Peter was running late in the morning. Running only on a stale English muffin and black coffee, he was unsure on whether or not he’d make the CTA bus to his first period history class. The temperature outside was 7 degrees Fahrenheit, and there were reports of black ice on TV. Peter slapped on his New Balances and sprinted out of Apartment 2B in hopes of catching the bus. Miraculously, he made the bus in time and got the last seat left on the bus. He sat next to a businessman who was drinking a coffee, smoking a cigar, and reading the Sun Times simultaneously. Peter, shivering in his coat, peaked over the newspaper to see if he could see the score to last night’s Cubs game.

The businessman shunted the newspaper away from Peter, exclaiming, “Damn kid! Buy your own paper.”

Peter turned away from the businessman and decided to think about what was in store of his surely miserable day at school, when he realized that he forgot his history homework at home. “Mr. Sharp is gonna kill me!” Peter was never in good terms with his history teacher, Mr. Sharp. He was often a culprit of falling asleep in class, and it didn’t help that he had the front seat in the class. His morning was not going the way anyone would want it to go.

Walking into first period empty-handed, he sat in his front row seat and waited for the chime of the bell to ring. Mr. Sharp had decided to start class with a lecture on a battle from the Civil War, and this is when Peter felt the effects of his UPS 4pm-12am shift kick in. The coffee was no match for the hundreds of boxes he had stocked hours ago. He was out like a sick person on NyQuil. When he woke up, the classroom was empty, except for one Mr. Sharp with his hands crossed around his waist, standing right in front of Peter.

“Do you find me boring, Peter? Guess you don’t get enough sleep every night.”

Unfortunately for Peter, both parts of this statement were true, and he was too tired to explain himself to his history teacher. After a long lecture about paying attention, he took the pink detention slip that was lying on his desk and left the classroom.