Putting it off

Not actually a Module C piece, but rather Texts and Human Experiences.

Compare these two versions of an experience.

VERSION ONE

7.15am wake up, psych yourself up to face the day. You hit snooze a lot.

7.35am actually get out of bed. Some showering and stuff but it mostly goes by without you really noticing it because you do it every day

8.39am get to school late, try to slide into period 1 without anyone noticing. You practice looking really innocent, as if you’ve just come out of the woodwork and it’s the teacher’s fault for not noticing you were there.

School day Stuff happens. Your mate does something moderately amusing. Momentary panic about an assessment in Week 9 and you can’t remember what week this is. Mostly just stuff and being talked at. Some looking out the window.

3.15pm Leave school sweaty. You wonder how bad you actually smell.

3.18pm Hot chips or ice lolly? You’re about to cross the road in front of the station and you see the hem on this girl’s really short skirt and wonder about her knees and

3.19pm You don’t actually feel the car hit you, just a confused surge of panic, the sound of brakes, and then nothing.

No one rewards life when it’s represented this way. Instead, you’re supposed to turn it into this:

VERSION TWO

Our year director made us write a list of five resolutions for Year 12. I used the list to mop up a ketchup spill, but I remember that one of my resolutions was not procrastinating. Seizing the moment, getting shit done, whatever. Not putting the time off. So that morning I swore I’d only hit snooze once.

I ended up hitting it four times.

Because I was late I had to put off asking Angus to ask his sister if she was going to her formal with anyone –  not that I really wanted to go to her formal, but I didn’t want to go to mine on my own (or with Angus, who said he’d wear a dress and come as my date). I was only going to ask Angus’ sister because I thought Amelia Ahern would just laugh at me, and I wanted to give my ego time to recover.

Then Angus (whose ADHD is his excuse to behave like a chimp on speed) behaved like a total tool. One day I’ll tell him how it actually looks. I was busy panicking when we got the assessment notification in Chemistry and I couldn’t remember what week it actually was. I keep meaning to use the diary thing on my phone. I swore I’d do it next week.

Amelia was sitting near him and she looked like she’d stepped in some vomit when he started up. I know at some point I’m going to have to put distance between me and Angus.

I mean, I knew. There’s some significant distance now. 

When school finished we were crossing the road opposite the station and I saw Amelia in her tennis stuff. Angus was going on about how hot chips were better than a paddle pop. I was thinking that I should say he didn’t need any more fuel for his enormous mouth. Then I thought I’d tell him some other time. I was looking at the back of Amelia’s knees and thinking about how stiff the tennis skirt looked, like that doll you put on top of the Christmas tree. Christmas was only six weeks away and I’d put off making any money, so going away wasn’t going to happen.

Then the car hit me, and time put me off.