It felt like I woke up out of another dream, but just as simple as closing my eyes and opening them once more, I woke up in a classroom.
I was in uniform, in a group of people talking about hitting up a karaoke place after school. Pretty girls and popular boys surrounded me as I felt like I had temporarily left my body.
Their faces were almost blurred out completely, and their conversations felt like echoes of words I've only briefly heard.
Then, as if nothing happened, everything became clear and their faces had substance.
"So anyway, I was talking to my boyfriend, and he totally stood me up! So, now I'm single again. Such a drag..." One of the girls said.
"I can change that for you! I won't be a drag!" One of the boys with bulky glasses said. He adjusted himself on the table and pushed his glasses up as he imitated a nerd and the group of girls laughed.
"What about you, Anima? You found that girl yet?" They all turned to me and asked.
"No, still nothing, but it wouldn't be love if it wasn't hard to get," I told them. God, what am I saying?
All feelings for Destiny had long since departed. I accepted it in middle school, but now in my first year of high school, I would be meeting new people, and Destiny would be as well. It was a lost cause, but there wasn't anything with that.
"I praise your faithfulness to that girl you haven't seen in a while. That's impressive. You're a really sweet guy, Anima." The girl who was hit on said to me.
"Alright, everybody! Take your seats, today, we're having fun with more math equations!" The teacher shouted.
We all groaned and left the tops of desks to sit in our assigned seats. I dreaded math but... how was this important to this game I was playing? I'm just in school...
"I'm kidding, of course, today, we won't be doing math. I have a question that will rack your brains and push them to their limit! I know this isn't math, but we should mix it up once in a while, right?!" The teacher yelled out. I liked him for avoiding math, especially in my memory. I don't remember any math.
"The question I have today for you is... What is the goal of humanity? Why do we learn math? Why do we go to school?" The teacher asked.
"What's with the existential crisis? Did somebody hit the middle of their life?" The nerd boy asked the teacher. Everybody laughed, including the teacher, but he shook his head and redirected everybody's attention.
"I'm serious. If you can come up with a good answer, I'll give you extra credit and take away homework for the rest of the year. As the whole class, go ahead." He challenged us.
Taking away homework and giving extra credit? He was asking for his own death sentence.
Instantly, I stood up and gave it a shot.
"The goal of humanity is to further our species. We learn math to pass the time, we learn and do things to pass the time. Some of them we enjoy, some of them we don't, but it's all necessary to get to where we need to be to further our species." I told him.
"Very nice guess, Anima, but why? Why further our species when we won't know what the future holds? Why is that our purpose, even if we won't see it?" He asked me in return... and he stumped me.
He was going to give me an existential crisis...
"And guys, remember, the point of this isn't to make you feel insignificant, it's to make sure you're confident in why you're the person you are today, rather than the person your friend could be. You need to have a goal that can stand out from everybody else. This may or may not be true, but for Anima, it could be to further our species, which is exemplary for a student already. But, no matter what the goal is, nothing is wrong. Any other ideas?" He asked us.
I don't remember this event but... it's useful to me.
I had a conflict about being a Hero, or being a bad one... yet, this teacher from my memories is giving me some of the answers. And maybe, these students would offer something useful too.
"The goal of humanity is to pursue happiness. Sometimes, our happiness is different than others. That's why some of us turn into criminals, and others turn into teachers." Another student answered.
"Happiness is subjective, and not everybody can have it. I can't have happiness if your happiness is robbing me. So, where is my happiness?" The teacher asked the student.
Holy crap... was this math or philosophy? What was with this train of thought?
Is there a point to that...?
I decided to give it another shot.
"The goal of humanity is to make a future in which we can all be happy, no matter how small those steps are. Maybe what requires happiness for all of us is taking away the money from those who would spend it on insignificant things." I offered a solution... but was turned down again.
"If making the future a better place started with me failing you in this class, would you be inclined to think that answer again?" He asked me.
This guy! Damn... he's good...
"We go to school to get smart!" One of the textbook jocks said to the teacher.
"... okay." The teacher commented. Again, we all laughed.
"Let me ask you this in addition to that. Why do you need to be smart?" Again, the teacher waited for the jock to answer.
"To pass classes!" The jock replied.
So... that's not going anywhere.