The Distance Learning Experience

 1.

 A combination of buzzing and yelling pulled Miles Sheffield from the greatest dream. He was skiing down a mountain made of his favorite candy, with two sturdy pieces of licorice serving as his ski poles. He was in a race against nine of the other best skiers on Butterscotch Mountain, just getting ready to slide through the finish line banner. He leaned forward and put his head down for more speed. Looking down through his legs, he saw all nine other competitors behind him, showing that he was about to win. He flashed a big confident grin and raised his arms to welcome the oohs and ahhs of the cheering crowd.

 Oddly enough, the crowd all sounded like his mother. "Miles! Wake up! It's time to go to school!"

 The harsh reality that he wasn't a championship skier entered his foggy brain as his fantasy was rudely interrupted. He groaned loudly as he turned off his alarm. It sounded louder today, for some reason.

 "Miles!" His mother yelled from downstairs again, "Don't make me come up there, boy!"

 "I'm up, mom!" Miles yelled back, feeling especially annoyed. "Here I‌ go again,"‌ he muttered under his breath. "School is so pointless. Why do I‌ even bother going?‌ It's a waste of my time. An imaginary ski race on a mountain sounds more realistic than me ever caring about school."

 2.

Miles always had this attitude towards school. He got good enough grades, but he was frustrated by how hard he had to work to get them. Many times, he found himself drifting off to sleep in the middle of math class, dreaming that the numbers were all coming to take his video games away. His teacher, Miss Margie, always had to loudly snap her fingers to wake him up out of his trance. One time he was so startled by the snap that he fell out of his chair, swinging his fists at nothing on the entire way down. That was a tough Tuesday.

 What made things worse was that his twin sister Gloria was the absolute definition of perfect. With straight A's and straighter teeth, she acted like school was the best thing ever. The thought of that made Miles want to puke. Gloria has no idea what she's talking about, Miles would often think. School is a huge waste of time! Every minute that I'm in school, I‌ could be leveling up in Fork Knife! Fork Knife was a popular video game that Miles had gotten considerably good at over the passing months. The object of the game was to control a chef as he cut food into tiny pieces with a fork and knife. Nobody could beat Miles in the game, something that he would often brag to all his friends about.

 Back in his room, Miles went through his usual morning routine. He made his bed to the best of his ability, which usually just consisted of him lazily throwing the blanket over the entire bed, including the pillows. He picked out a pair of jeans that his mom had just bought him, so he would be in the "breaking in" phase for the next couple of days, causing him to walk the way a baby deer walks when it first learns that it's a deer and that it can walk. The tightness of the pants made him take a deep breath before buttoning them. He looked through his closet to find his Friday shirt, which was nothing more than a faded green t-shirt with a yellow star in the middle. For some reason, when he wore this shirt, he felt like a champion—like nothing could get in his way and if it tried to, it would immediately get out of his way. Watch out world, Miles Sheffield was wearing his Friday shirt!

 He looked quickly into his bathroom mirror and brushed his messy brown hair, blowing a kiss to his reflection. "Being this good-looking is going to get me in trouble one day!," he said to himself. "That, or my math grades." He stumbled down the stairs and sat down at the breakfast table where his mom had her face buried behind a newspaper. Steam from her hot coffee was coming out from behind the paper, making her look like some kind of wizard. Gloria was already up, wearing a perfect ladybug dress with a matching ladybug hair clip, eating a slice of grapefruit that she had cut in half by herself. Miles' mom had decided that Miles was not yet mature enough to handle a knife, resulting in all of his meals being pre-cut for the time being.