Hidden Under Perfection

Chapter 1: Claire

I am sitting at a metal desk and it looks like a table but all of the edges are round and there is a clear plastic pocket underneath the table to put all your things. The chair is shaped like the head of a spoon and it has a white cushion for you to sit on. There is a screen in the back of the chair that shows the lesson to the students in the second to fourth row. Mr. Nelson stands at the front of the class with a touch-activated screen that shows the review of last night's calculus homework. He is droning on and on about linear functions, his big, black mustache bouncing on his top lip. I start thinking about my best friend, Nadia Collins, and what she's learning in creative writing. Nadia and I have been friends since pre-k. On my first day of school I looked around the classroom and all the other kids were huddled in groups and I was standing on the sidelines; that is where Nadia found me. My holographic notebook sits open to a blank page waiting for me to take notes. Nadia is probably writing about what it would be like in 2015, I wonder what that would be like, driving in a car that runs on gas. My eye screen flashes with a message, 'stop daydreaming pay attention to the real world,' I have to choice but to oblige.

I am in 11th grade so all of my classes are really tough; I have calculus, history of America from 1776, fiction writing, French 4, biology and AP computer science. My teachers originate from all over the world, the administration says they are the best in the country, who am I to argue. My least favorite class is history, I just don't know what it is about it, I find it interesting but I can't seem to focus in class. My favorite class is AP computer science, the world around me goes blank and I am plunged into a world of ones and zeros.

"Hey, Claire!" Someone says to me in the hallway as I'm walking to history class. I turn around and there stands Nadia, my best friend since I was four and the prettiest girl in school. "I was just in creative writing and I got a really good prompt, something about old music, and I couldn't think of anything I just sat there looking at a blank holo-page. Then I thought of you."

"Did that help at all? Oh! And you look really good." She looked gorgeous with her short, black, lace skirt and a cream crop top that contrasted with her perfectly tanned skin. Her light brown eyes are practically glowing and her brown curls softly framing her face. She is the person everyone wants to be. She has the perfect boyfriend and she is really smart. She walks faster so we can walk side by side. "Is that a new skirt?"

"Yes it is, anyway I thought of you because you are always looking at old pop music on your eye screen. It helped because I remembered you showing me one of your favorite songs, what was it? Oh! I got it, it was called photograph or something."

"That's the one. Okay I got to be in Mrs. Travers's class in 2191, would you wait up for me so we can go to bio together?" I turned the corner and heard her faintly say she would. I walked up the flight of stairs at the end of the hall and walked into the second classroom on the left.

The bell rings loud and clear right after I take my seat in the second row at the far side of the room, next to the window wall. The walls are all made of white marble except the one opposite to the door. It is a beautiful arrangement; Sunrays bounce off the chairs sending light onto the walls. Mrs. Travers walks in and greets us then sits down in her chair, repositioning her long jean skirt over her legs. My teacher is about 53 years old, that is my estimate, and she wears the same thing to school everyday, a jean skirt and a pressed white blouse. It's like she doesn't realize that it is 2063, I think to myself when she sends out the homework to our holo-notebook. I feel a light tap on my left shoulder, when I look up I see a boy with red hair and brown eyes looking down at me with a questioning look. He looks nice, "Hi my name is Liam, and can I borrow a holo-pen? I can't seem to find mine anywhere."