I was finally able to leave Mrs. Natsume’s class and head to my next one. It was a broader subject of Artificial Intelligence and covered machines and how they interact with human emotions. Right now however, I didn’t care. Anything worked to get my mind off of Mrs. Natsume. Throughout the class my mind kept thinking of the subject she gave us and why she singled me out in class. My mind took me too far from the class and when the teacher called on me I felt embarrassed when I didn’t respond immediately.

 

“Are you okay, Ms Dadalian?” he asked.

 

“Yeah, I’m all right.” I lied to him. The only one I wanted to talk to was Cocoa, but I couldn’t do that till after this class was done.

 

He ended class 5 minutes after I drifted off and we were free to go. I went to my locker to grab some notes before heading off to the cafeteria. I met Cocoa along the way. She had just finished talking to her friend, Jasmine, who turns out was taking most of the same classes she was, when we met up.

 

“How were your classes, Random?” Cocoa asks me as we grab two trays.

 

“I don’t which was worse, Mrs. Natsume’s or Mr. Bit’s.” She chuckled at the mention of Mr. Bits.

 

“Sounds like it didn’t go very well.”

 

She was right, it didn’t go that well. Ignoring it for now, we trailed down a row of food and eyed each platter of food, our stomachs growling along the way. The platters were arranged in such a way that as we moved down the line, the meals shifted from what course they would be. From a main course of salisbury stake to sides like mashed potatoes and salad and then a desert of carrot cake. We each grabbed a fork and spoon and began to take what we like off of the platters. I went for mostly meat, from the salisbury stake to the meatloaf while Cocoa contended herself with a garden fresh salad and some mashed potatoes. I took some potatoes as well and we both grabbed a slice of carrot cake on the end.

 

We headed to our usual seats near the entrance to the cafeteria. The seats were all seated in a circular fashion as opposed to the square or rectangular way you would see it in most schools. The reason behind this is when the school ordered the tiles for the floor design, someone put circle ones instead of square, which through off the original design. So we placed down the round tiles instead and opted for round curved tables with connecting benches. Boy were they annoyed about that, having to scrap the rectangular ones already made and replace them with curved shape ones. The pattern started 8 feet from the center with 3 tables placed in a circular ring. Then each ring after added one bench till it reached a total of 6, making 18 total benches with gaps in-between them to allow easy access in or out.

 

“It never gets old eating here,” Cocoa comments as we sit. Jasmine joins us a few minutes after we sat and we begin discussing how our classes went.

 

“So how did it go, Random?” I didn’t answer right away because Jasmine was here, but I figured it didn’t matter.

 

“Well, Mrs. Natsume either has it out for me, or wants to test my patience to see how long it takes to break me. Mr. Bit however, aside from his last name being “bit”, was better. It was basic AI interaction with various objects. I guess it was a good follow up to Natsume’s, who wants us to build a machine that can do 3 different things.”

 

I continued to go on about how she gave me a “good luck, Random” as I left the class and they both stared at each other, puzzled. Then Cocoa began to explain to me her classes.

 

“Well, our first one is advertising, and all the various different methods that can be used to give strong or weak points to a certain concept you’re trying to present. We got an assignment to make a poster advertising anything of our choice, so long as it wasn’t a real thing. Jasmine and I were thinking of hydro powered engines, but we don’t know how to make them sound convincing.”

 

“We were thinking of a picture combining a boat and engine,” Jasmine added.

 

“That sounds cool.”

 

As time was short we continued to eat until our plates were basically licked clean. I always forget how well the food here is prepared. I wouldn’t put it in comparison to what I have at home, but it is delicious.

 

Time was short after we had finished and we all rushed off to our next classes. So with quick goodbyes, we rushed out the cafeteria.

 

“Sit, sit; class will begin any minute,” the teacher called out to us as we rushed through the door. Jasmine and I followed it right away and took a seat in the center right side of the room, which had a perfect view of the board and the door.

 

“In here you will learn the ethics and business since to not only own and run a business, but how to move up from the ranks, get references, and stand out from everyone else. You will not learn everything in this class alone, but you will learn a lot.”

 

The 45 minutes of this class droned on forever. He talked about working harder than others, asserting yourself, showing up on time; all basic things anyone first getting a job would know. Jasmine and I just whispered back and forth when no one else was watching to pass time. We still paid attention, but to a lesser extent than others. He eventually dove into promotions, and I took some notes on the rules of promotions and requirements.

 

The class was soon over, and he dismissed us without giving us any assignments.

 

“I swear I fell asleep in there,” Jasmine groaned as we left the class. I chuckled and said goodbye before catching up with Random.

 

“Get any new assignments?” I ask.

 

“Nope, none at all. Looks like it’ll be an easy year.”

 

We both walked toward the hot chocolate shop then parted ways, both returning home.