A soft buzzing rang in a far corner of the room, and I groaned. I had once dreamt of a day that school had been cancelled and my mom would tiptoe in, turn off my alarm, and let me sleep past 6:30am. But here we were, another grating entry into the overstimulating world of high school.

So I wiggled my toes and sighed. Odd. Those weren’t the familiar scratchy Target sheets we bought last year in th...