"Alexa." The sharp voice of my teacher rang throughout the classroom. I sat up straight in my chair and turned my head to face Ms. Stellar. Her black hair made of synthetic fibers were up in a tight bun, her metallic face covered in a thick layer of makeup. Not that she needed it. Her face had been molded to perfection when she was made, her eyelashes long and her lips full. Her bright blue glass eyes stared right through me.

"Now that you've had your nap, would you care to join the rest of the class?" she said. My classmates snickered, and my face burned a deep shade of red.

"Sorry," I mumbled. Ms. Stellar stared at me for a minute more, then turned her attention back to the screen that displayed the wreckage that had been made back when terrorists roamed the Earth, and started talking again. I shrank back in my chair and combed my fingers through my wild hair. I had tried pony tails, braids, straight irons, and a billion bobby pins, but nothing could tame the knot that was my hair. Today I was sporting the "I just woke up but unlike some lucky people my hair isn't perfect all the time and takes hours of work to make it look even decent". I blew a dirty blond strand out of my face, but it came right back.

Ms. Stellar was still droning on about something call 9-11. I had heard of it before, and I knew it was a big deal back in the old times and I should listen, but I found history completely and utterly useless. Why learn about things that happened 60 years ago when the future is the only thing that matters? I twisted the defiant strand around my finger a few times, letting it go again after a moment.

After another excruciating 15 minutes, the bell rang to signal the end of the school day. I grabbed my backpack and headed towards the door, hoping to escape undetected, but Ms. Stellar called me to the front of the room. People jeered but I jeered right back, glaring at them. I turned around and walked slowly towards my robotic teacher. She sat in her desk, watching me with unforgiving eyes as I approached. I stared at my feet the whole time, just barely glancing up when I got to her desk.

Ms. Stellar sighed and took off her glasses. She didn't need them at all, but the district thought that the teachers should appear as human as possible without actually being so. She rubbed her eyes.

"Alexa, that's the third time you've fallen asleep in this class-this week. It's getting very exhausting for both of us to keep alerting your parents every time this happens, which is a lot."

"I know," I mumbled, looking up at her. Her unblinking eyes starred right through me. It creeped me out, so I looked back down. "Sorry."

"Sorry won't change the fact that you have a serious napping issue," she said sternly. "You really need to work on it, or there will be more serious consequences than a phone call home. Do you understand?"

"Yes," I said quietly. She nodded.

"Good. Till Monday then." I shouldered my backpack again and walked out of the room as quickly as possible, still staring at the floor. I finally got out of the room, and almost ran straight into someone. We nearly had a head on collision, but I swerved and fell to the floor instead. Jamal laughed and reached out to help me up. I grabbed his hand and pulled myself onto my feet. I brushed off my jeans and t-shirt, and grabbed my backpack. 

"Thanks," I told him as we started walking down the hallway. He smiled, his teeth contrasting against his dark brown skin.

"I'm here anytime that you fall, which is honestly more than some people would expect," he said jokingly. I laughed and bumped his shoulder. Jamal and I weren't exactly a couple, but we were as close to a couple that's not couple could get. We didn't want to make anything official, because high school relationships seem to always end in failure. But we were good friends, and we dated for a while. 

"So?" he asked. "How'd it go with the devil robot today?" I rolled my eyes but smiled. He always called Ms. Stellar the devil, which was a pretty fitting name, I have to admit.

"Well, I may or may not have fallen asleep again in class today," I admitted. He stopped walking and looked at me, fake surprise on his face. 

"What? You? Falling asleep in history class? Never!" he teased. I had told him all of the stories about my many class-time naps. I was fine in all of the subjects but history. I don't know why, but whenever I walked into her classroom, I just got tired. Maybe it was her lavender wall plug...

"So what was the punishment?" he asked. I shrugged.

"Nothing too serious. Another call home. But I think my parents are more annoyed than Ms. Stellar," I said. It was true. My parents complained about my napping problem almost every day when I got home from school. They said I needed to try harder so I would pass the class and graduate high school. I argued that I didn't need to pass it to graduate. You didn't need to do anything to graduate really. Honestly, you didn't need to graduate. The district had taken care of everything. No matter what you did in life, you would have everything you need, as well as everything you didn't need. Food, water, and a house was automatically provided to everybody who needed one. It was well stocked with clothes, toys, etc. Whatever you needed or wanted, you got it. If you wanted a job, you could get one. Some people chose to work to give themselves a sense of accomplishment, but lots of people just did whatever they wanted all day. My parents did not want me to be the latter. They were all about being productive in life, and making it the best you can. They were always telling me that I needed to work hard, which was ironic, since they did nothing but sit around all day. Neither of them have jobs. I guess they just wanted me to turn out better than them.

"So...are you free tomorrow night?" Jamal asked me. "I have tickets to the football game at the university."

I thought for a moment. "Hmmm, maybe..." 

"There's gonna be food."

"I'm in."

We laughed as we made our way to his car. He opened the door for me and I got in. After he had gotten in the driver's seat, the car activated. 

"Where would you like to go?" the car asked. Jamal told it my address, and the car took off. We talked some more about school assignments and other boring things as we drove. Well, as the car drove us. Self driving cars had been tricky for mechanics to perfect. They had to be smart enough to make the right choices, but not too smart as to make it dangerous to drive in. There had been instances at first when the self driving cars were just being developed. At first, the cars were too dumb to break a law to save a life. There were many accidents in the first little while, and it kept happening, so the people upped the intelligence factor. But then, the cars started justifying breaking traffic rules so they could get somewhere on time. One time a car ran a red light, saying that the person inside would get punished if they weren't there on time, and the punishment would make them feel bad about themselves, and soon they would want to die. There were some major adjustments made after that. 

The car finally got to my place. I hopped out of the car and turned around, leaning back into the window. 

"Thanks again for the ride," I told Jamal. He flashed his dazzling smile.

"Anytime."

"Bye."

"Bye."

I waved to him as he drove off, and I headed inside.

Hey guys, hoped you enjoyed the first chapter. Again, I'm totally new to this genre, so this could be pretty rough! But thanks for giving my story a chance, and thanks for all the support you give to me as a new writer. Have a great day!

-Anna