User blog:WayfinderOwl/BTM: Free Wedgie Included 4

She Will Never Be His Jasmine
Stood by the pier, I was looking forward to my date. I’d thrown on my only non-uniform shirt, a black one that I had never worn before. The taste of peppermint lingered on my tongue, along with the lingering aftertaste of the casserole Edna had produced four lunch. Five hours later, four mints, and I could still taste it.

A redhead in a flowery sundress and sandals came walking towards me. I assumed her to be Christy. She held no resemblance to her brother at all, save for their auburn hair. The evening was warm. Probably the last before Fall sets in.

“Hi, Josh,” said Christy. A look of playfulness glistened in her green eyes. “In case Wade didn’t tell you, I’m Christy.”

I opened my mouth to speak, but she cut me across. All through the tunnel to the ticket booth, in the line and through the gates, she told me; “I am so going to be famous. Ted—you know Ted Thompson, right? The dreamy leader of the Jocks, and the football team’s quarterback—is running for class president this year. Me and Mandy are going to be on the posters. Everyone in school is going to see me standing right next to Ted. Mandy totally likes me much more than Pinky and Angie. They are only on the team to fill up the numbers. Who do you think is the best cheerleader? Like I even need to ask. I’m the one with the most cheer.”

Through the gates past the stalls and games, she told me; “I heard that Lola is dating Gord. Angie saw them in the movie theatre sucking face. He isn’t the only one. I saw Chad sneaking out of her dorm room. She has like no standards. She is so desperate she is seeing all the Nerds to get them to do her homework. I don’t know what they see in her she isn’t even that good looking at all.”

All the way around the Ferris wheel, she said, “Mandy used to be really fat—don’t tell her I told you. When she first came to school Eunice was skinnier than her. She came back freshman year forty pounds lighter. Can to believe that Mandy was ever that fat?”

I managed to squeeze in a “I don’t even know Mandy.”

That started her off again, going on and on about the head cheerleader. All around the Freak Show she told me about some kid named Vance, whose parents were apparently getting a divorce. I hoped that playing the games would shut her up. No such luck. While I played the Shooting Range she told me an in-depth gossip tale of every single one of the Preps. I used the same method with the game, that I had told Pete to do while practicing basketball. Every single target was Christy. I ended up with twenty tickets as a prize.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">At the Splish Splash, she told me about the school cook Edna sneaking in Dr Watts’ classroom, then went onto all the gossip she heard about all the other teacher. Even the little guy on the seat had his hands over his ears, silently begging me to hit the target. I hit the target with the second ball. He plunged into the water with a splash. I was jealous as hell, that he didn’t have to listen to her.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The Strike Out game was where I really lost the will to live. Christy told me every single detail of a sleepover party she had in her dorm with Angie and Mandy. Every single thing they talked about.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Entering the prize tent without her was like an escape. It amazed me how much she could talk for nearly five minutes without pausing for breath.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I looked to the prizes on the shelf. Among the many bright colored items and posters, there was a clown wig. Pete had mentioned that he wanted one. After my date with Christy, I doubted that I would be able to come anywhere near Billy Crane’s Traveling Circus for quite some time. For Christy, I got a bag of gobstoppers.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Oh, my god, you go in there for a prize for me, and get something for yourself!” Christy declared angrily, as I left the tent.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Believe me, I got something for you,” I told her, offering her the bag of gobstoppers.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I just love those!”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Christy chew her way through a single gobstopper like a beaver gnawing through a tree. On the way out of the carnival she ate more of them. I wondered if she had teeth made out of steal. We parted ways at the school bus stop. Her lingering gaze implied she wanted me to join her.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I shook my head. “No, I have to meet someone,” I insisted.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The bus took her away, and it was a welcoming relief. There won’t be another date. Once was more than enough to last a life time. I walked along the dusty yellow sand beach, listening to the brush of the lake.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Bullworth was a peaceful place. The best place to lose yourself in the quiet moments. I walked past the old lighthouse. Half buried in the brown water soaked sand was a green bottle. I dropped the wig on the drier patch of sand. My fingers slipped around the neck of the bottle, pulling it firmly out of the ground. A wine cork concealed in a piece of paper rolled up.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">I let out a laugh. “Maybe a treasure map,” I said, jokingly.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Firmly I pulled the cork out, and tapped the lip of the bottle on my palm, freeing the paper. The paper was from a sketchpad. In a black fine liner was a drawing unlike any I had seen. Triangles and squiggled created the shape of a boy on his knees, head in his hands, mouth open as if screaming for something. Haunting to look at, but insightful. I wondered who would send such a drawing across the lake in a bottle.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“Who sent this?” I muttered.

<p align="center" class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: center; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">^^^^

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">In my dorm, I showed it to Pete. His gazed moved across the page, taking in the horror of the page. He rolled it up and left it on the desk.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“It is probably nothing,” said Pete, dismissively. “How was your date?”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“It sucked. She rarely paused for breath.” I tossed the clown wig over to him. “I got you something.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“You didn’t have too,” said Pete.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">“I wanted to. Christy did nothing but talk. The only thing stopping me from ripping my own ears off was playing the games.”

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">There were still a few copies left for the notice of the board. I took one of them, and headed out into the hallway. Pete usually hid in my room until he was sure everyone else was asleep. Not that it bothered me all that much.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">The place was empty. Thuds of doors closing echoed all down the hallway. I headed into the rec room. Someone had left the TV on. Static black and white feedback lit the borderline dilapidated room. Only thing that worked properly in the whole room was the arcade game. Even the vending machine barely worked on a good day.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Scattered all over the board were either insulting comments about other kids, with equally vulgar replies. I removed a limerick about a kid named Algie, and pinned up my list in its place.

<p class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0cm 0cm 0pt; text-align: justify; line-height: 150%; text-indent: 14.2pt; text-autospace: ; text-justify: inter-ideograph; mso-layout-grid-align: none;"><span lang="EN-US" style="line-height: 150%; font-family: "Times New Roman","serif"; font-size: 12pt; mso-ansi-language: EN-US;">Who knows if it would work, but at least I tried to return the items back to their original owners.