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You Only Live Once
"Just Another Day" -Next to Normal Cast
“Gemma! Breakfast is ready! Get dressed and get down here!” Gemma groaned as her mother’s high-pitched voice floated up the stairs, penetrating her walls, and her covers. She snuck a peek at her digital clock on her nightstand: 7:01am. Great. Forty-four minutes until she needed to be sitting at her desk in period one.
She got up slowly, savoring her last few moments in bed. Damn, waking up was hard. “Gemma! I don’t hear walking around!” Probably because I’m upstairs and you’re downstairs…
“I’m up, Mom! Promise!” Gemma stormed over to the bathroom connected to her room and pouted at the mirror. A nasty red whitehead had sprouted just above her left eyebrow. That probably meant her period was only days away.
She grabbed a brush and yanked it through her long, auburn hair, not even paying attention to the hairs she was ripping out as she did so. When it was finally nice enough to pass for brushed, she grabbed her toothbrush, brushed her teeth, and applied as much CoverGirl Concealer to her spot as possible without looking like a freak.
She put on some dark brown eyeliner, taking care to make it “natural” so that her mom wouldn’t comment. She grabbed some dark grey skinny jeans, light brown tall Uggs, and a cute fitted tee shirt with a picture of a cupcake on it, and threw it on by 7:18am. Gemma grabbed her backpack and bounded down the stairs, smelling the eggs and toast before even getting to the bottom.
“Come on Gemma, we have to leave here in,” Gemma’s mother glanced at her watch. “Seventeen minutes. Here are some scrambled eggs, and some toast with butter. Eat up, you have art club after school, don’t you?”
Gemma nodded through a mouthful of eggs and then got up to grab a glass of milk as her dad walked in. “There are my two lovely ladies,” he said, smiling and kissing Gemma on the forehead before going and giving her mom a long kiss on the lips. “What’s for breakfast, babe?”
“Scrambled eggs and toast. And there’s a fresh pot of coffee brewing right now.”
Her dad smiled. “Oh Carol. How would this house run without you?”
Gemma’s mom smirked. “It wouldn’t, smart ass. Now eat up. Don’t you have a meeting at nine this morning?” Her dad almost coughed out his coffee.
“Jesus, you’re right, only they just moved it back to eight thirty last night, and I totally forgot! Thank god you’re here, huh? Got to run. Love you both! Gems, have a great day at school, Carol, have a good day at the store!”
Gemma’s dad was a realtor, and a very good one at that. He was one of the top realtors at Blue Umbrella Realty, and his face always smiled back at Gemma from benches and billboards. Gemma’s mom was a co-owner of a bookstore in town, and she was there every day, counting inventory or shelving books or ordering new ones. Some days, Gemma would go over after school and work as cashier for a while, but today, as her mom mentioned, she had art club after school, making Tuesday her favorite day of the week.
As soon as Gemma was done eating, her mom bustled around, cleaning up dishes and coaxing Gemma in to the car. Finally, at 7:37, two minutes later then they were supposed to leave, both Gemma and her mom were in the car, on their way to Oakwood High School.
She got up slowly, savoring her last few moments in bed. Damn, waking up was hard. “Gemma! I don’t hear walking around!” Probably because I’m upstairs and you’re downstairs…
“I’m up, Mom! Promise!” Gemma stormed over to the bathroom connected to her room and pouted at the mirror. A nasty red whitehead had sprouted just above her left eyebrow. That probably meant her period was only days away.
She grabbed a brush and yanked it through her long, auburn hair, not even paying attention to the hairs she was ripping out as she did so. When it was finally nice enough to pass for brushed, she grabbed her toothbrush, brushed her teeth, and applied as much CoverGirl Concealer to her spot as possible without looking like a freak.
She put on some dark brown eyeliner, taking care to make it “natural” so that her mom wouldn’t comment. She grabbed some dark grey skinny jeans, light brown tall Uggs, and a cute fitted tee shirt with a picture of a cupcake on it, and threw it on by 7:18am. Gemma grabbed her backpack and bounded down the stairs, smelling the eggs and toast before even getting to the bottom.
“Come on Gemma, we have to leave here in,” Gemma’s mother glanced at her watch. “Seventeen minutes. Here are some scrambled eggs, and some toast with butter. Eat up, you have art club after school, don’t you?”
Gemma nodded through a mouthful of eggs and then got up to grab a glass of milk as her dad walked in. “There are my two lovely ladies,” he said, smiling and kissing Gemma on the forehead before going and giving her mom a long kiss on the lips. “What’s for breakfast, babe?”
“Scrambled eggs and toast. And there’s a fresh pot of coffee brewing right now.”
Her dad smiled. “Oh Carol. How would this house run without you?”
Gemma’s mom smirked. “It wouldn’t, smart ass. Now eat up. Don’t you have a meeting at nine this morning?” Her dad almost coughed out his coffee.
“Jesus, you’re right, only they just moved it back to eight thirty last night, and I totally forgot! Thank god you’re here, huh? Got to run. Love you both! Gems, have a great day at school, Carol, have a good day at the store!”
Gemma’s dad was a realtor, and a very good one at that. He was one of the top realtors at Blue Umbrella Realty, and his face always smiled back at Gemma from benches and billboards. Gemma’s mom was a co-owner of a bookstore in town, and she was there every day, counting inventory or shelving books or ordering new ones. Some days, Gemma would go over after school and work as cashier for a while, but today, as her mom mentioned, she had art club after school, making Tuesday her favorite day of the week.
As soon as Gemma was done eating, her mom bustled around, cleaning up dishes and coaxing Gemma in to the car. Finally, at 7:37, two minutes later then they were supposed to leave, both Gemma and her mom were in the car, on their way to Oakwood High School.