The ticking of the clock echoed in the dull, gray classroom. The students' eyes were glassy as the teacher babbled on about particles, matter, and other scientific things. Counting all the sand pebbles in the entire Sahara Desert seemed more interesting than the thought of enduring another 5 minutes of this lesson. “OK students,” said the robotic voice, “how many positive ions are in this molecule?” His short arms could barely reach the nitrogen diagram he was pointing to. The class remained silent. In front of me, a boy with a tall red mohawk broke the silence when he blurted out, "Tree!" The whole class laughed, but I laughed the loudest. The teacher ignored the outburst and asked again, “How many positive ions?” A couple of guys answered, but I couldn't answer. I was still stifling giggles. The boy with the red mohawk noticed this and continued to make fun of the teacher, trying to make me laugh again. Before class was over, I was sitting outside in the sun and still laughing. The next day at lunch I sat with the boy with the red mohawk. He recognized me from science class...