The Best Days

Chapter 12 Part 1

My free paper had finally all burnt away. Thanksgiving was but a small taste of the freedom that would be all mine when winter came. But a las school had to go on. One of the side effects of thanksgiving break is that almost surreptitiously it seemed everyone had given up on the whole idea of being high achieving students. The turkey-itis had extended its reach onto the campus of SFSU even days after the bountiful feast. To say the atmosphere in Comp I was dry would have been an understatement. My classmates were toast. Dry burnt toast. Me, on the other hand, I was in better spirits. Aside from my cold, which I'd subdued with copious amounts of medicine into more of a small sniffle, I was ready to conquer the world. Or at least whatever Levy had planned for the final project of the semester.

"I know you guys are excited to be done with this class. Quite possibly you're over a lot of other things, too." Levy said from his usual lolled position behind his desk.

We as a class gave him blank stares in overwhelming agreement.

He laughed and leaned back in his desk chair leisurely. A sure sign that he was about to make us even more 'over it'. "I'm sorry to hear this but even still. Why not go out with a bang?"

I tensed up fearing the worse from this man. I don't think I've ever worked so hard in a class before that one. Now he was talking about bangs? What was all that stuff before?!

"I want you guys to write a biographical magnum opus that really explores the core motivations of the people you interview."

He got up from his desk taking a pile of papers with him and began distributing them. He was actually doing the most, handing a sheet to every individual person in the room. He could have just done the whole pile for each row thing and we could have done the rest.

I had a feeling he was enjoying this...

"Amanda, who's the first person that popped into your mind to write a biography on?" He asked suddenly, surprising poor Amanda out of her blindsided stupor.

She fiddled with her blond braid as she mulled it over. "Um... my mom probably?"

Levy paused to consider it for all of a millisecond. "Probably not."

Amanda's mouth snapped shut.

He got to me and placed a handout on my desk. I scrambled to skim through it. After a quick read through I realized that this man was actually out of control. We couldn't interview family or friends. It had to be someone we didn't know well which was horribly awkward and inconvenient.

"Professor, this is going to be impossible." The words were out of my mouth before I'd properly thought them.

He stopped and turned back to face me. He offered a slight smile and a pat on the back.

"You'll do fine. You're a great writer."

I was mildly stunned. That hadn't quite been what I meant but the compliment was welcomed all the same. Anyway I was too flustered to correct him and I missed my chance during the class time to do so. I ended up having to stay after.

"Miss Jameson, we have got to stop meeting like this. People will start to talk."

I squinted at him a bit before continuing. "Professor, this isn't going to work."

He was reclined in his chair with his arms behind his head. His lips broke into a small smile, with one corner hinting upwards. "What now?"

"I don't know anyone who I could possibly write a biography on. It can't be a classmate, friend, or relative? Who does that leave me? The cafeteria lady? The guy who drives the shuttle?!"