4 Hundred Billion x 2 = 8 Hundred Billion

I walked nervously into the classroom, clutching my bookbag in my sweaty palms as I looked around at the other eighth grade students who were finding their seats on this first day of school. My stomach was tied in a thousand knots and my mouth felt as dry as dust on a scorching day in August. This was no ordinary day, and I was no ordinary pupil. I was going back to school to repeat eighth grade, and since I was forty-something, this was quite a big deal.

I found my desk and slid quietly into it, hoping no one would notice that I was too old to be in this class. As I was placing my notebook and pencils neatly into the drawer, I glanced nervously to my right to see who was sitting beside me. To my open-mouthed amazement, I noticed Barack Obama settling into his desk, trying to make room for his long legs in the confined space. He glanced my way and we shared a look of sympathy. It was an "I know how you feel" kind of look.

I only had time for a quick fantasy of enjoying an 8th grade graduation party at the White House when the teacher called my name. She brought me to reality quickly by asking me to come up and recite my multiplication tables. I got out of my seat and headed towards her desk, my brain frantically trying to recall where I should start in the recitation of the table. By the time I arrived in front of the stern-faced teacher, I had decided to start at the beginning, so I began reciting in a shaky voice, "One times one is one, two times two is four, four times four is eight," and so on. After listening to me complete half the table, she waved me back to my seat, saying she could tell I knew my multiplication and that was all she required.

I returned to my desk, with another glance at Obama, thinking that my friends would never believe me if I told them I was going to school with the President.

Just then I heard the bell ringing, signalling school dismissal. The sound became more insistent as the fragments of sleep started leaving my brain, like a fog lifting after the rising sun. I woke up to the ringing of my alarm clock.