I wake up to my alarm blaring.

"Ugh..." I open my eyes to the sun blaring through my window. I press the snooze button and get ready then head downstairs.

"Happy Birthday!" My family yells, holding a cake.

"Aw, thanks!" I give them a hug.

"Well, eat your breakfast and get on the bus. I can't be late to work again," My dad says.

"Okay," I tell him.

"You're going back to Rachel's today, huh," I ask my six-year-old brother, Michael. Rachel, his birth mother was twenty when he was born, so my parents, being friends with her mother, took him in.

"Yeah, I'm gonna' miss you," he says. I give him a hug.

"I'm gonna miss you too."

"C'mon Sair, let's go," my fourteen-year-old sister, Jessie, says finishing her cake. We grab our backpacks and run outside, just in time for the bus to pull up.

I take a seat next to my friend Lindsay. Jessie sits across the aisle with our friend, Nikki.

"So, you gonna' ask him out today?" I tease Jessie.

"Well the Girls' Gala is tomorrow," she teases back. "Do you think it's close enough?" We laugh.

"Well, you've only had a crush on him for five years. Maybe you should wait for a few more," Lindsay chimes in. The bus comes to a stop.

"Last stop!" The bus driver, Patty, shouts. "Bye girls."

"Thanks!" We say in unison, getting out of the bus. "Look, there he is! Isn't he dreamy."

"'Bout as dreamy as a pig's butt," Nikki says.

"Real mature." She walks over to her crush, John. "Uh, hey, um, John. Can I, uh, can I talk to you for a second?"

"Yeah, sure. Go ahead."

"Um, okay. Do you, uh would you like to go to the Girls' Gala with me? Only if you want to, of course."

"Sure."

"You don't have too. I understand."

"Yeah, sure, I'll go with you. Meet at your place at six?"

"Oh, wait, really? Okay. Sure. Uh, six it is!" She runs back over to us. "He said yes!"

"Wait! What? Really? Congrats!" Lindsay exclaims.

"We can pick out a dress after school if you want," I tell her. "C'mon, let's go inside." We walk into our school, Virmount High; home of the Vikings.