"Are you having one of your 'I'm sombody else' incidents again?" she asked. She clearly did not have time for this.
"Say no!" said someone behind me.
I was sitting in a chair attached to a little desk, like junior high. "Uh?" I mumbled.
"... then answer the question already!" she (the teacher?) said.
"No!," I stated, "I certainly am Not having an 'I'm someone else' incident!". Clearly this time.
The class roared.
The teacher covered her face. "Yes you are," she said. "That isn't Katie's accent. That isn't Katie's phrasing. And that wasn't the question. Visitor, do you know, is there something else you're supposed to be doing here?"
I glanced around, confused.
"No? Well, today you are Katie Simms. S-i-m-m-s. I'm Mrs. McKay. Your incidents usually last an hour to a week. This is seventh grade biology. We're studying the bones of the body. Katie herself is clearly skipping today's lesson, but you can stay, if you want. Or you could go to the principal. You're not in trouble — he's seen this before, he could give you other options."
I looked around. Middle schoolers. Textbooks. "I'll stay here, if that's OK with you?" I said.
"OK. Sunni, look after Katie OK?" said Mrs. McKay. Sunni gave her a big thumbs-up. Mrs. McKay composed herself again. "Now. JOSH, can YOU name the bones of the inner ear?"
Seventh grade biology! Again! And I had just been thinking I needed to get away from it all, do something completely different. This certainly qualified.
This was in response to a prompt on rWritingPrompts, "After a short dizziness you pick up your head to find yourself in seventh grade. The teacher looks at you and asks derisively, 'Are you having one of your "I'm somebody else" incidents again?' Behind you, someone begs you not to answer. The teacher continues, 'then answer the question already!'"