Jon drifted awake while his phone alarm started blaring. As he slowly rose into full consciousness, he took a moment to change the alarm tone from a red alert tone from Star Trek to the cliched buzz alarm. The last time he watched an episode of Star Trek he had been jarred by the feeling that he needed to get ready for school, so he'd been considering doing this for a day or so.
He tried to remember the fleeting details of the dream he'd just had. Something about Karyn, pondered Jon, and the beach? Jon struggled to work out some details as he entered the shower.
After 15 minutes of steaming hot water, some scrubbing, and a cascade of empty morning thoughts, Jon turned off the water and reached for his towel. It was slightly out of reach, so Jon stretched out to get a grip it and slipped. He was fortunate enough that he tangled himself in the shower curtain. Instead of bashing his own skull on the edge of the counter, he jerked the curtain off the rod and landed, soggy and dripping, on the bathmat.
"Fuck!" Jon groaned, as he pulled himself up by the counter. When he put is weight on his left foot, he nearly fell again from the pain. "Shit!" Jon exclaimed again. "Am I really going to have to limp all the way to school?"
Jon, aware that the stone would be a ridiculous temptation today, chose to leave it at home. He continued getting dressed in black slacks with a yellow polo shirt, taking care not to put weight on his ankle, scarfed down some cinnamon toast, and limped his way to school. Jon was already extremely frustrated when a car sped by, splashing a standing puddle of muddy water all over him. "FUCK!" yelled Jon again as he realized that this day was already ruined. Not only would he be going to school limping and covered in mud, but there's no way he'd be able to get the job if he went to the interview like this.
The day continued to get worse. He was late to two classes, the cafeteria ran out of taco meat before he could get a taco, and he had a pop quiz in American Literature, his least favorite class. His mother couldn't get out of work to bring him a change of clothes, so he couldn't clean up properly before the interview.
Luckily, Jon caught a small break. While eating the pile of wilted shredded lettuce with cheese that would have to pass for a taco today, Karyn offered to skip her last class of the day to run and get Jon some clothes. "Thank you so much, Karyn! I should have some pants and a button down hanging up just inside the closet." Karyn took off, and he limped along to his next class.
Once Karyn arrived shortly after the last class ended, Jon rushed into the boy's room to change. Of course, Jon hadn't actually worn either the pants or the shirt in a long time, so he was disappointed when the pants were a bit too loose and the shirt was slightly too tight for comfort. He looked a little disheveled, but it would have to do.
Matters got worse when Jon was nearly 10 minutes late for the interview because he had to change. The interview was held by Christy, the 22-year old assistant manager that Jon also had a crush on. Jon's nervousness got the better of him, and his frankly unprofessional appearance kept him from being comfortable. He mumbled through his responses, made mistakes, and was pretty sure he blew the interview.
On the bright side, Jon's mom was able to pick him up from Battlezone, so he didn't have to stagger home in the dark. A disheartened, depressed Jon rinsed the last of the mud off of himself and went straight to bed.
