Your day is almost over. You have made it through every other class. All that is left is good old history, or at least what you used to call a good class. You make your way down the hall and walk the round shaped interior of the building.

You watch all of your peers chatting in the hallway, completely oblivious to you. Even some of those who you called friends have not noticed you passing by. You begin to make the walk of shame to your history classroom. Laughter and companionship fill the halls, but none of it reaches you. Before you can drag your wandering mind back down to earth, you collide.

“I am so sorry,” you say scrambling to help your classmate pick up his papers.

You hand him his papers keeping your head low.

“It’s alright,” he says giving you a nudge.

You resist the urge and look up at him. You can feel an instant joy from looking into his green eyes. The way they crinkled while he smiles makes you want to do the same. It makes you want to smile.

He glances down at his silver watch with a blue face, “I have to go to class, but thanks for helping me pick up my stuff.”

You both start to walk in your respective directions as he yells back to you, “Don’t let a slight moment of drifting ruin the rest of your day!”

You do not stop and turn around, but you smile. What a nice guy.

You walk the long way to your history class. The room is a small, cramped one. It sits near the cafeteria doors with the smell of snacks in the kitchen flowing in. Today is the best day to sit in this dreary room: Italian day.

You catch a waft of the mozzarella and sauce as you enter the room. You take your seat closest to the vent and continue to smell the joyous remembrances of home.

Home is not here. You miss the tomato garden in the backyard, the basil at peak freshness, and the sound of sizzling delicacies. Moving away from that was the hardest thing you have ever been forced into.

Once a week though, you get to let your mind drift to the good old days. The days when good food was not on the other side of the country.

The bell rings and snaps you out of your daydream. The rest of the class scrambles to their seats. The teacher stands and smiles.