Sarah lost the thread of the lecture after about fifteen minutes. But she'd written some words down in her notebook to look up later. This was something she'd definitely be able to accomplish during her next class: Intro to Computers. Technically, there was a fleshed-out curriculum that the teacher was supposed to adhere to, but practically speaking, most of the course went over stuff that most kids knew already, so Mrs. Molyneux was pretty lax.
Sarah walked in and smiled at Biff, her only close friend in class. In the old reality, Sarah had only taken this class because Biff had convinced her it was an easy A, but in this reality it was more just coincidence.
Unfortunately, although she gave students freedom in what they did during lectures, Mrs. Molyneux had a strict "no talking" policy, so even though "McMillan" and "Meadows" were right next to each other on the seating chart, they both knew that so much as a whisper could get them in trouble. Fortunately, someone had gone and installed instant messenger clients on all the computers, and Mrs. Molyneux never bothered to clean them off.
Meisjegeel: Biff what does 'fundimental' mean?
TouchDownB: fundAmental, it kinda means the same as "basic."
Meisjegeel: Ah. and 'intagrate'?
TouchDownB: intEgrate, it's like to combine two things
TouchDownB: hey, you want to hang out at coffee after practice?
Meisjegeel: Sure!!!! :D
Just then, Mrs. Molyneux started her lecture on the evolution of GUIs and operating systems, so Sarah turned to pay close attention. Not because she cared particularly about the subject, but to try and shove more English into her head. Out of the corner of her eye, though, Sarah saw a window flashing on her screen.
TouchDownB: hey, why so serious?
Meisjegeel: Trying to learn English. Let me focus.
TouchDownB: k
He didn't bother her the rest of class, but the more Sarah tried to concentrate, the harder it got. Soon she started developing an actual headache, but she was determined to fight through it and pay attention. It kept building to the point where she didn't even notice when the one arrived which signaled she had lost something else.
And she wouldn't know until class ended and she went to log off of the chat program. Before she closed the window, she read back a certain part:
CheerManB: Hey, you want to watch me during practice?
Meisjegeel: Sure!!!! :D
It had changed! "CheerManB?" Sarah was getting pretty good at this game, and figured out pretty quickly that she was no longer a member of the squad.
But she was still athletic, and pretty, and popular, and most importantly, a girl. Even if she couldn't speak English, and even if she wasn't a cheerleader, she could make do with what she had. She'd manage. She'd given herself a good life, and she was convinced that she could adjust to anything at this point, somehow.
