Diary Entry 4/21/11: Algebra

If you're like me, you despise numbers. When confronted with an equation, your heart rate quickens, but your brain totally shuts down.
I think in letters, not numbers. I relate life to art, not integers.
I haven't been blessed with very good math teachers over the past few years, and I tend to blame my illiteracy to the language of algebra on them.
However, my math class this year is incredible. Though...not because of the math.
Today, I had the best algebra class ever, and I owe it all to the insane souls in the class.
I have algebra fifth period, and I dread it all morning. On the way to my locker, Lexie and I were in the middle of an epic argument concerning the hair of Jamie Campbell Bower (the brillaint british actor engaged to Bonnie Wright). I grab my books, and am standing outside the algebra room waiting for the teacher to show up, and decide to start up a conversation with Cooner.
"Eyyy, Coon. How bout this weather we're havin'?"
Cooner starts laughing hysterically, for no apparent reason. He's bent over now, still in hysterics, when the teacher, Mrs. Walls, shows up and lets us all in.
Coons laughing away at his desk, and no one knows why, and doesn't bother to ask.
I sit down, and as I'm rearanging my books, I spot Lance walking past me to his seat.
"LANCE!" I yell.
"ERIN!" He yells back.
"GIVE ME SOME CANDY!"
He hesitates. "I...uh...don't have..any..."
"Lance."
"FINE!" He says with a sigh. This is a normal thing. Lance is always stocked with hard candy, and he distributes it to anyone willing to pay him back.
"What do I get in returrnnn!!?" he whines, tossing my a watermelon candy.
"A grippy."
"Nah, You gave me one o' them yesterday."
"...an eraser."
"eh...."
"a pencil?"
"what color?"
"all I have is, like, pink..."
"THIS IS BLACKMAIL!" he suddenly screams, practically pulling his hair out. Lance continues to spazz, and I eat my candy as class starts.
******
Halfway through class, Mrs. Walls catches Ethan writing notes.
"Ethan?"
Ethan looks up, deer in headlights. "Mrs. Walls?"
"What are you writing?"
".....song lyrics...."
"what song?"
"You are my sunshine, by Johnny Cash."
We all break out laughing.
"...May I ask why?"
"...to give to Ryan."
He starts laughing, and Ryan is basically convulsing with hysterics.
Mrs. Walls, laughing because she knows we're her favorite class, even if she says she hates us all the time, takes the note.
She looks at it, laughing harder and harder with each line.
"Ethan, come up here." she spits out, through a chuckle.
Ethan marches up to the front of the class, ready for a show.
Mrs. Walls hands him the paper, and makes him sing it to the class.
Ethan takes a deep breath, putting on his game face.
"Ryan!" he says, staring at Ryan. "This one's for you!"
And so, in perfect key, with plenty of gusto, Ethan begins to sing, while the rest of the class is sprawled out on various surfaces around the room, dying of laughter. I've known Ryan a long time, but I've never seen him laugh this hard.
"You are my sunshine, my only sunshine!
You make me happyyyyy, when times are gray!" Ethan remains cool and collected, singing in perfect pitch, while Mrs. Walls leaves the room to maintain composure.
"You'll never know, DEAR!" He points at Ryan. "how much I LOVE you! please don't Taaaake, my sunshine awayyyy!"
The class applauds, and Ethan finally starts laughing with the rest of us, and Mrs. Walls comes back in, ready to finish the class, but can't. Because what just happened was freaking funny, and she knows it.
So, for the next half hour, the class explodes. We give up oin whatever it was we were trying to learn before Ethan's concert, and instead just sort of mess around.
I really despie math, but sometimes, Algebra can be fun..
You know, if you've got a funny kid with a great voice in the class, and a teacher who's not too big on punishment.