The Story of Red

I woke up at around 7:00am. The usual time. Yawning and stretching my arms, I wriggled down under my blankets and tried to close my eyes for one last time before I knew I had to get up.
‘1, 2, 3, 4, 5…’ I counted in my head. When I reached the number 10, I threw off the blankets and paddled down to the dining room for breakfast. I went into the kitchen and grabbed cereal, milk, a bowl and a spoon. Juggling the eating stuff back to the table, my brother Sam appeared with my mum.
“Hi Kathy,” mum greeted. Pouring some cereal into my glass bowl I asked her, “Where’s Dad?”
“Oh, he left early. Meetings.” I nodded and poured the milk into my bowl. Mum took my cereal and poured it in Sam’s bowl. Stirring my spoon in the cereal, I absentmindedly ate as mum helped Sam.
Quickly I finished my cereal and went to my room as I got dressed. After dressing, I checked my schoolbag to make sure I’ve got everything, and then went to brush my teeth and hair. After doing all that, I was making my way outside to get my bike when Mum called, “Kathy, aren’t you going to eat your bun?”

I remembered I forgot my bun. Grinning at my mother I took the bun off the table, grabbed my bike, and was off.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ I peddled through our estate of Favorview Palace. I took one hand off the handlebars and ate my bun as I rode along. Coming to a gate that marked the end of the section of buildings I was riding in I grabbed my residence card, beeped it on the scanner, and went down a steep hill.
When I finally reached the bus stop, I was feeling rather tired, like always. My body was not accustomed to being pushed so hard with exercise in the mornings.
I parked my bike, locked it, pocketed the keys and ran down to the bus stop. I waved over my friend Sunny.
“Hey Kathy!” she grinned. I sat down on a bench, and she sat next to me. Sunny was Korean, and she had a Korean name, but I forgot what it was. She was smart at maths and sporty, with short black hair and black eyes.
“Do you have art today? I have music.” I stated.
“Yeah we do. Are you learning division in math?” she asked me back.
I shook my head. “Nope, algebra. It’s totally killing me!”
Sunny looked shocked. “Algebra’s easy! Well, for me anyway.”
I rolled my eyes at her. “Of course it’s easy for you! You’re a total math genius! Along with Leo and Yamato.”
Just then our bus, 24A, drove into view. I hopped up from the bench and trotted over to the long queue. Sunny lined up behind me.
I got on the bus and daydreamed all the way to school, just like every other day.
~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~
The rest of the day passed smoothly until math class. I was concentrating on my math problems when JiHyun, a fellow Korean student gasped and said, “Oh my god!”
I paid no attention to her, still stuck on algebra. Then suddenly out of the corner of my eye I saw our teacher, Miss Shanna, go, “Whoa! What’s this??”
Several boys stood up and went to the front to the classroom, yelling and pointing. Curiosity got the better of me. Anyway, it had to be better than algebra.
Leaning over my friend Ariel’s head, I saw a puppy. I tried to register the sight in my brain. How did a puppy get into our classroom?! I looked closer. The puppy seemed pleased with all the attention he was getting, and was trotting around the front section of the room, sniffing everything.
“How did he get in here?” Miss Shanna asked JiHyun, who was standing by the door. JiHyun shook her head in amazement. “He was just out here, Miss Shanna. I heard him scratching at the door and I opened it. Then he just walked in!”
From that moment on I got a feeling that school would be a lot more interesting.