 Rhibear ~ Madam Solo ~ Dark Brooding Girl ~ Accio Jedi ~ Gryffinclaw ~ Just a doll
Heath blinked, slightly caught off guard by the professor’s offer. While he was curious about what a slinky would do on the moving staircase, he wondered if that was something that might get him into trouble. He did not want to wind up on the headmaster’s bad side this term or any term, come to think of it! Still, it was a nice offer. “Thank you, sir,” he replied with a small smile, unsure what else to say.
Claudine also got a smile from Heath as she returned his greeting, but his smile faded when he overheard Bernie talking to Ashley and Ingrid. Blink, blink. Was she actually trying to scare the first years, or did she just not consider how her words sounded? That was something Heath could never figure out about her, and that was the only thing stopping him from saying something to her now. Well, that, plus the fact that he was too far away to talk to her without shouting across the room, and Professor Schmoe probably would give detention for that!
Never mind, class was starting anyway. Heath looked up as Professor Schmoe spoke, and it was only then that he saw the ominous writing on the board. HOW did he not notice that until just now?! Inwardly berating himself for his obliviousness, he listened to the professor. Pollution, yes, that made sense. Heath couldn’t think of anything else the topic could possibly have been with that message on the board… unless it was a quote from some movie he didn’t know. He paid attention to the others’ answers as he considered the question, and he had to stifle a smile at Claudine’s answer. He felt the same way about noise pollution! Loud talking always flustered him, but he’d never be bold enough to say that out loud. The thought crossed his mind to piggyback off of that answer and offer a broader definition of noise pollution, but he didn’t want Claudine to think he was copying or trying to one-up her.
Instead, Heath decided to go a different direction with his answer. Unfortunately, someone else (Valencia) gave the exact answer he had in mind before he could speak. Ugh! Now what was he going to do? He couldn’t think of anything other types of pollution that hadn’t already been said, so he supposed the next best thing would be to give a different example of one of those types. “Thermal pollution,” he said after raising his hand. “Another cause is cold water released from reservoirs, which has eliminated native fish species in some parts of the world.” He couldn’t recall exactly where, but he remembered reading that it happened.
__________________ Old voices I had thought long since dead whisper of another life I might have led
If I could take that second chance, If I could make my life anew, If only dreams came true... |