Young but not too Young

7. 8.

Tim dropped me off at Bastrop High at 8:44 a.m. on May 15th, 2006 a.d. Monday. Sitting in his blue Chevy Cobalt and in his blue plaid pajama pants, he said, "See ya later," and drove back home or wherever he went. I wore hand-me-down faded blue jeans and a dark striped button up shirt. There was a bleeding sore between my legs. There was another sore that was not bleeding somewhere else between my legs.

So, I walked slowly and awkwardly into the main building to my first period. I saw Jaime and Charles in the halls. Jaime said, "Hey, Big Greg, how's it hangin'?" I did a little smile thing, lifted a hand toward him, and said quietly, "Heey." Charles looked at me, made a wide thin mouth, and tipped his head back in recognition. I smiled and waved quickly. My mom was Asian.

Some people tied an American flag around the statue of our leader outside. Outside was grey and windy. The high school was built in 1909, making it 63 years old.

In the classroom, I sat 6 feet away from Katy. She wore a vintage white dress. She looked like an American Girl doll. Her hair was blonde like the sun at noon. My feet were very sweaty. When I was not staring at my desk or the floor, I glanced at Katy. Our eyes met 11 times during that class. My eyes green, her eyes blue. In the wild southeastern section of the county, a wildfire had burned over 42 acres and counting.

8. 9.

Katy walked nicely to the foootbaaal field. I walked to the railroad crossing by the field and sat on the eastern rail.
Jim and Chuck ate two burritos each outside the lunch hall.
There were two crowds on the through street, one by the lunch hall, one by the band hall. The day was sunny.
All the old kids wore new clothes, like dancing pants and school spirit hoodies.
I scratched my butt cheek, thought about my bleeding holes, and almost cried.
Katy waved to me from 55 yards away, and I imagined ejaculating on empty black space.

The day became very warm, 88 degrees Fahrenheit. I saw Julio and Adrienne holding hands while they walked to 3rd period. The train came so I got up and went into the main halls. I was sweating a lot in my deep spots. I saw Ashley and Diane talking and giggling, and I accidentally smiled. We all avoided each other, sanely. Mr. Wubbush called out to the horde of students, "All right, guys, get to class now or go home!!" I thought about calculus, and I understood nothing about it, except that it exists.

"I went like fuckin' 45 minutes without seein' a monster... and I was like Ohmyfuckin'god, so I skipped to level 8... did you see Bowser's tail at the end of that cut scene like right before you get to the Koopa fortress? ... Anyway I was like fuckin' nigga BAM, and he died like right away, obviously... I had like 50 thousand coins, then my fuckin' stupid ass brother saved over my fuckin' file!"

I looked at some other strange kids in front of the building, voices drifting. My shoulders got sore from my backpack straps. A worker guy walked around the edges of the parking lot, blowing leaves. I held a copy of Doing Yourself by R. H. Lipsky that I found on Mom's forgotten bookcase. I flipped it over and looked at the back cover again; I hadn't read the whole cover or a whole page; I just let my eyes jump around. Katy came out of the front doors and walked up to me. Looking up, I noticed all the dark smoke in the southern sky.
"Hi, Gregory. Whatcha doin'," she grinned.
"Uhh... nothin'," I tried to force my face into a relaxed, natural, and pleasing expression.
"Yeah... Looks like it's a-gonna rain, huh!?"
I was scared. I said, "I dunno. Maybe."
She sat down on the other end of the stone bench. "Hm..." she said. "So, what's that?," gesturing to the Lipsky.
"Um, just some psychology kinda book from a long time ago." The pages were dark yellow.
"Is it good?"
"Um, I don't know. I haven't read much."
"Great... Hmmm. Let me know what happens..." She squinted tightly, shivered and shook herself. I breathed deeply. My jaw clenched; my head began to ache.
"Ah... You look like you use the computer a lot. You do, right?" said Katy.
"Uh... I guess so..." I swallowed spit. My sinuses tingled; my cheeks warmed.
After an almost ten second silence, she blurted, "I am totally failing history this year."
"... Ah... damn."
"Yeah... it fuckin' sucks real shit."
I looked up from her shoes to her face. She wore a wild and confused smile. She stared at one spot on the concrete. I smiled sincerely, in rapture. She looked at my face. Her brow unfurrowed; her eyes brightened. I mimicked her. We laughed faintly through our noses. Tim pulled up on the driveway. I said to no one, "I gotta go." I stood and moved toward the car.
"Bye, Gregory!" She waved emphatically. I turned my head, looking at nothing, and raised my right hand to her.
"Bye, Katy."

9. 10.