The bell rings, releasing everyone for lunch. My anxiety continues. I am free to go home, but I’m not free from my work. I have books and textbooks to read, and poems and essays and worksheets and quizzes to take. My friend is flying into town in three days. I must get A’s and I must finish everything before he gets here. 

Struggling to stay awake, I am surviving on four hours of sleep, my mind is strained and distant, but the workflows continuously so I cannot stop. I forget to drink or take breaks to eat. I have eight classes, two online math courses, AP Lang, Creative Writing, Marine Biology, Digital Video Technology, and two accelerated online college courses; General Psychology and Introduction to Sociology. My acne gets worse. I am stressed between upcoming due dates and plans formed months ahead. On top of this is homecoming week, my only sense of relief; getting to dress up, as well as the drives to and from home. 

“You need to take a break,” my parents say. I look at them through tears and anger and say, “No, I don’t have the time”.  A fifteen-minute break is enough time to finish a psychology quiz, the same time it takes to eat a meal, but it’s the time I take to be reading for the next assignment. I should be writing, I should be studying, and doing more. 

“How have you already finished the poem?” My best friend asks. 

“Yeah, I have to be done with everything by Wednesday night so I had to get ahead,” I respond.

“Since you’re so ahead, can you just do my worksheet for me.” My friend inquires.

I try to tell her no but since she helped me with the majority of a group assignment I have to do both her’s and mine. I hate being in debt but the workload is unequal. I do half and she is satisfied though I’ve done more work than she had to. I let it go, but it lingers in my building stress. I stay up till three in the morning working. 

Wednesday comes with a neutral state. I am behind in working on some assignments but have made up for it by getting ahead in others. I am stumped by my lack of sleep and the minimal information given on my assignment. I break down. Looking for comfort I message my friend, “Hey sorry to bother you, I’m so excited for you to get here and I’m just having a breakdown right now because I’m so swamped by work and stress. I could really use your encouragement or help I’m just going through a rough time.” Left on read.

My friends won’t help me so I push on, Advil and caffeine keep me going. I discuss with my teachers the math courses my situation and they text me back with understanding allowing me to work ahead on lessons so I can submit the quantity for this week while still maintaining the quality of my work. Hours pass but I know I am nearing my finish. My mother brings in a package, the homecoming dress she picked for me has arrived. This reward for my work entices me to finish faster. I submit the last of my worry and strain with the final assignment. 

I try on the dress, it seems pretty casual and there isn’t anything significant about it. My mother explains this isn’t a normal dress, with a battery pack and a remote it comes alive and the lining of fiber optics makes it glow all the colors I choose on the remote. I get more excited about the dance I originally didn’t even want to attend. I will get to take my friend to his first dance, after being in homeschool his entire life he finally gets to see the high school experience in all its glamour. To me, it isn’t that special, but for him, it's like the movies come to life.

Though I have gone through some stress this week, my planning has luckily worked out fine. This was my first experience with accelerated college courses and it was not the easiest. I plan to take more courses later this year, but I plan to take a quarter off to relax and focus on my other courses. My work is paying off now and will continue to pay off in the future.