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The sound of the alarm clock woke Damon from his sleep. He rolled over onto his stomach and placed his pillow over his ears to try and block out the sound. After a minute of that unsuccessful attempt to muffle the annoying, incessant beeping, he emerged from under his blanket and slammed a hand down on the off button. He lay back on his bed and draped one arm over his eyes. "Just a few more minutes…"
A knock came on the door.
"Damon, honey, you're going to be late," his mother said through the door.
He groaned and finally rolled himself out of bed. "6:00… Who in their right minds gets up this early?" he asked himself as he padded off to his bathroom. He blinked hard when he flipped the light switch on and then looked in the mirror. "Man, oh man, D. You sure look terrible." He shook his head and turned on the faucet. He splashed the cold water onto his face and instantly, he was awake. "That's better," he muttered. "No more droopy eyes. Now let's see if we can't tidy up the rest of you."
Ten minutes later, Damon was done with the bathroom and was rummaging through his closet for something decent to wear. He grabbed a pair of khaki pants and shrugged those on. Next, he took a black dress shirt from one hanger and put that on. He looped a red tie around his neck, stuffed his feet into a pair of black shoes, and grabbed his letter jacket and backpack before heading down the stairs.
"It's about time," his mother greeted him with a kiss on one cheek. "But at least you look good. Do you plan on breaking any hearts today?" she teased.
"Thanks for the support, mom. You know it's tradition for the team to dress nicely the week before Homecoming."
"I know, I know. I'm just kidding. Anyway, the donuts are by the door. Don't forget them on the way out, okay?"
"You're the best, mom," he said as he finished tying his shoes. He slipped on his jacket and backpack and headed towards the front door. "Thanks for taking Ros and Caleb to school today, too."
"Tradition is tradition. Just go to school and have breakfast already."
"Will do. I love you, mom."
"I love you, too. See you tonight."
"Bye!"
And with that, Damon scooped up the box of donuts from the small stand beside the door and walked out to greet the sun.
6:45 came and it was Sharon's alarm clock that rang now. She woke up easily, turning over to her right and switching the alarm to off before stretching her body and giving a big yawn. Then she threw off her covers and left her bedroom to go to the bathroom. Once done in there, she went back to her room and changed out of her flannel pajamas into a pair of jeans, a white, long-sleeved T-shirt, and a red, hooded flannel vest over that. She brushed her hair and decided to let it stay loose for once instead of tying it back like she normally did.
The clock read 7:01 and she sprinted out of her room, keys and backpack in hand into the kitchen. She grabbed an apple off the table for her breakfast and raced out the door.
She reached the student center at 7:14.
"Sharon! You made it just in time! And look at you! Your hair is down for once!" Damon greeted. "Here's an apron." He threw her an extra one.
"Thanks for the good morning. What the heck am I supposed to do with this?"
"You just volunteered yourself to helping serve breakfast this morning," he grinned.
"I did 'what'? I so did not volunteer myself. You did!"
"You came, didn't you?"
She scowled at him but gave in and put on the apron after placing her backpack among the pile already there.
"Sharon! What are you doing here?"
She turned her head and smiled. "Hey, Ana. Damon tricked me into volunteering today. I even missed making myself breakfast and lunch to make sure I came on time."
"He did, did he?" Ana turned to give Damon an evil eye.
He raised his hands up in defense. "Sorry. How was I to know? Now I feel bad. Here, why don't you just get a plate and some food and eat. You don't have to help," he offered.
"No, it's all right. I'm here to help so that's what I'll do. Just save me a chocolate donut for breakfast, okay Damon? Now Ana, what do you want me to do?"
"Are you sure you don't want to eat yet?"
"Half an hour is nothing. I'll be fine."
"Okay. Then just go over there and stand in between Riley and Vin. You're in charge of the cereal with Vin."
"Ooh, fun stuff," she winked and made her way over to where the two guys were. "Good morning," she greeted them.
"Sharon! Hi," Vin smiled, reaching over to give her a hug. Riley nodded and smiled a hello and then turned back to a conversation he was having with another football player to his right. "What are you doing here?" he asked as he poured one student some cereal into a cup.
"Ana says cereal duty."
He laughed. "No, I mean what are you really doing here? Why are you helping the varsity football team and student government feed the freshmen and the faculty this morning?"
"Ask Damon that one. He's making me do this."
"Is he really? Well, he does have a way of getting people to do what he wants."
"He and Ana both, huh?"
He nodded. "There's a reason why they're in charge of student government. You couldn't ask for a more dedicated and hard-working pair. Those two, they work wonders together. It makes sense and all, what with them knowing each other since they were practically born and knowing how to always do what it takes to get the results they want."
Sharon looked over to where Damon was standing with one arm draped over Ana's shoulders. The two were talking with one of the teachers, all smiling and laughing away. 'Together, huh,' she thought. 'You really do know the right guys to pick, Sharon. Looks like you're out of luck in this department yet again. Go figure the two are a couple. I always see them together so it makes sense. Oh well.'
"Sharon?"
She forced herself to look away and focus back on the present. "Huh?"
"I just asked you if you knew what color your dress was yet and you kinda just blanked on me."
"Sorry, Vin," she smiled sheepishly. "You know… Cereal… It's so fascinating sometimes…"
Vin gave her an odd look.
"All right. That wasn't the most brilliant response ever, was it?"
"You can say that again," he grinned. "What was on your mind?"
"Oh, nothing really. But before I forget to answer your question again, I'm going to be wearing a black dress."
"All black?"
She shook her head. "It has a sparkly silver floral pattern."
"Okay, simple enough. Have you thought about where you would maybe like to eat?"
"Dinner too? Vin, that's a lot of money!"
"Come on, it's Homecoming. Besides, it's not like you're going to be paying."
"What do you mean? Of course I am. I can't let you do that."
"Yes, you can. It'll be my treat. Consider it a belated welcome to our humble high school from me."
"You don't have to do that. I feel bad now."
"Don't. Just think about it, okay? We could even do a trip to McD's if you feel bad about the money. I just think we should have dinner before hand."
She shook her head but smiled. "You really want to go all out for this, don't you?"
"It's senior year, Sharon. Gotta make the most of it and make it a memorable one, I say."
"You do have a point," she conceded. "I'll think about it then."
"You do that, and here, have some cereal. You look like you're hungry."
"A little bit," she admitted. "Was it that obvious?"
"Your witty comment about cereal and your stomach growling made it so," he winked.
"Again, blame Damon for that one. In order to get here on time, I had to skip breakfast at home and I didn't have time to make my lunch either."
"Well then, I say you've done your duty here. Go ahead and eat up. Breakfast is pretty much wrapping up anyway. There's plenty more cereal if you want though. And after you finish with that, we can go to our lockers and then off to government."
She chuckled, agreeing and thanking him before taking one cup of cornflakes and sitting herself down in a nearby chair to eat.