Victoire or How to survive in a hostile environment.

Prologue: The sun often hides the bad weather.

Viewpoint Victory - 22 June 2077

"Victoire? Are you asleep?" a voice asked me.

My elbow was pushed rather hard and my head, which had been resting on it, fell heavily on the table with a loud thud. The class laughed, and I opened my eyes. I lifted my aching head, massaging it gently. I cleared my throat and, in my least assertive voice, replied that I didn't, and that I apologised if he had thought I did.

"So what did I explain?"

I was about to open my mouth to answer, when the bell rang. Saved by the bell, I thought. The other students put their things away, some of them approached Mr. Lédjal to ask him questions about the class. After answering them, we were left alone for a while: the teacher, as I thought, wanted to keep me for a while. He made me angry, saying that even though I was gifted, I had no right not to listen in class. I waited for him to finish his rant about my behaviour, I apologised flatly, looking at the floor, suddenly more interesting. Even though I had retained the lesson, I would not say it to his face, I was ashamed of my behaviour. Nevertheless, I tried to explain myself, even if I was at fault: I wanted to tell him why I was not really in my mood. I told him that my position allowed me to listen and retain, but also to rest a little, because I was having serious sleep problems at the moment, and I didn't want this to affect my results. So I had adopted this technique, bad as it was. He nodded, still looking a little rough, and gave me a note of apology for the next teacher, so that no one would think I was hanging around in the halls. I mean, most of the teachers knew me, so they knew how I worked, but that was the protocol.

Handing me the ticket, he gave me one more recommendation about my behaviour, then let me go. I walked down the stairs in no hurry, enjoying the warm late June sun. The rays, filtering through the windows, warmed me up and a shiver of well-being ran through me. I passed through the doors, leaning on them gently, and walked into the inner courtyard before descending the stairs and joining the rooms that ran alongside. I went to my room, knocked on the door, waited for the teacher to open it and after giving my excuse, I sat down next to my boyfriend. Paul. Paul Mylost. I liked him a lot. Maybe a little too much to be rational.

He looked at me lovingly and asked me why I was late, I quickly explained and dived into the class. It was a maths class. The previous class had been a European English class, so I hadn't been able to sit with him, as he didn't do that section. Suddenly the numbers danced before my eyes and my temples ached, as if pressed in a vice. I had to regulate my sleep at all costs to avoid the incident of the previous lesson. It was certainly not the first, but not the last either, if I didn't find a quick way to fall asleep. I looked at my watch and saw that it was only eleven fifteen. Forty minutes to go. I turned my attention to Professor LaFayette, our maths teacher, but I couldn't concentrate on what he was saying. I'll ask Paul to explain when we have a bit more time. I started to note down the corrections written on the board like a robot, nothing struck me.

I was desperate for the class to finally end. Especially since we were finishing at noon and I had planned to enjoy my afternoon. I seriously considered going for a walk to relieve the end-of-year tension. Of course, graduation was next year, but the teachers were pushing us to do our best to finish the term with a good average, which would allow us to get into the first one we wanted. This was understandable on their part, especially as here at Turgot, the teachers were close to the students, as were the Personal Education Advisers and the Education Assistants who were always ready to listen. This school was very family-oriented and supportive, which is why I chose it and also because my friends were there, of course, but also because of its courses.

I would like to do a first year in science and technology, even if the first year in STI2D (Science and Technology of Industry and Sustainable Development) was quite tempting, since programming machines to design parts and being able to touch every step of the creation of a product, fascinated me more than reason. It's a pity that you can't combine the two.