Chapter 1 - an excerpt
As I sat quietly in the classroom, my arms folded close to my sides, I looked down at my paper and began to read it once again out of sheer boredom. The words on the page were familiar, after all, I had written them. But the concepts were now a mystery to me. My mind had begun to lose focus as I tried desperately not to think about anything. Again, I was in a complete daze. I could only hear muffled sounds buzzing past my ears, yet I knew the room was filled with loud chatter and laughter. I quickly picked up a pen to begin writing, doodling, anything, just to clear my head of the fog that was slowly settling into it. I turned my head to look up at the clock on the wall and I started to feel a bit dizzy. I focused my attention on the time and eagerly watched as the second hand approached the eight. To my surprise, it was earlier than I had thought; there were still two minutes until the class was scheduled to start, which meant there were really about five minutes until any real teaching began. I still kept my eyes locked on the clock and watched the second hand go around once more, reaching eight once again. As I was about to turn away to fiddle for something in my bag to waste time, the door suddenly and abruptly opened, breaking my concentration. It was not hard to be distracted by these doors. The sound of the inside lock clicking against the frame was annoying yet reassuring each time it was heard. But this time was different. This time, I froze. I usually glanced up to see who was entering, gave a quick look, and then went back to what I was doing. Not this time. My eyes were locked, my face motionless. My intent gaze must have been obvious, but I did not care. Nothing else seemed to matter at that moment. He closed the door behind him with gentle ease and started to walk to a seat. I secretly hoped he would sit next to me, but then I thought better of it. My definition of perfection may not be the most accurate, but to me, at this very second, he was it. And then, right there in that moment, it began.
