Winter

Chapter three

My head drooped in Mr. Lexington’s class, as he went on about some war that happened on Earth that was apparently a huge deal, although it was unfathomable to me on how it effected my life.  That morning my alarm didn’t go off, and I’d ended up sprinting into class in the last few seconds.  I hadn’t gotten nearly enough sleep, and I almost felt like crying on my desk due to lack of energy.

Mr. Lexington was one of my favorite teachers.  He was kind, fair, and didn’t chose favorites.  He teased us with benevolence and let us off easy when we messed up a quiz or two.  History, on the other hand, was not my favorite subject.  Unlike other students, I don’t find history stupid, because I think it is important to learn of our past and fix our mistakes.  On the other hand, knowing that Julius Caesar was killed on the Ides of March in 44 B.C.?  I fail to see why or how that could be of use to me.

Today we were learning more tedious dates, and I couldn’t bring myself to pay attention, and I was having trouble feeling awake.  Besides, it looked like about half the class was falling asleep in their textbooks as well, so I felt no guilt.  For history we all shared a class, because my teacher figured, with no influx of kids, we’d start with the beginning of humanity and just work our way up to accomplishments of modern day, which our teacher deemed worthy of taking our entire high school careers. 

So, after a year of learning, we were almost done with Ancient Rome.  I desperately hoped this last drop off of Semper was caught up to what we know, or else we’ll have to start all over.  

The bell rang, and I hurried to my next block class.  It was a B day, which meant we had four classes instead of three, since our simple town didn’t want us to waste our time in a study hall block, and had few electives.

In science Mr. McGonnagle talked about biology and cell division.  An hour and a half later, the bell set me speed walking to my elective class.  I’d chosen to take cooking classes, mostly because I saw little use for any other of the offered electives, such as wood shop, fashion design, or business and finance.  Every girl in Semper, plus Jake, took cooking.  Mrs. Louison had us make chicken parmesan and a vinaigrette salad that was light and very authentic.  

I saved my extras and ate them for lunch, under my tree, and finished my book.  Last block was gym, where we did pushups and ran laps outside.  Stephanie tried to outdo me again, clearly targeting me while we played tag, although that backfired when I won.

Once again I went home to Mark’s.  After our homework we went out onto his back deck and looked at the stars, trying to draw our planet’s own constellations.

“Look,” he said, pointing up at patch of stars.  

We were unmatched in the skill of knowing which heavenly bodies the other was pointing at, and I spotted what he wanted me to within seconds.  A blinking light hovered far above us. “Is it some sort of weird, slow shooting star?” I asked.

“No, guess again,” he grinned.

“Um, did they put up a satellite?”

“One more try.”

“How about a distant alien spaceship?” I shrugged, rolling my eyes at the dullness of our game.

“That, ironically enough, was actually the closest guess yet!” Mark cheered, “It’s The Ship.”

“With the new arrivals?” My eyes snapped to him, no doubt glowing in the weak moonlight.  A ship was due this year, one with Semper's last shipment of new arrivals.  It would have enough children to give everyone in our town a match, including me.

“Yep.”  He looked proud of himself, knowing the answer.  The novelty of the idea wore off quickly, and I glanced at him doubtfully.

“It’s supposed to be another month,” I glared, “Besides, there’s a number of things that could explain that,” I motioned up at the sky.