Nameless+-+Chapter+1

"Heather Hexadecimal Tyren! You are going to be late if you don't get up right this second!" 17-year-old Heather, aka Hex, rolled over with a groan and glared at her clock. It's merciless red numbers read 7:56am. School started at 8:15. Hex sat bolt upright and jumped out of bed. "Oh my gosh, Mom, fifteen minutes is not enough time to get ready!" "Ten minutes, it takes you five to get there." "Geez, why didn't you wake me up sooner?!" Somehow, amazingly, Hex got her outfit picked out, took a shower, did her makeup, packed her bag, and was out the door at 8:13 sharp. Black hair waving erratically behind her, she practically flew the 20 yards to the transport station at the end of her block. Slamming the green-gray door shut behind her, she punched in her school coordinates. As the tinted window in front of her began to glow, Hex glanced at her watch. 8:14. "C'mon, hurry up, you hunk of junk." she muttered to herself, even as the flash of instantaneous travel engulfed her. As it turned out, you couldn't rush molecular transport. Mr. Simmons glared balefully at her and she stumbled in the door at 8:15:30. Ignoring him, Hex dropped her bag into a seat next her best friend, Bianca. Mr. Simmons stalked to the front of the lecture hall. The room looked almost like an auditorium, and each red chair had a computer in front of it. Hex hit Ctrl+Alt to log in, then waited impatiently as the computer loaded her "personal settings", whatever those were. "Cutting it kinda close, don't you think?" Bianca whispered out of the side of her mouth as she clicked on the SmartReader textbook icon on her desktop. "Not my fault. Why do they make school start so darn early?" Hex grumbled. At the front of the room, Mr. Simmons started explaining the theory behind the mechanics of ancient forms of transportation. Hex opened her SmartText of //Forerunners of Technology// to page 105 and started reading. She was only half-listening to the teacher. There were muffled voices all around her. Everyone knew that history was ideal for talking in. Once he got started, Mr. Simmons tended be deaf to anything and everything not related to the subject he was teaching. "Obviously, to torture us." said Bianca, rolling her eyes. The //tick-tap// of her fingers on the keyboard added to the drone of background noise. Bianca, age 16 //and a half// (as she was constantly reminding everyone), was a multitasker extraordinaire. She could actually take notes, listen to the teacher, and talk at the same time. For her part, Hex preferred to study out of the book. It saved the bother of paying too much attention in class. "Y'know, I think I'm going to apply for those virtual courses in my senior year. The ones you can take at home whenever you want." Hex tapped the "i" key on her keyboard and watched the little line of letters spread across her document. "But you need, like, ultra-special permission for that, right?" whispered Bianca. Hex grinned. "Not anymore. I hear they let //anyone// do it now. There was some sort of government regulation about discrimination." "You know those programs will probably brainwash you. I hear everyone who tries it suddenly has a craving for bananas." Bianca grinned back, but motioned for Hex to keep her voice down. At the front, Mr. Simmons droned on and on about the first automobile and primitive gasoline engines. "Yeah right. It's just a virtual reality class. The worst it could probably do is bore you to death." Hex started to put her feet up on the desk, then thought better of it. "Two more years, and I am //so// out of here. You should do it too, that way we can both sit at home and eat junk food during "classes"." Bianca's gray eyes were totally serious as she replied. "No, I don't think I will. All this computer-controlled stuff is getting way out of hand. Sometimes it's a relief to be able to do something tangible, you know?"
 * Nameless - Chapter 1: My Life**

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