Sorry for the long wait for Chapter V... especially after I said that it probably wouldn't be a very long wait... Again, my apologies. It's been a very busy couple of days...

WARNING: You may learn something from this chapter. I'm sorry, but it couldn't be helped. Reader discretion is advised.

**Disclaimer** I don't own Outlaw Star, but I DO own the Outlaw Star art book ^^!!! I don't own Mrs. Palumbo, either... She was my really really really bad 7th grade science teacher... I guess she owns herself. I guess.

~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic

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After the bell rang, Jim gathered his things to head off to his next class: Physical Science.

He found the classroom with little difficulty, the teacher reading a romance novel with great interest. The sound of his footsteps on the tile floor (he assumed it was tile because it had a chemical lab in the back) startled the teacher out of her reading.

"Oh, you're Jimmy, right?" Jim cringed.

"Jim."

"Oh, alright Jim." Jim stared. "I'm Mrs. Palumbo, and I'll be your science teacher. Please, take a seat where ever you like."

Jim stared for a few more moments as Mrs. Palumbo returned to her book, then took a seat near the back. Not much later, the warning bell rang and students filed in, taking seats where ever they wished. Wally from Computer I took a seat next to Jim. The tardy bell rang, and the class grew quiet.

Mrs. Palumbo immediately began class. So far, in comparison to Jim's other teachers, he was quite impressed.

"Alright class, today we'll be learning about sound waves. First of all, sound waves require a medium through which to travel, which is why sounds can't be heard in space. You see, space is a huge vacuum, which means that it doesn't have air. Any questions yet?"

Wally raised his hand. "Yes, Wally?" Mrs. Palumbo addressed him.

"If you can't hear anything in space, then why can you hear stuff in a spaceship?"

Jim supressed a laugh. What an easy question...

Mrs. Palumbo stood silent for a few moments, then answered honestly, "I'm afraid that I really don't know..."

Jim couldn't believe what he was hearing. It was so easy...!!

His hand shot up. "I know, Mrs. Palumbo," he said, trying (and failing) to keep the annoyance out of his voice.

"Please, be my guest," she replied, not noticing Jim's lack of forbearance.

"Okay," he began, completely confident in his abilities. "There isn't air OUTSIDE of the spaceship, right?" Wally nodded, and Mrs. Palumbo listened intently. "But there's air INSIDE the spaceship, or else you'd have a lot of dead crew members. Get it?"

Mrs. Palumbo snapped her fingers. "Oh, of course! I knew that!"

Jim looked at her with contempt. "Of course you did..." he mumbled.

Mrs. Palumbo continued the class, making false statements left and right, and, after correcting her for the upteenth time, Jim finally gave up and started doodling in his notebook.

Wally peered over Jim's shoulder and stifled a laugh poorly. "That's Mrs. Palumbo, right?" he whispered.

Jim grimaced, but before he could explain that it was an attempt at Iris from Clyde's bar on Sentinnel III, Mrs. Palumbo approached them.

"Do my ears burn?" she said, her eyes slowly drifting towards the paper. Mrs. Palumbo, being a rather heavy-set woman, was flattered.

"Oh! Oh my!" she cried, cheeks coloring. "This will have to go up on my wall! Wonderful, Jim!"

Jim buried his face in his coat as the rest of the class quietly taunted "teacher's pet".

After gazing at the doodle for a few moments, Mrs. Palumbo assigned a worksheet of homework, and the bell rang.

Jim was more than a little relieved to get out of the classroom.

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^,^ ooh, I almost feel sorry for Jim! ...almost. Actually, the whole sound waves in space was based on a true story... *shudder* Mrs. Palumbo was actually only meant to be a substitute teacher, but then they made her the 7th grade science teacher due to budget cuts at our school... Damn that Gray Davis.

Anywho, this time I won't be making any promises for upcoming chapters. I suppose you'll just have to wait and see... I'm still contemplating the next chapter (meaning that I have no idea what's coming next...), so... yeah. Ja!

~Nekofujin, Queen of the Midget People Republic