Slam your hand across the fake glass surface of your bedside table.
A little more to the right—you almost knocked your phone over the edge last night, remember?
There you go. Turn that thing off, please. You really need to change that deafening alarm.
It’s Monday again, so stumble out of bed and go get ready. C’moooon, stop moping, there are people out there with 8 a.m.’s. That hasn’t been you since your first semester of college. It’s like, 10am—well, you probably overslept, so more like 10:15. Let’s go.
By the way, you’re going to step on a thumb tack when you get out of bed, so try not to moan and groan too loudly because your roommate is still sleeping. Go on. There’s bandaids under the sink if you need one, which you really won’t.
You’ve made it to the bathroom. Good job! Now, before you lose your head, your toothbrush is sitting in the soap tray where you left it after your shower last night. Go grab it, and remember that time your mom taught you to brush your teeth in the shower while your shampoo sits, but only if you’re in a hurry. You’re always in a hurry, so it’s just normal for you now. Yet, you still look for it in the tootbrush holder by the sink every morning.
God, you’ll never learn to stop banging your toothbrush on the side of the sink to shake the water off of the bristles. They’re not made of steel, and neither is the sink of your rented apartment.
Remember all of the times you woke up your little sister, the one who’s not so little anymore. You’ve always managed to be loud in the morning without saying one word to anyone. Grumpy and loud—just like your dad. Wonder what he’s doing and then assume he’s at work.
Later, pick up the phone to him asking why you haven’t called in a while. Tell him, “I thought you were busy,” and listen as he reminds you that Monday is his day off. Put a sticky note in your planner: “Call parents more often.”
Alright, it’s time to get dressed. Stand there like a clueless idiot once again, staring at the metal racks that hold the same wardrobe you’ve had for the past, like, five years. Don’t pretend today is going to be the day you need to look cute for your future husband, haven’t we been through this before?
Grab the leggings folded on your dresser, yup—the ones right next to all that homework you didn’t do. Throw on one of those free t-shirts from the housing fair and grab some socks. Stop looking for your sneakers in there, they’re downstairs where you left them after you collapsed on the couch and watched three hours of Broad City last night.
Oh, and don’t forget your backpack. Duh.
Since you overslept (again), you don’t have time to make that big, nutritious breakfast you saw on Pinterest last night. Sorry bud. Looks like the omelet, fruit salad, and Colombian coffee will have to wait. It’s a granola bar for the road and a water bottle. But don’t worry, you’ll get ‘em next time.
Now starts the annoying walk to the bus stop, where you’ll encounter your first victim of the day: the mailman. Shake off that resting bitch face, please. I know you can’t, but it’s my job to tell you to try. Wave back! His morning probably isn’t going too hot either, I mean, he has to drive that clunky truck, shove advertisements in already stuffed mailboxes, and deal with melodramatic college girls giving him the side-eye before noon. Keep walking.
Ah yes, the bus is late again. Of course! Then again, you should’ve checked the bus app before you left your apartment. But don’t worry— eventually, you’ll look up and realize that it’s a beautiful day. You’ll plug in your $8 Walgreens headphones, play “Screen” by Twenty One Pilots, and sit down on the electricity box until the bus pulls up. Is that even safe?
Once you get on the bus, you’ll remember you left your textbook and reading material on your desk, and a slight panic will overcome your body when you realize you needed that to study for your quiz. Wing it, you’ll pull an 8/10. Nice. Think about how lucky you’ve been getting lately. That, or you’re actually getting pretty good at this “college” thing, even though you still have no idea what you’re doing most of the time.
The squeaky chair of your 11 a.m. lecture is starting to feel strangely comfortable, even though the desk still wobbles. So comfortable, in fact, that you’re going to fall asleep and miss half of the boring lecture. There’s no helping you, kid. Get some actual sleep tonight.
Class will drag on all day, but you’ll get free pizza in the union. Hooray for not starving! You’ll even make it to the front of the line in time for a free lemonade, and for a split second, the sun will fall in the same way it did that summer so long ago, when all of your friends were still friends and no one ever left until their mom called them home for dinner.
Remember that moment—remember that light, and keep it with you.
There’s only so many Mondays left in the semester. There’s only so many times you can call your mom crying, there’s only so many times you can sleep for five more minutes, there’s only so many times you can skip class and go home. There’s only so many times for you to give in, before you finally give up.
So get up. It’s a beautiful life.
Wake up, it’s Monday again.