Chapter 1: Observation

The scientific method involves a small number of steps that range from proposing a question to finding an answer to it. During this process, you gather information, form a hypothesis, and conduct expiraments to test that hypothesis to see whether or not it is true.

My question: How do I survive high school?

I guess the logical thing would be to gather information now that I have the question. With no distractions I can walk through the halls and observe various students walking down the same hallway as me. Couples are linked together, the closer they are to each other, the more intimate they must be. Friends laugh or just have general conversation. It's easy to tell the difference between friends and couples. As aforementioned, the intimacy of the couple's relationship can be determined by the distance between them. That is to say, the distance is inversely related to the intimacy. The same can go for friends. There is usually a few inches between them at the least, separating them as friends and not lovers. Unless, of course, they're just joking around and having some fun. There is always an exception to the rule.

I reach my destination. English class, room 146. English can be classifies as one of the most pointless and most hated subjects, especially when you have Ms. Wales as a teacher. Not only does she drag on for hours about the most uninteresting novels, but she intentionally calls out students and puts the on the spot...continuously. My hypothesis: She is attempting to alleviate the sorrow of her own pathetic life. Kids joke she hasn't been laid by her boyfriend recently. The girls are sure it's PMS. Whatever it is, I hate her, as much as I hate English.

Besides Ms. Wales, there are other reasons to hate English. In my younger years, it was just grammar and spelling and knowing which answers were correct. When you get older, they always try to make you find the "hidden meaning" or "symbolism" in the book. Not that I don't care about what the author is trying to convey when he talks about a dark abyss or something, it's just that I wish he would have told me directly. There can be so many answers too. It's like there's no real right answer, but it still is graded.

I sit in the front row. It's not possible to study Math or Science. At least Kaila sits next to me.

As I sit down, she turns, "Did you do the homework?"

"Yeah, but you didn't, did you?" I still was able to complete work for classes I wish didn't exist.

"No," she answers sheepishly. "I got...distracted."

"By facebook?" I smirked. I was such a smart-ass sometimes.

"No...by television."

I rolled my eyes and searched my folder for the worksheet on Shakespeare. "Hurry up," I mutter.

I sniff. I've had a cold for about a week now. My parents refuse to let me stay home because they believe anything I can survive standing up, I can survive while sitting in school. Maybe I should get shot in the legs or something.

Ms. Wales walks to the front of the classroom. Class is about to start. Instead of speaking to us directly, she takes a marker and turns around to write something on the whiteboard. This is usual. At the beginning of each class, Ms. Wales likes to start off with an open-ended question that we must answer in composition notebooks. I grab mine out of my bag and find a blank page. While I try to remember the date, Kaila slips the worksheet onto my desk. I look up to see her give me a smile and nod of gratitude. I smile back to let her know she's welcome.

Ms. Wales clears her throat and I look up. Girls are still chatting in the back. Guys are just not paying attention. Seriously, who let all these kids into Honors? Oh well, more class time to waste.

"Okay, everyone! Settle down. Get in your seats and answer this question on the board. I'll give you about, five or ten minutes. I wanna cover some things today."

Let's start with your mouth. I hate it when you talk.

There's nothing really medically or audibly wrong with Ms. Wales voice. It's just that when you hear her "loudly talking" day after day, it annoys you. She constantly wants to talk about the meaning of the word "the" or "something". At least in Math, I can just figure out the answer on my own.

Observation over. I'm sick of high school.