Because We're Here

He was… bored. Excruciatingly so.  Granted, such was his perpetual state of being. However, today it felt particularly amplified. Like he could crawl out of his skin due to it.   Monotony. Tik Tik The sound of the clock played underneath the echo of the teacher’s words. y = 3sin x - 4cos x, the board read. Tik Tik He could’ve sworn he’d already learned that in middle school. Tik  A girl in the front row dropped her pen. Hard not to notice her really, the washed out blonde hair and bright pink lipstick just begged for attention. She discreetly looked down at the pen she just dropped, her glossy lips forming an almost unseeable grin. She won’t pick it up. Tik “…ith” Tik “Smith” Tik “Amy!” The teacher shouting his name brought Amy out of his thoughts. The murmurs going around the class would’ve bothered a lesser man. Amy, as it was, wasn’t such. The effect his feminine name had on others had long stopped bothering him. Elbow still on his desk and chin still resting on the palm of his hand, Amy’s gaze went to the annoyed man in front. “I know you just transferred here a month ago, but you need to start paying more attention. Can you please tell me how to differentiate this equation?" Mr. Stein asked, obviously expecting Amy not to answer.  Clank A desk shrieked, the guy next to the chick in front bent down. She shyly put a strand of her blonde hair behind her ear, as he gave her back her pen. Boring. “I don’t know,” Amy responded, and his voice resonated through the large classroom.  He saw it then, the way the corner of Mr. Stein’s mouth turned upwards, a minor tick. The way his eyes looked down at him, the way he lifted up his nose. Satisfaction. The feeling of superiority. Everybody was so disgustingly predictable. “Smith, just pay more attention from now on” As the teacher resumed the lesson, Amy heard it. A chuckle. He turned to the source of the sound. There was a guy, seated at the back of the room. Amy didn't recognize him, although he'd been attending this class for a month now. Amy never much paid attention to faces. But he was looking at the guy now, who was glancing at Amy with the ghost of a small smile. Amused. The smile disappeared as soon as Amy's eyes met his. It was most peculiar. Divergence. That's what it was. And in a sea of sameness, predictability, and monotony that was Amy's daily life he found it-- interesting.