Suzie

Illustrations by Marcus, Grumblebee.com
Seventh grade, junior high. Auburndale sat on the edge of Norco and Corona, and us Corona kids were bussed in. I was back in honors classes and distressed to find myself starting the year as a misfit yet again. Kids from my neighborhood didn't go into the honors classes. They hadn't recieved the same quality of education at home or in elementary school, or else they just didn't want to be branded as a brain.

I sat in my first class wearing my best break dancing clothes and realizing that I didn't know any of the students seated around me. They had on surf shirts, though I was sure none of them had surfed, and baggy pants or shorts, the laid back California look. They were into Depeche Mode and Echo and The Bunny Men, not Ice Tea or Run DMC. I'd always been pretty open when it came to music, but the way you dressed associated you with a preference. B-Boy, rocker, neuro, punk, etc. I was a b-boy, but I was seriously considering changing teams.

Since none of the kids in my neighborhood had shared classes with me in years I wasn't fitting in to well with them either. This became apparently clear when I got on the bus and saw kids I used to know but who I had no rapport with now. I had to fit in somewhere if I had any hopes of having a girlfriend again anytime soon.

I became quick friends with Kim, a very straight and narrow sort of girl. She was in most of my classes and I was relieved at now having at least one friend. She wasn't the most popular girl around but these kids had all known her since elementary school so being friends with her improved my standing slightly.

We talked on the phone for hours at a stretch, wrote each other notes, and complained about our non-existent love lives. She was my best friend.

A mousy, curly haired and not particularly smart girl named Suzie expressed an interest in me.
Suzie rode the same bus I did but I hadn't noticed her before Jeremie told me that she liked me. I wasn't interested at first but then Suzie got on the bus with Dep in her hair, the wet look, and a new outfit. I agreed to be her boyfriend.

I wondered how I'd deal with Suzie's complete inabillity to have a conversation. She seemed to have the intellect of a fourth grader. When she got on the bus the next day without her Dep or her cute outfit I knew I needed out. Jeremy informed me that the other kids were making fun of me for being with Suzie. I hid from her between classes and durring lunch. Kim joined me so I wouldn't have to be alone.

I wrote her a note telling her I couldn't have a girlfriend right now as I was still getting over a girl I loved who died in a car accident. This did the trick and I never spoke to her again.

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