An Illustrated Novel! || Ivy Rochester accidentally falls into a portal that takes her 1,000 years into an alternate future. Getting back is the least of her worries.
12-year-old Ivy Rochester stumbles on a fluorescent lightbulb...and somehow finds...
To say that class dragged would be an understatement.
Ivy sat at her desk, trying her best to ignore how numb her elbows were getting from propping her hands under her chin. Can this day get any longer? she thought impatiently, watching as the clock's hands seemed to move in slow-motion.
1:53...
1:54...
Class didn't end until 2:15. That minute felt like ten, she quietly sighed to herself. She glanced around the classroom.
It seemed as if she were the only one in this predicament, as the rest of the class was dutifully writing in their notebooks. Ivy's own notebook was filled with doodles and scribbles, nothing that was going to help her study for the upcoming test. This test and all the other million assignments I have to worry about. She sighed in frustration.
Up until recently, Ivy was at the top of her class. She had found it easy to answer the teacher's problems and questions and actually enjoyed her assignments. And now I can barely lift a pen, she sullenly thought.
In the front of the classroom, her science teacher Ms. Buchanan was droning on about something with rare Earth elements. She didn't know what they were talking about. It feels like I'm falling behind, she thought. Come on, Ivy, concentrate! Ivy focused her attention on her teacher.
"Ivy," her teacher said, "can you give me an example of a rare Earth element?"
"...huh?" Ivy said, her eyes widening. Her ears burned as she heard a few snickers from her classmates.
"Settle down, class," Ms. Buchanan sharply said, glaring at each laughing student. She returned her attention to Ivy. "Can you give me an example of a rare Earth element? It's a part of the periodic table quiz this week."
"Um..." Ivy desperately glanced at her empty note page. "...no," she finally said.
"Ok," her teacher amiably said. "How about a definition? Can you tell me what a rare Earth element is?"
"Psst, Ivy," a classmate whispered. Ivy sighed.
Eloise, Ivy's overtly persistent classmate, was leaning towards Ivy's desk, attempting to catch her attention. Eloise had been trying almost non-stop the entire school year to befriend her, and she was getting tired of her persistence. She was fine with having no friends, and frankly, found it difficult to trust others. Ivy ignored Eloise.
"Ivy!" Eloise whispered again. "It's-."
"No helping, please," Ms. Buchanan said, glaring daggers at Eloise. She shrunk back in her seat. "Ivy, your answer please?"
"Um, rare earth elements are...," Ivy said, startled from her train of thought, "are...an element that's...rare?" Ivy sputtered.
The snickering continued.
Ms. Buchanan said nothing, but Ivy could see the quiet disappointment in her eyes. "Ivy, please follow along with the class lecture."
"Yes, ma'am," Ivy muttered, sinking her head into her hands again. If she could sink into the ground, she would have. Ivy fidgeted, trying to ignore the glances and whispers surrounding her.
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