“Pop quiz. Books away.” Professor Craig walks into the room, his gray eyebrows drawn tight under his glasses. “You’ll have twenty minutes before we start today’s lesson.”
His clipped tone makes me dislike our professor even more than I already do.
Fuck me.
“You just had to say it, didn’t you?” I shake my head at Marcus.
The last thing I need is a pop quiz when I spent all night studying for calc.
“You know me saying it didn’t make it happen, right?”
“Might as well have.”
I grab the remote we use for pop quizzes in class and start reading through the questions that are projected on the screen. I hate these because I know immediately if I pass or fail. The last time we had one, I did not do well.
This class is kicking my ass, and the further along in the semester we get, the harder it’s going to be to get my grade up.
Half of the questions on the screen seem like they’re in a foreign language.
Calculate the number of light years away a star is?
How does a black hole form?
What is the difference between a nebula and a galaxy?
With each passing question, my mind spins. I have no idea if I’m answering any of these questions correctly.
“Remotes away.” Professor Craig changes the screen to start reviewing the information. “Please get out your computers so we can review the information.”
I log into our campus-wide system and pull up this class.
D.
Fuck me. And what’s even worse is there’s an empty grade where my most recent paper should be.
“Has he graded this yet?” I lean over to Marcus and ask him.
“Yeah, why?”
“Great.”
My mood takes a further nosedive as Professor Craigbreezes through the material like everyone in the room should have any clue what he’s talking about.
I’m sure most are following along, but trying to take notes and keep up with him? I feel like I’m in my own black hole right now.
There’s nothing more demoralizing than sitting through a class where you feel like you’re losing brain cells. I can’t follow a single thing the professor is talking about. I’m sure he gets some kind of joy out of making students feel like this.
Had I known this class would be this hard, I would’ve found something else to take. Not suffer through feeling like a bigger idiot every time I’m in class.
“Next class, we’ll be reviewing for the first exam of the semester. I suggest you all come prepared, as we will be working in small groups to review the information.” His eyes land on me, and I take it as a direct hit.
What a dick. I hate professors like him. He clearly gets off on making students miserable.
Books and laptops are slammed shut as the sound of desks getting folded back into their seats reverberates around the room. The chatter of the departing students fills the air around me when I hear the voice I loathe.
“Mr. Hollins. A word?” Professor Craig asks.
Class empties out around me as I remain in my seat. No sense in hurrying out if I have to stay here. I take my time stowing everything in my backpack, trying to ease the nerves now raging in my stomach.
