One Day Earlier
— "So, Mrs. Morgan... Vincent's performance has been dropping a lot lately." - said Penny, from afar. A sound of paper being handed out could also be heard — "Oh!... 'D-' in Grammar, dear?" - Jodi said, disappointed — "It's not my fault, mom! Sam didn't teach me how to spell dinosaur, okay?!" - Vincent said, trying to be the 'victim' of the story. — "Sam? Son? Can you come here for a second?" - Jodi shouted. Mumbling under his breath, Sam opened his eyes. He removed his blankets from his body, sat on the edge of his bed and rubbed both of his eyes with his hands. Then finally he got up. He walked to the door of his room and opened it. He didn't see anyone in the hallway. He walked to the corner and came across his mother, his little brother and his friend, Penny; the three turned to Sam. His mother, Jodi, had a paper in her hand, apparently important. His little brother, Vincent, was afraid of something. Possibly, from the content that was on that paper. And his old friend, Penny, was holding a sealed envelope in her hand. On it, "JAS" was written, in purple marker. — "Yes, mom?" - asked Sam, patiently waiting for his mother to tell him why he was called. — "Didn't I ask you to help your brother when he had homework?" - Jodi asked — "Yes, and I helped him. Why?" - replied Sam — "Your brother got a D- in grammar, Sam." - Jodi said — "W-what?" - replied Sam, terrified. The boy then leaned over, until he was at his brother's height — "Hey, you at least remember how to spell 'toy', don't you?" - asked Sam — "Yes! It spells... P-E-N-N-Y, right?! You spent the whole day spelling those letters in your room yesterday!" - Vincent replied, smiling from ear to ear. At the same moment, Sam's eyes widened. Embarrassed, Sam looked up, and saw Jodi and Penny giving him confused looks. — "N-no! It's not like that! You spelled the letters of your teacher's name, y-you know?" - Sam said, trying to explain himself — "Oh, really? Then why were you spelling out teacher's Penny's name in your room yesterday?" – Vincent replied. Sam then raised his body, gave an embarrassed smile and pointed at his younger brother — "H-he's joking! He must have learned that in one of Penny's classes and got confused!" - said Sam — "A-ah, yes... well, I'll be going, right? I still h-have to deliver this envelope to Miss Marnie..." - said Penny, visibly embarrassed, too. The girl then said goodbye kindly - Jodi returned it - and Penny then left the Morgans' house. After saying goodbye to the girl, Jodi turned to Sam in confusion, but all she saw was the boy's figure turning the corner of the hallway and slamming the door to his room.
Already in his room, Sam brought his right hand to his face, covering it. Samson was visibly embarrassed. — "Urgh, Vincent! Did you have to open that mouth of yours?!" - Sam whispered. As soon as he finished the sentence, the odor from Sam's mouth rose to his nose, making him smell it. Instantly, Sam remembered that he hadn't yet done his morning routine; he was in his pajamas, he hadn't brushed his teeth, much less had breakfast. He also remembered that he had forgotten to invite Penny to the New Year's Eve party with his script that he had spent two days rehearsing. Disappointed with himself, Sam decided to do everything at once. He ran over to his closet, grabbed his sweatpants, a dark blue jacket, and a light blue t-shirt. He took off his clothes, tossed them onto his bed, and put on the ones he had picked up. Then, he hurriedly put on his orange slippers and ran out of his room. He went towards the bathroom, opened the door, took his red toothbrush and put toothpaste on it. He smiled big at his reflection in the mirror and brushed his teeth as quickly as he could. Finishing, he forgot about breakfast and left his house, bumping into his mother.
Penny was about to knock on Marnie's door, but she backed away as soon as she heard Sam shout her name. The girl looked back and saw the boy with blond, spiky hair running towards her with a smile on his face. — "A-ah, hi Sam!... everything's o-" - Penny said, being interrupted by the boy — "Are you going to want to have dinner with my family tonight?! Your mom is invited, too!" said Sam. Once she realized what she said, she tried to rephrase the invitation — "I mean... Penny. Would you and your mom like to ring in the New Year with my family today? No need to bring anything!" - said Sam, managing to successfully reformulate the oral invitation — "Ah, of course! I'd love to! Thanks for the invitation, Sam." – Penny replied.
