You Had Time

by Heather Wyatt

The walk to school is seven minutes from my house. The first bell rings at 7:24. I start walking at 7:14, a total of ten minutes, so I can swing by my locker, grab my composition notebook, and head to Mrs. Freeman’s first-period English class. To my knowledge, I am the only senior who does not have a car. Also, to my knowledge, I am the only senior who lives in the Lakeside Villas trailer park. No lake or villa to be seen, though. This morning, I am wearing an Ani DiFranco t-shirt (thrifted), Nike joggers (stolen), and Old Navy flip-flops. I have knock-off earbuds in, and despite the t-shirt indicating better taste in music, I am listening to “Only Hope” by Mandy Moore. My backpack contains two pens, an Uncrustable, and the handwritten short story that is due today in English. I don’t have a printer, and I know that Mrs. Freeman hates that, but I don’t have another choice. The short story is about an unlikely girl who catches the attention of the quarterback of the football team. The girl has cancer and is dying, but they manage to fall in love before the end of the story. They even get married. Is it a rip-off of the movie A Walk to Remember? Yes, did I do it anyway? Also, yes. I just hope that Mrs. Freeman has never seen it. She has to be at least 60 so I think I am safe. I make my way to the parking lot of the school and as I cross it diagonally, I fail to look to my right. When that happens, Carter “Trey” Van Buren runs over my goddam foot with his pencil-dicked hand-me-down, jacked-up Chevy. He’s wearing his football jersey when he gets out and says, “What the fuck are you doing, dumbass?” My foot is definitely broken. In multiple places, probably. Someone heard everything and several teachers start running towards me. Before Carter parks and walks away I ask him to give Mrs. Freeman my essay. He just rolls his eyes and says, “I didn’t even know you were in my class.”

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Heather Wyatt is a writer and English instructor living in Birmingham, Alabama with her son, husband, and dog. Her first book, My Life Without Ranch, a non-fiction combo of self-help and memoir, was published in 2018 by 50/50 Press. Her poetry chapbook Call My Name, released in 2019, is available from The Poetry Box. Her poetry, essays, and a short story have been featured in numerous journals since 2006.