CO2

Chapter One TUESDAY

When I'm bored at school, I tend to think more than usual. About anything really. Usually, I make up stories while staring at the grayish-white board mounted on the wall in front of me. Sometimes, I think about some interesting thing that I heard recently. I'd do anything to stop hearing my teacher's boring lectures. But this, the second day of my eighth grade year, I am actually paying attention.  Because today the topic is particularly interesting.

I stare past the teacher at the plastic attached to the wall, just behind her annoyed looking face. Staring at something blank helps me focus on my teacher's flat-toned voice. "Today we will begin to learn about the history of how our advanced societies were created." Since I have history as my last class, Mrs. Wells always seems tired and out of it after the long day. "Previous communities didn't have technology as advanced as ours is today," she continues. As she speaks, I fiddle with the tight bracelet wrapped around my wrist. I make small indents in my skin from the round beads.

"You also know that many years ago, there were settlers who traveled across the oceans to find new lands. These places were undiscovered in their time." I examine the map next to her head that shows us what the world once looked like. There are large blue areas, which we learned were called oceans. Once, there were once huge bodies of undrinkable water that took up most of the Earth's surface. Within those aquatic areas, there were creatures and plants of all shapes and sizes. Or at least that's what our textbooks say. Many think it's only a myth. But I think it's true. I don't know why. I guess I just kind of want there to be something beautiful about this pretty messed up world.

I realize that I have zoned out, so I quickly listen in again. I usually already know all of the lessons that Mrs. Wells teaches us, since my parents make me study all the time. But this lesson seems new. Usually, in history, we only learn about the really old stuff, or at least in seventh grade we did. But today we are learning about the way our current society was created.

"Today, we are going to focus on thing that are new about our society," she says, walking towards the white board and grabbing a marker. "Now, who can tell me something that has advanced our society greatly within the last hundred years?" I shoot my hand in the air. No one else seems to be paying attention, but this isn't much of a surprise. Nobody else in this class seems to care about the world's history. I don't really care either, which is the strange thing. It's pretty interesting. I just don't see why it matters to people like me, who have no interest in becoming a historian. My thoughts are interrupted when I hear Mrs. Wells call my name. "Samantha?"

"Life support systems," I say. "We have developed cures to diseases that were very deadly hundreds of years ago. We have also developed ways to elongate life spans up to 250 years."

Mrs. Wells nods. "Good, Samantha." I see her remove the cap from a bright red marker, and it reminds me of the color of the jewelry around my wrist. She writes "Life support" on the board in messy and unintelligible letters. "Anyone else?" she says, returning the cap to the marker.

One boy in the back raises his hand, and I realize that it is my best friend, Lance. "Yes Lancelot?" says Mrs. Wells. I hear a few snickers around the room. Lance despises being called by his full name. He calls it "too old fashioned." Apparently his parents wanted to give him an original name that no one else would have. They might have gone a little overboard. I also usually go by a shorter name: Sam. But I don't care as much as he does. I don't blame him though. I would feel the same if I had a name like Lancelot.

Lance shifts around a little, his cheeks red. "Um... Well, we have the bubbles."

"Good," Mrs. Wells says, removing the cap once again. She writes "Bubbles" right next to where "Life support" is written. "Can you explain what you mean by that?"

"Well," he says, regaining confidence, "Early humans had a bubble around the Earth called 'the ozone layer'. It was almost completely destroyed after they let out too many toxic gases. The ozone layer was crucial to human life. Without it, all of the gases, including oxygen, would leave the Earth. That's why we built the bubbles." Lance pauses to take a breath, and glances at the other kids. Only a few people are paying attention to him, the rest are tapping their pencils or secretly texting. I look at him and nod, and he continues. "The bubbles are built around each city to pretty much do the job that the ozone layer was meant to do. But these bubbles are indestructible, so we won't have the same problem that they had."

Mrs. Wells writes "new ozone layer" next to "bubbles" and turns back to the class. "Thank you for that wonderful description, Lancelot," she says. "Your homework for tonight is to write an essay on why the bubbles are essential to survival. This will be due on Thursday, two days from now. Are there any questions?" Just as she asks that, the bell rings, and class ends.