"Reset"
You are an intelligent young man. I've heard it so often by now the words barely register. I'm already conditioned to roll my eyes and scowl at the abrasive admonition. How could I be so stupid if I'm so smart? Have you ever considered that maybe I'm not smart? Stupid lady.
"I'll try harder, Mom," I mutter. She doesn't seem to notice or care about the obvious platitude. Satisfied, she finally leaves me to my game. I could be doing homework right now. But I won't. I can do it later. But I won't. It's not like Mom cares. I'm on my laptop, so I'm probably doing homework. It's fine. Staying up past midnight is normal for a kid in advanced courses. It's fine.
I can't wake up in time to drive my sister to school the next morning and Mom yells at me. "I'll try harder, Mom." But I won't. "I'm off to school now." But I'm not. Where should I drive today? I could go see a movie, or check out that comic shop I saw last time. I have a decade-old Buick, a minimum wage job, and an alibi. Complete freedom.
In the end I settle for a trip to Culver's and stuff crinkle fries in my face while singing along to Imagine Dragons and Coldplay. Why on earth would I ever go to class, when Culver's is right there? Who cares if I skip class? Not me. Not Mom.
It was all planned out for me, the glorious road for the boy genius. With dual enrollment, you can get your degree before you're 18! How does that sound! Well, when I'm 14 that sounds great. When I'm 16, who cares? Not me. Not Mom. I swear he's going to revolutionize the field of geometry. Except I'm stupid. How could I revolutionize a field I know nothing about? I drive home. Mom is glad to hear class was good.
I wake up in time to drive my sister to school and head back home to get some more sleep before my shift. Ah, the bright young man with his grown up job as a supermarket cashier. The shift manager sees me clocking in and gives me a bewildered look. Why aren't you in school? You're not supposed to be here.
"I'm in college, Diane. Classes are Monday, Wednesday, Friday, remember?" She doesn't remember. Oh, that's right. She doesn't care. I'm surprised at how much longer five hours is when I'm behind a register instead of my laptop. If I was really smart, that wouldn't surprise me. Well, I still prefer the day shift to the evening shift. More time to spend playing my game when I get home. Mom gets home after me and asks to borrow my employee discount card. She knows it's not allowed. When I remind her, she makes me come with her instead. I was playing my game, but she doesn't care. I'll just stay up all night to catch up for the lost time with my game.
Mom is happy that I woke up on time today. I take my sister to school and I head over to the bus station. Forty minutes listening to Imagine Dragons and Coldplay. Actually, I'm kind of tired. I have Environmental Science in an hour so I can just take a quick nap on this couch here in the music building. Nobody heads down this way, it'll be fine. Four hours later, I wake up hungry and head to the cafe building for lunch. Subway sounds good. They let me have free pop refills all day long. The wifi here isn't bad either, so I can play my game. I have Third World Countries in ten minutes, so I guess I'll go. The professor for that class is weird. Last Friday he recognized me in line for the bus and asked me why I wasn't in class that day. What a weirdo. What kind of professor recognizes a student?
Third World is an auditorium class, so I just sit on my phone and occasionally look up. Interesting stuff happens sometimes. Why does this auditorium smell so bad? I can't wait until class is over.
Mom is glad to hear school was good today. I don't have any homework so I'm going to play my game. Is it lying to say I don't have homework if I'm not going to do it anyway? I stay up late playing my game, but I've made too many mistakes in the save file, so I reset.
I can't wake up in time to take my sister to school and Mom yells at me. Maybe I should reset? That would be the intelligent thing to do.