The Day Off

Devon had a huge chemistry test, but he had forgotten to study. He could not believe it was now time for bed, and he had not put any time into studying all the notes and study guides that he had in his binder.

He knew he should stay up late and study for at least an hour, but if his mother saw him studying, she would know he forgot, and he knew she would only be upset with him. He didn’t want that either.

Devon sighed. He had spent the night helping his mother get ready for their yard sale for this weekend. It wasn’t as if he had been playing games or watching television. They had both been working hard for hours. He knew his mother would have wanted him to study instead of working with her. None of this was her fault. He had just simply forgotten.

Devon didn’t know if he would ever fall asleep; he was that worried, but the next morning, the sound of the alarm was loud in the small space of his bedroom. His hand reached out and smacked at the offending noisemaker, hoping to hit the snooze and gain a little more sleep. As he rolled over, he saw his chemistry book on the floor beside his bed. Reality came rushing back to him, and he sat up quickly. He definitely didn’t have time for the snooze button. In fact, he needed to get ready as quickly as he could, so he could at least study a little bit this morning.

Just as Devon was about to go downstairs and get his breakfast, he heard his mother’s voice hollering up the stairs for him to hurry down. He wondered what could be wrong this early in the morning. When he got down the stairs, his mother was looking at the television.

“You are not going to believe this, Devon. Something has happened with the water at your school. The news just reported it will be at least a day before everything is fixed, so you don’t have to go to school today. Looks like you get to enjoy an unexpected day off!”

Devon couldn’t believe his luck, but much to his mother’s surprise, he didn’t go back to bed. He decided not to waste another second. He opened his chemistry book and started to study.