

I slid down the staircase railings and landed catlike on the mat. After packing up my lunch, my favorite peanut butter sandwiches, I locked the house and entered the big old car. It smelled like rotten leaves and rain inside, but it was warm.

My dad was reading the "Interesting Physics" magazine.

Trust me, there was nothing interesting about it. I mean, I DO like physics, but I can barely understand what my dad reads. Maybe I will like it when I am older, who knows? I mean, I used to hate peanut butter when I was a kid, so…

I look at my house as the car pulls out of the incline and speeds up. Our house is a small, sad wooden house that had a beauty of its own. It sat exactly in the middle of a shallow, round pit and four trees surround it, as if they were watching over it day and night. 3 alive and one dead. My dad refuses to cut down the fourth one and I agree with him. The dead tree was the oldest and most of my childhood was around it.

"So, school's going to end, right?" he said. "What are you planning to do this summer, Sarah?"

I took an enormous bite out of my sandwich and looked at him.

"Well," I said. "As of now, my plans are staying home and watching TV."

He frowned.

"Hum…Hum…" My dad hummed. He always did this when he did not get the answer he had expected.

"You have anything in mind for me to do?" said I. "I could go for gymnastics, you know?"

Dad slowed down the car. He looked at me with those sad eyes of his.

"In two years, you will be in university, Sarah." he said. "I know, alright? I know this is boring to hear, but I AM GOING TO SAY IT! DO NOT WASTE THIS SUMMER ALRIGHT?"

He was very serious.

"Do anything you want, Sarah, but please do not stay home all day like you did for the past two summers." he said. "You are going to regret it later, lady!"

I did not know that dad cared about me wasting summers, but obviously, he did! I was already thinking about all the things I could have done during those days and something inside me told that dad was right. That he was terribly and utterly right!

"I just feel so sorry for you, kid." he said after speeding up. "You make no friends, you don't know how to make friends! You know? Your mother and I met when I was your age. And our summers were beautiful!"

The forests in the side-view mirror were getting smaller as we got closer to the city. A few stray hairs fell across my face and I pushed them back. It was so peaceful. The scenery, the bright morning sun, sounds of cattle and the jingles that their bells made. Sarah wished for this ride to never end.

"So," her dad said. "Let me tell you what you are going to do this summer. I will lock the house every day before I go to work and I will make sure you cannot get inside until I come home in the evening. You can go anywhere you want and if you want to take summer camp courses, you can join as many as you want. But please, lady, please do not return home until the evening. I promise you, Sarah, this will be the best summer of your life. Yes, sir! Even better than your childhood summers."

Everything he had said sounded exciting, and a smile appeared on my face.

"Ok, dad." I said. "We'll do it your way!"

He looked happy and surprised.

"Done, baby. Done," He said. "Now don't forget about the sandwich in your hand."

We both laughed and suddenly, we found ourselves in front of the school. I climbed out awkwardly and let dad know I would come home late because of the last day party and etcetera, etcetera and waved him goodbye.

As I entered the gate and started walking, I noticed I was late; the morning assembly was nearly over. If I tried to go any further, the teachers on the back will stop me and kinda humiliate me, so I took a detour around the main stage to a hiding place.

I would stay there till the assembly is over and then I will just join the crowd smooth as a criminal.

The morning, as I mentioned previously, was dazzling. It was the kind of day that made you want to run and frolic. I heard bird songs and a faint noise coming from the stage. I hated crowds, let alone school crowds! Standing amid all that sweat and commotion made me feel breathless.

I took the pathway to the right stealthily and then entered the kindergarten park. After pinching a chubby boy's cheeks and wishing him good morning, I snuck past the auditorium and arrived at the hiding place.

The noise from the stage was now louder and clearer; the head teacher was giving his boring speech in a very inhumanly enthusiastic way.

I sat on a bench and took out the last of item my breakfast: some apple juice. I opened the bottle and started sipping the sweet, sweet juice when I heard a whistle and almost coughed it all out.

Someone was whistling my favorite song on the other side of the wall. The song and the artist both were not very famous, in fact, the song had only three thousand views or so.

I was both surprised and shocked by this! I was surprised because whoever the person was; they knew the song very well. Shocked, because I hated that someone else knew MY favorite song now. MY FAVORITE SONG!

Maybe it had gotten famous now. Who knows? Internet and the possibilities.

The tune started from the pre-chorus to the chorus and then repeated itself. It mesmerized me. The voice, the quality of the whistle, was just so perfect! I sat there wondering who it could be.

There was the boy's bathroom on the other side of the wall… It's a boy, ok.

Now, I just have to wait in front of the boy's bathroom and find who it was that whistled so sweetly.

But another part of my brain was telling me something else. The bold girl in me just wanted to climb the wall and look for herself who this might be. Maybe it might be the one who I had waited for so long?

Damn, this bold girl inside me is just too cheesy for me, I thought.

But instead of waiting around near the boy's bathroom like a pervert, I could just climb the wall like a… pervert?

I laughed at myself and prepared to climb. After putting my bag on the bench, I ran fast, stepped on the wall nimbly and caught hold of the top. Then I pulled myself up and turned and sat on the top.

I was just about to look down at this Whistling Mozart, this Bathroom Beethoven of mine, when I heard someone yell "SARAH! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!"

I turned to see Mrs. Harris approaching me. I tried to get down quickly, lost my balance and fell down.

Yes, sir, yes!

There was a crunch as I fell on top of my beautiful hands. And the crunch was the sound of summer dreams getting broken.