Reina's Trouble-Free Day

Reina was always very clumsy, forgetful, and ditsy. If she was walking on the smoothest marble floor in the world, she would fall and hurt her knee. If she tied her shoelaces her laces would come undone in a matter of seconds. While playing sports that required a ball, there was a 9/10 chance she would be hit right in the head from her own shot.

Reina could study for hours and hours on end but she would still get more than half of the answers on a test/quiz incorrect. She would wake up bright and early to get ready for school, only to be distracted by her favorite T.V. show in the morning. Nothing ever seemed to work for her.

However, Reina didn't care. In fact, she was perfectly at peace with it. Her classmates would tease her about it, but she knew they meant no harm. Besides, it made her pretty popular within her class.

One night, Reina wondered for a moment-a very quick moment-what life would be like if she was not always finding herself in trouble.

The next morning Reina woke up to the sound of her alarm clock, which did not happen often. But she thought nothing of it. She noticed some homework on her desk from the day before that she had not put away in her backpack. She snatched the assignment and quickly put it in her backpack. After getting dressed, Reina went downstairs to be greeted by one of her moms drinking coffee. The two held a conversation about school and weekend plans as Reina prepped some oatmeal, and then placed it in the microwave. When the timer beeped, she took it out and turned around to see a shocked look on her mom's face.

"What?" she asked bluntly. Her mom stood shocked for another beat.

"It's just...you made something in the microwave...without burning it!" her mom finally said in a "stage-whisper". Reina looked down and noticed the warm and soft bowl of oatmeal in her hands. "Woah...I did!" she exclaimed happily. Her mom continued to stare as she took another sip of her coffee. Due to her astonishment, Reina's mom did not realize that her coffee was slipping out of the cup before it was too late. The coffee got all over her shirt which made her give out a large yelp.

"No!" she cried as Reina went to grab a towel for her. "This was my only clean shirt!"

Suddenly, her phone rang. Reina's mom grumbled as she took the phone to her ear. She listened for a bit and mumbled "Yes" a few times. After the call was done, Reina asked her who it was. "It's my boss. Apparently my coworker called out sick and they need someone to come in. I was at the top of the list. And I have to go now." Reina apologized but her mom waved it off. "What about your shirt?" Reina asked. "I'll just wear a jacket over it."

Reina eventually left the house and got to the bus stop just in time. Most of the kids at the bus stop did not recognize her as they had never seen her there before. Reina didn't pay any attention to their stares because she was busy thinking about how good of a morning she had. Not only did she not burn the oatmeal, but she also found her favorite shirt she thought she lost months ago (it turned out to be at the bottom of her sock drawer for some odd reason). She also found some missing library books that had been lost for several months. But Reina didn't think much of it. She just thought that luck was on her side this day.

Reina arrived to school right on time, which was a record. Her science teacher was both impressed and terrified about how Reina came to school. Once everyone was in class, the teacher handed out the test from two days before. Most of the room was filled with grumbles, but Reina was silent with bewilderment. She had gotten an A! A solid 94 on a rocks and minerals quiz. Her friend Max looked at the number in awe as well. They had never seen a red number higher than 75 on a paper titled "Reina K." Neither had the science teacher. 

As the day went on, Reina noticed how bad her classmates' day was going. Her classmate Lilah broke two of her violin strings and her friend Max got hit in the head and in the stomach during soccer. People were getting questions wrong, stains on their clothing, and realizing that they left their homework at home. On the other hand, Reina was turning in assignments, answering questions correctly in class, and she was barely tripping over anything. Everyone, including her, started to worry she was replaced by a different student.

When Reina got home, she did her homework, watched some T.V., and played video games with her moms. Nothing seemed to be going wrong, which was the terribly wrong part.

Before dozing off to dream land, Reina laid in her bed and thought about the long day she had. All of her peers' day was pretty bad. Reina was used to it, but they were not. She felt a bit bad thinking it was her fault for thinking about a trouble-free life.

'I don't mind being in trouble that much.' She thought before zoning out and falling asleep.

The next day, Reina woke up at 9:00 a.m., the time school started. Even worse, she woke up on the floor. She smiled happily. Everything was back to normal.