I was sitting in the last class of the day, trying to pass time by balancing my pencil on my nose while my teacher went on and on about something I one, already knew about and two, didn't care about.

"Ryder," my teacher suddenly said sharply, causing me to take my pencil off of my nose. "Can you answer the question?"

"Depends what the question was."

"What was the longest battle of World War II?" he asked. "But, seeing as you weren't listening, you probably don't know the...”

"Battle of the Atlantic," I said. "It began in September 1939 and ended in May 1945 when Germany surrendered to the Allies."...