Chapter 26

Trying to make it through school on an empty stomach was really unpleasant. I knew from experience after the multiple times the school bus got to school too late for me to catch breakfast. As I headed toward my first period, I stopped at a nearby water fountain and decided to drink up a lot of water—and I mean a lot of water. It was desperate attempt by a hungry teen to fill an empty belly.

As I walked away from the fountain, I gave some thought to stopping time and just dashing into the cafeteria to stuff my face. But for some reason, I just didn't feel like even bothering—as though it weren't that important. In the meantime, I was pretty set thanks to the water.

Today was a normal scheduled day and so, I had all six classes to go to. Most of the time I appreciated normal days more since it gave me diversity in my classes throughout the day. I was still feeling good—great, actually. I looked forward to Biology in third period where I could see Jennifer and Talia again. The very thought of them put a big grin on my face as I sat down for World History and prepared to let my good mood carry me through the boredom.

Our teacher, of course, was ready to greet us into class for the day with a pop quiz. That was pretty harsh of him. It made me glad I messed with his desk the other day.

Regardless, the decline of the Roman Empire wasn't going to keep me down. I just went with what I remembered from our lessons—what I had learned between my daydreaming and dozing off—and put it to paper.

I was surprised to realize that I was actually one of the first ones done. I raised my paper to be collected by the teacher. He walked over to me with a suspicious look on his face, taking the paper from me and looked it at while walking back to his desk.

I think he was just as surprised as I was.

The rest of class consisted of us opening up our textbooks and taking turns reading aloud from several pages of text. When it was my turn, I was considerably more enthusiastic in my delivery. I really doubt any of the other students gave a shit since, well, it was overall pretty damn boring. I really didn't care, however, my spirits were still high. Once we were done with reading we were given a few minutes to rest before our next class. I leaned back in my chair and sighed comfortably with my hands folded behind my head.

The bell to end class rang. The rest of the students picked up their backpacks and headed for the door. I joined them, walking from one room to literally the next classroom over—my Algebra class. As convenient as it was to not have to walk more than a few feet, my empty stomach started to make itself heard again. I sighed and tried to ignore it as best I could.

I walked into the nearly empty class and took my seat near the back. There, I took out my class textbook and my notebook and a pen. I still kept my spirits up, especially with the beautiful young lady that made her way toward me.

"Hey, Anthony," Tamara greeted me with a sweet smile as she passed by me.

"Hey," I replied, gazing at her as she walked past.

"How are you?" she asked before taking a seat.

"I'm good. How about you?"

"Great," she replied with a big grin. I absolutely loved her smile.

"You seem really perky today," I remarked.

"Yeah," she said as she placed her notebook and a pen on her desk before looking up at me. "Don’t know, I'm just in a good mood today."

"Same here," I said. "…seems pretty crazy to feel so happy so early in the morning, especially in school."

"Right?" she remarked with an adorable laugh. Class was then starting, and the two of us sat forward at our desks.

The teacher stood before the class and began to lecture us on what our next assignment would be. Unfortunately, I was finding it hard to concentrate—all that water I drank was finally starting to catch up with me. I quickly raised my hand to get the teacher's attention.

"Yes?" she asked as she noticed me.

"Can I use the bathroom real quick?"

"Yes, you may," she replied. I quickly and quietly got up, making a beeline for the door. I then made a reserved, mad dash down the hallway and headed straight for the restroom.

Once I'd finished and exited, I found myself being tortured once again by hunger. I walked calmly back to class, trying to conserve some energy so I hopefully wouldn't feel even hungrier. I sighed as I closed my eyes, unconsciously holding a hand up at my side. What I wouldn't have given at that moment to have a big, old hot dog with everything on it—ketchup, relish, mustard and just pile it on high.

While dreaming about food probably wasn't the brightest thing to do, being as hungry as I was, something extraordinarily odd happened. I was so deeply focused on imagining that wonderful hot dog that I could've sworn I felt something warm and soft in my upraised hand, like a hot dog bun.

I curiously opened my eyes which soon bulged from shock as I indeed saw a real hot dog in my hand, exactly the way I had imagined it.

I shouted in panic, my first reaction being to pull my hand away. The hot dog splattered on floor, condiments spread out like a small explosion all over the tile. I stood there, staring at it in shock and disbelief. I then quickly darted my eyes around, wondering where the hell it could've come from. There was nothing and nobody around, certainly, not any hot dog dispensers that were just dangling from the ceiling.

I couldn't believe it. Did I really just make food out of thin air? It could have been the reason why I had unconsciously felt like going to the cafeteria was pointless.

I felt kind of guilty as I then walked away, glancing back several times to make sure it was still there. I hated to give the janitors some unnecessary work but how the hell was I going to explain that I just happened to have a hot dog and dropped it on the ground?

Luckily, nobody saw me in the halls and I was able to slip back into class before anyone did. Everyone inside was busy reading from their textbooks and taking notes in their notebooks.

"Pages one-ninety-nine to two-oh-one," the teacher quickly caught me up on what we were doing. I nodded to her and sat back down at my desk. I opened my books and began to focus as best I could on the assignment. It was expectedly pretty hard after what had just occurred.

But once the initial shock had worn off, I was actually pretty ecstatic about it. What else could I make appear like that?

My stomach then growled loudly enough for the class to hear it, making a few of them quietly laugh. I was still so damn hungry. Having a perfect-looking hot dog go to waste before my eyes certainly didn't help that any.

After each student was done with the work, they were afforded a short break to wait for the rest of the class to finish. I took a deep breath and let it out in a content sigh as I closed my textbook. I then closed my eyes and leaned back in my chair, still recalling the moment when I created a solid object out of thin air.

I'd probably be pretty awesome at parties with a trick like that.