NOVEL NEXT Chapter 12: A small step for some, a big step for Alex
It's amusing how five hours have passed since I came into this world and how everything seems to be beyond my control. Of course, I could be overly pessimistic. After all, when I have more time to gather and direct information, I might conclude that my life will be much easier now that I am the equivalent of a young and vivacious beautiful woman in this world, so I could simply look for a ugly girl and millionaire, settle down, have a family, and be happy for life.
However, at the moment, I am nothing more than a large target for an interdimensional being with nothing better to do but annoy me. Murphy's law has always been a firm believer in me. After all, when things go wrong in life, you only have two options. You can either blame yourself or an external factor. And given that I was one step away from giving up on life in my previous reality, blaming myself for everything bad seemed like a bad way to take that step.
So, once again succumbing to a pitiful, evasive excuse; Murphy, my figurative punching bag, received a barrage of insults from me. Really? She asks me, of all people. Murphy, fuck you.
"Alex," The teacher repeated, and I could see in her eyes that she was having fun with the situation.
I could feel the weight of all the eyes on me as I stood up. I picked up the notebook in front of me. Its bright pink cover bore the title Fundamental Essence III, and I couldn't help but be grateful to the me of this reality for naming all of his notebooks.
I flipped through the pages, desperate for the right subject. The sound of leaves turning was unsettling in the otherwise silent room.
When I got to the last page, my attention was drawn to the title, which was written in pink: "Technology and essence as complementary, not opposites." I exhaled a sigh of relief as I spoke the words.
Well that was it, safe.
The teacher nodded, but as I was beginning to sit down again, her melodic, sultry voice called out to me again. "Would you mind refreshing your classmates' memories with what you know about this subject?"
"Huh..." I looked through the notebook's contents and saw that there was some kind of summary of the subject written in it, so I nodded. "All right," I said, raising the notebook to the same level as my eyes. "Humans-" I cleared my throat.
Before I could finish reading what was in my notebook, the teacher's voice cut me off. "Don't read your notes," she said.
I looked up at her command, looking confused at her. "What?"
She leaned against her podium, both hands on it, and smiled at me, half-amused, half-mocking. Her eyes twinkled with mischief as she spoke, "Didn't you hear? Don't read your notes.”
This made no sense, and I could tell she was just trying to annoy me for some reason, if her smile hadn't already given me enough hints. "Hmm, teacher, I-"
She mocked me with a mocking tone, "What's the matter, Alex? Weren't you the best student here?" Her tone, which was tinged with superiority, made me clench my jaw. "I think essence is a pretty basic subject, you saw it in fourth grade, maybe?" she continued.
A stifled laugh sounded in the background, followed by another, which overlapped in my head with many of the mocking and hurtful laughs I had heard earlier. The frustration and anger that had built up over the hours began to bubble up, and I clenched the notebook in my hands to try to control myself and not say something that would have long-term consequences for me.
"Or are you one of those who think that because you're beautiful you have your life figured out? Sorry to tell you Alex, life is much, much more complicated than that."
Heh, if you only knew.
Peyton stood up next to me, a frown on his face. "Hey, teacher! What's up with that attitude? Do you really want me to go report you to the principal or something?"
The teacher simply ignored him. "Alex?"
Fuck it. The frustration of the day was starting to irritate me, giving me a little more courage than I thought I had. If it had been me in the past, I would have sat back, ashamed of myself, hoping that the teacher would accept that as my answer and dismiss it.
However, I really didn't want to do it this time. One of the things I regret the most is that I never stood up for myself, and of course, while it's best to avoid a fight like this one, my critical thinking went out the window.
I let out an audible sigh, releasing some of my frustration. Without hesitation and with more than a little rage, I looked directly into my teacher's mocking eyes. "I'm not sure what you expect from me with this conversation, Ms. Smith, but you can stop starring in this ridiculous show and start the class if it's only about humiliating me."
I felt good after I said what I said, as if my brain recognized an accomplishment and rewarded me. I can't count how many times in my job I wanted to defend myself in situations where clients believed they could do anything to you simply because of your work. The customer is always right. My balls.
However, after recapping and analyzing my words, I realize they came out a little more aggressive than I intended, but with everything I'm learning in this new reality, I wasn't in the mood for stupid jokes right now. Still, my heart was racing; stepping outside of my comfort zone to confront someone who belittles me was something completely new to me, though I can't say I disliked it.
The teacher appeared briefly taken aback by my words, but then embarrassed, a clear blush on her cheeks, she cleared her throat. "Let's begin today's class."
But, unlike my confidence, my anger was not a sham, so I sat back down in my seat and focused on the lecture, because I needed to learn more about this crazy fucking world. I also felt the gaze of the guys who had accompanied me on the way here, but they didn't engage me in conversation, probably sensing my bitter mood.
(***)
“Well, as you all already know, essence has been a part of the races of this planet for as long as they can remember. However, it was previously believed that there were only two ways to use it: to improve one's own body and as vital food for newborns. It was not until the late 20th century that scientist Karl Maxima discovered its uses in technology and other behavior outside of the human body and different races. This discovery made a great leap forward in technological and industrial improvement.”
Leaving aside the teacher's almost monotone voice as she spoke in class —Seriously, I could turn on Google Translate and it would speak with more emotion than she did;— all of this information was scribbled in my notebook as I tried to absorb as much as possible.
After all, despite the fact that my brain was clearly trying to come up with a logical explanation, the headache told me that I simply couldn't. This was a technological and magical world. The interesting thing is that these humans use magic —or essence in this case— as a strange form of electricity incorporated into their organisms.
Everything made sense now, because I couldn't turn on the stove, because the refrigerator didn't have the standard digital panel to regulate the temperature... It was completely insane. I also feel stupid, but not too stupid; no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't have guessed something like this.
My headache turned into a full-blown migraine the more I listened, and all I wanted to do was get out of this class, go to sleep, and give my brain some rest. But I couldn't, so I continued to listen with a permanent frown on my face.
“So, just like some species of animals have different methods to defend themselves, we can use essence, which no animal can use. It's a natural defense mechanism that evolved to give us technology and an infinite, pollutant-free energy source.”
She turned off the projector after reading exactly what was on the slide, and the buzzer sounded shortly thereafter.
The teacher sighed deeply and ran her hand through her silver hair, which glinted in the light. She straightened her slightly wrinkled laboratory coat with a calm demeanor. Her footsteps echoed softly against the floor as she made her way towards the door.
As the teacher walked out the door, I stood up and walked briskly toward the exit, which was beginning to look a little steep for some reason.
I ignored Peyton and Kevin's voices and hurried out the door. On my way to anywhere but that classroom, I passed the teacher from earlier.
Her mouth dropped open uncomfortably as she recognized me. "Alex..." She didn't finish what she was saying before reaching out her arm and grabbing me to keep me from falling. "Are you all right?"
I couldn't say anything because my world was spinning, so I just stared at her in silence, or at one of the many of them reflected in my vision.
"Mrs. Smith, is Alex all right?" Asked a voice, which I recognized as Peyton.
"He's pale and appears to have a fever," I felt a thin, cold hand on my brow. The world spun around again, and before I knew it, my gaze was fixed on the ceiling. "I'll take him to the infirmary."
Huh? Mrs. Smith is carrying me?
