A Flashback scene

It was a hot, boring afternoon...

But of course, when you're a highschool student in Iz, all days are hot and boring.

Smadar the Robot was chattering at the blackboard. I was way past the stage where I could actually decipher separate words, and it all just blurred into a long, monotonous, nagging voice. Occasionally she'd tap her chalk on the black board, and we'd all nod knowingly. I've just been recovering from a long Battleships and Mines tournament with Gershon, Yos and the Jont. None of the girls ever got the hang of those games, which created a shortage of players, since there were 18 girls in my class and only 4 boys. I was dozing with my eyes open. At my left, May was having trouble keeping hers open on account of the boredom and heat, so she painted an air conditioner on a yellow piece of paper. Surprisingly, the air conditioner actually worked, so she was lying on top of it cooling herself off. On my other side, Jasmine was busily making tomorrow's math homework - who said all students are slackers?

I considered pulling my Stephen King out of my bag, but seriously doubted that I could stay awake while reading. Smadar has just said that in 1913, hmmmph hmmmph hmmmmmph hmmmmmmmmph hmmmph hmmmmmph. Smadar was assigned to my class as a part of a super-secret military technology experiment; they constructed an android that could, in theory at least, be used for educational purposes, with the hinted option of using it as a soldier in war. That was all good and well, but why on our backs? Our BWI was always a highly experimental one; that is, every experimental book or teaching method was tested on us first, before it could be tried on humans. The really ridiculous thing was the cover story they made for the robot; they wouldn't just go ahead and admit it to be a military experiment. We were told, and were supposed to believe, that the monotonous machine was actually a living, breathing woman, with a husband(!) and kids(!!!). Yeah, right! How stupid did they think we were?

On the front row, Rose was showing off. That was not an unusual thing for her to do in the middle of a history lesson. She had to do it to live. Rose was a freak, in the best possible meaning of the word. When she didn't show off she was sleeping. Some say that if Rose was ever to be found in a situation when nobody will be looking at her, she'll whisk out of existence. But of course that was not likely to ever happen, as long as she keep having her good look, dressing in stuff she dug out of trash cans and refrigirators, and generally being a breathing, walking theatre show. At 17 , Rose had a life story that could fill out seven Jerry Springer shows, only backwards. She was, for short, an Interesting Person.



Not interesting enough, though, right now. I couldn't look at her without catching the robot in my site; they pretty much balanced each other out. Sadly, LG, my crush by default for the highschool years, and also one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen, was not in class today. Lucky her. I tried looking down instead. Green. Olive-green. I think I could have finished school in a much more stable mental condition if it wasn't for that green. Someone must have gone through a lot of research until he found the most unnerving color possible and then put it all around us. All the tables were light green. the doors were light green. I didn't know it then, but for years afterwards I'd be troubled by nightmares in which I'd be chased, and eventually eaten, by giant olives.

"Mmmmmph Mmmmmmmph mmmmmph mmmmmph, Europe mmmmph mmmmmmmph January mmmmmph mmmmmmph mmmmmph are you listening? mmmmmmph mmmmmph mmmmph"

It's unbelievable how stupid this robot was. Even my calculator would have realised by now that none of what he was saying was actually being registered by any thinking brain for the past half an hour.

Liat was tilting on her chair, balancing it on two legs. I though that might be a good idea, or at least some change, and did it too, leaning against the wall behind me. I think it's dangerous. Once in a while someone would tell us to stop doing that, that one day we'd fall and break our necks. Right now I'd welcome that - at least it'd be a change. I hoped just that someone in this classroom was awake enough to notice me lying there unconscious and call an ambulance.

Looking around, I found someone who was: Ray, the girl two tables to my right. She and Gershon were busily updating the next issue of Stingin', the classroom gossip column. The previous issue slowly drifted onto my table, and I leafed through it.

"Official sources claim Lynn and her Gilad finally made the homerun! Stingin' wishes them well, and warns them to wear a sweater when it's cold. Does Dangerous Doris finally getting some of the action? An anonymous source in Mrs. Prince's biology class says yeah, and soon! A few names have been raised but no conclusive evidence, but once we get any, Stingin' promises you'll be the first to know. Seen over a cup of hot coacoa in the cafeteria were our beloved teachers Peter and Brenda. From our observation, Peter was the one paying. And what about those May and Red, are they ever going to go steady or what?"

I checked my watch, but was sad to find out time stopped again. Just great. It goes right ahead 99% of the time, but you can count on it to stop working smack in the middle of the world's most annoying situation not involving needles. I gave it a shake, but it didn't help. Figures. What else could was I to expect this day? In twenty-two minutes, if time ever manage to get moving again, there would be a break, when I could either go to the library to read, stay in class and read, or go out to the hall to get ignored. Then we had a math and Zen lesson from Mickey, which was good news. I could almost certainly stay awake through that.

"Mmmmph mmmmmpph mmmmmmph blip blip Error Error hmmmmm click mmmph mmmmph mmmmph"

Which was not true for now. without a choice, I lowered my head and slowly sank into a light-green oblivion.