• Penn absently gazed out at the woods, nibbling on his nails; it was a habit of his. And what a bad habit it was, he thought, examining his wrought nails. He had chewed off all of the white edges. Penn sighed. No matter how hard he tried, it wasn’t something he could break easily. He had attempted to stop multiple times… and failed, nonetheless. So, he gave up, deciding to save his efforts.

    The mind-numbing words of his history teacher sounded like static, dull and single-pitched. With such a monotone teacher, Penn could not pay attention. Yes, he found history likable, but with Mr. Small as a teacher, how could he? In the end, Penn was allowed to tune the teacher out. He already knew from past knowledge the sins of Big Bad Hitler. Oh, Penn could go on and on if he wanted to, but he would not because that would require him to think, and thinking was not what he was going for at the moment.

    Penn turned his attention back towards the scenery outside, where trees started looking dead, and browning leaves fell away ever so slowly, welcoming winter. Next to the window, he could feel the chill that seeped through. It was a nice feeling for this hot and stuffy classroom, packed in with thirty other kids his age that didn’t want to be here anymore than he did.

    Noticing sweaty Mr. Small snapping his name, Penn was forced to look at the overweight teacher. His tucked-in-shirt was snug around his large, beer-belly and his comb over hair did nothing to cover the growing balding. Mr. Small’s face was tinted a red hugh, and the color did not mean anything good. Yes, if Penn recalled, this was Mr. Small’s angry face.

    “Penn, this is not nap time,” he huffed. “Pay attention or I’ll kick you out of my class.”

    Penn said nothing. He only propped his head on his fist and pretended to listen. That seemed to buy him the rest of the hour, allowing his mind to wander. Yet, he’d be called upon by Mr. Small now and again, and be forced to answer the teacher's simple-minded questions. A smart comment conjured in Penn's ingenious head then, but he found that it would only get him in trouble, so he waved it it goodbye in hope he would never see it again.