Origin Story

       The sharp smell of Expo markers clung in the air, hitting my nose the moment the door opened to Room 22. I took a quick assessment of the room as I made my way around the maze of tables. The walls were dotted in movie posters and handmade signs, and a long string with a rainbow of spoons tied to it hung across a back corner. A picture frame with a Bedazzled bra in it sat on a shelf in the back. Rows and rows of books, old and new, watched quietly behind a sliding glass door. The windowsill made a makeshift trophy case, full of paintings and models made from inspiration I hadn’t yet found. I pulled out a chair near the front where I had a clear shot of the board as well as the clock, which was off by seven minutes. 07:34. I was early anyway, as I always was on the first day. Directly underneath the clock was a dry-erase easel, with a single question posed at the top: What song is stuck in your head? I didn’t attempt to come up with only one, because on average, there were at least four songs roaming around my mind at any given moment. I took out my book from my bag and settled in for the next ten minutes while the other fifteen kids came in and picked a seat of their own, oblivious to me and the war I was fighting on page 378 with Eragon. The second bell rang and I reluctantly shut my book, keeping it close. But for the next 23 minutes, my hand didn't itch to open it once.