YeahWrite Challenge #439: "Velocity" by Amy Irons

     Mama decided to homeschool me. Why? I’m not quite sure, exactly. It wasn’t like I was failing my classes. Actually, I had almost all A’s, which was good for me, especially since Home Economics dragged me down. When I was pulled from school, I had a 85.6% in the class which drove me crazy. No matter how much I argued with that old Hag of a teacher, I couldn’t get it higher. But Daisy Thomas had a 96.7% in the class. And she thought she was so smart. In your dreams! Anyways, back to Home Economics. Right. I tend to go off on long tangents. So, my guidance counselor put me into that wretched class this year and COMPLETELY ignored my request to take Physics. “Ladies like yourself aren’t scientists,” she told me. What does that idiot know about what’s good for me? So I got stuck in a class of all girls learning to make sandwiches, sewing clothes, and reading about ways to please your husband when he comes home from a long day of work. I was miserable. And worst of all, I didn’t fit in.

     For stupid Daisy and her minions, that shit came naturally. Their grilled cheeses were never burned and they never stabbed themselves by accident with their sewing needles. Their pink pens scribbled violently in their flowery notebooks when our teacher preached about ways to be a good wife. I didn’t take notes. None of it would matter after high school because I’m not going to be a wife or mother. I’m going to be a physicist and that’s that. Nobody understands that. My useless guidance counselor, teachers, peers, even Mama. No one understood it, nor did they understand me. These people weren’t going to stop me from being who I wanted to be. So I stole a Physics book from the science wing and learned everything I could from it. I spent all of my time reading that book, thinking of my own experiments I could conduct. What caught my interest the most was the chapter on velocity. I want to know the velocity of birds when they fly, or the baseball that’s hit off of a bat. I want to learn the secrets of the Universe, and being a physicist will help me do that.

     So forget Home Economics, because I don’t care about any of that crap. For the most part, I was getting through the class alright. Sure, my meals weren’t perfect, and neither were my sewing skills. But I did my own thing until Daisy and her friends came over to the stove I was using one day and decided to give their unneeded opinions. “Looks like you’re having a little trouble there, Sam,” they sneered. Without looking at them, I replied, “Well it’s not like I’m going to need this in the real world or whatever.” After a moment of pause, Daisy jeered, “Sure, Sam. You’re right. It’s not like any man would want to be your husband anyways." What happened next, I don’t recall. All I remember is Mama taking me away from school and me explaining to her that Home Economics is the worst and that I’ll never be a wife and mother like her. So, here we are.

      I’m homeschooled now and I’m still not sure why. And by homeschooled, I mean Mama making me teach myself. She comes into my room sometimes to give me meals on a cart. She also asks me how I’m doing and writes down what I say on a notepad. And, she helps me change into my clothes after baths, which is a bland dress I wear every day. Other than that, I go long periods of time without seeing Mama. The strangest part about being homeschooled is that she doesn’t let me use any materials. No paper, no pencils, no textbooks, no nothing. So I repeat scientific equations out loud so that I don’t forget them. Every day, I ask Mama if I can do some experiments. And every day, she looks at me with a twinkle in her eye saying, “Oh Sam, what a lovely girl you are,” and locks the door to my room. Mama is a nice lady, and I know she’ll be proud of me when I finally get to show her my experiments with real objects. Now, if only I could move my bed…