oh dreams...
So I transferred to a new school. It felt like high school, but it must have been some mix between that and college. There were dorms. Avery was there. I forget how it was that I came to transfer, because there was stuff about that. I had incredible trouble finding where to park my car. I think Church of the Servant was involved somehow. And there was a huge swimming pool, or was it a river? I went swimming with a guy, anyway. There wasn't a current to fight, but I think the water wasn't manmade. I wish I remembered more about this.
Anyway, I somehow ended up being the center of attention while I talked to this girl. I ended up promising to find her blue and green striped pen. She didn't believe me at first, that I would, but I felt like I owed her for some reason, so I argued with her in front of everyone until she believed me. She drew out a (badly made) picture of it, which I copied onto my arm or hand. I think she told me she lost it around the southwest of the campus. It was worth about two bucks, she said.
So, I explored the campus. I picked up a few bad habits from the students, like climbing up the side of the stairs on this one building instead of walking up the stairs. I think it was Chris Scorsone I saw do that. (He was a clown and an idiot I was acquainted with in middle school/high school) I ate lunch, and looked for the pen when I was done.
As the day went on Avery informed me about the tradition for new people. That is, you went to this party, and you didn't make eye contact for as long as possible. You didn't look at people. The longer you went, the more awesome you were.
So I went to the party, and did not make eye contact by keeping my head down. Avery didn't come for some reason. After I stayed a reasonable amount of time, I left and went looking for that girl's pen in the dark. I must have had a flashlight, but I don't remember holding one. A few people had followed me out, and were trying to get me to look at them. I kept my head down and answered their questions as civilly as possible. The crowd sort of got bigger and bigger as people waited for me to trip up (and tried to help me trip up).
I went to one of the academic buildings, and went through all the classrooms, looking for that pen. I ended up picking up like four kinds of pens, and maybe $3.15 in change as I traipsed through maybe twenty classrooms. In each classroom, I knocked, walked in with my head down, and greeted the occupant teacher. If there was a response, I explained what was going on, and searched their classroom. When people got in my face, trying to mess me up, I shut my eyes and used my memory of the immediate area around me to navigate away from them.
The last place I visited wasn't a classroom. It was a pub. I don't know why it was around the corner from the classrooms, but it was, and the scenery had changed to inner city. I walked through there, not bothering to explain myself, but felt my focus on not looking at people start to fail me. I found myself nearly looking at people, despite having my head down. About the middle of my circuit through the bar, there was this little kid with short curly hair. I think his skin was a bit darker than usual, but that might have been the light. He looked up at me, so I looked sideways. Then he asked some question... I think it had to do with the music playing in the bar. And I just gave up, looked at him, and answered his question.
None of the students had come in with me, so I finished my search in the bar, went outside with my head up, and looked at one of the male students following me. He noticed and said, "Oh! That didn't count." I told him I'd messed up in the bar already, so it didn't matter. The sky was starting to get bright again with sunrise, and the people followed absorbed my mess up and the sky, and most of them drifted away. I felt kind of bad, 'cause I hadn't found the pen yet.
As I was walking to get breakfast, I passed some administrators out on a plastic picnic table. I listened to them talk for a bit, then mentioned I'd picked up a few bad habits already from the students. (This fit into their conversation, really). One administrator was reminiscent of Mr. Foye. I left there after hearing their responses and went onward towards breakfast. Then I noticed people were paralleling me, watching me. Among the group was Joe from Walmart, which made me nervous because I was afraid he was going to try to ask me out again, and Avery, who had been absent all night and who I assume had a restful night of sleep, since he skipped the party. I took care to keep an eye on that group, because Joe from Walmart made me really uneasy. And hey, being followed for unknown reasons makes me uneasy too.
I went through an outdoor gym area. They were doing sprint races or something, pitting students against each other for amusement's sake. I think I stopped to hear the gym teacher talk (he or she was vaguely familiar- maybe a mix of a lot of gym teachers I knew in school) There was a track in a wide open field on one side of the starting ramp. Sort of like the high fields near DeVos and the Prince Conference Center at Calvin, only with a track in the middle. I think there was a swimming pool on the other side. Anyway, as I finished listening to the teacher talking, I woke up.
Anyway, I somehow ended up being the center of attention while I talked to this girl. I ended up promising to find her blue and green striped pen. She didn't believe me at first, that I would, but I felt like I owed her for some reason, so I argued with her in front of everyone until she believed me. She drew out a (badly made) picture of it, which I copied onto my arm or hand. I think she told me she lost it around the southwest of the campus. It was worth about two bucks, she said.
So, I explored the campus. I picked up a few bad habits from the students, like climbing up the side of the stairs on this one building instead of walking up the stairs. I think it was Chris Scorsone I saw do that. (He was a clown and an idiot I was acquainted with in middle school/high school) I ate lunch, and looked for the pen when I was done.
As the day went on Avery informed me about the tradition for new people. That is, you went to this party, and you didn't make eye contact for as long as possible. You didn't look at people. The longer you went, the more awesome you were.
So I went to the party, and did not make eye contact by keeping my head down. Avery didn't come for some reason. After I stayed a reasonable amount of time, I left and went looking for that girl's pen in the dark. I must have had a flashlight, but I don't remember holding one. A few people had followed me out, and were trying to get me to look at them. I kept my head down and answered their questions as civilly as possible. The crowd sort of got bigger and bigger as people waited for me to trip up (and tried to help me trip up).
I went to one of the academic buildings, and went through all the classrooms, looking for that pen. I ended up picking up like four kinds of pens, and maybe $3.15 in change as I traipsed through maybe twenty classrooms. In each classroom, I knocked, walked in with my head down, and greeted the occupant teacher. If there was a response, I explained what was going on, and searched their classroom. When people got in my face, trying to mess me up, I shut my eyes and used my memory of the immediate area around me to navigate away from them.
The last place I visited wasn't a classroom. It was a pub. I don't know why it was around the corner from the classrooms, but it was, and the scenery had changed to inner city. I walked through there, not bothering to explain myself, but felt my focus on not looking at people start to fail me. I found myself nearly looking at people, despite having my head down. About the middle of my circuit through the bar, there was this little kid with short curly hair. I think his skin was a bit darker than usual, but that might have been the light. He looked up at me, so I looked sideways. Then he asked some question... I think it had to do with the music playing in the bar. And I just gave up, looked at him, and answered his question.
None of the students had come in with me, so I finished my search in the bar, went outside with my head up, and looked at one of the male students following me. He noticed and said, "Oh! That didn't count." I told him I'd messed up in the bar already, so it didn't matter. The sky was starting to get bright again with sunrise, and the people followed absorbed my mess up and the sky, and most of them drifted away. I felt kind of bad, 'cause I hadn't found the pen yet.
As I was walking to get breakfast, I passed some administrators out on a plastic picnic table. I listened to them talk for a bit, then mentioned I'd picked up a few bad habits already from the students. (This fit into their conversation, really). One administrator was reminiscent of Mr. Foye. I left there after hearing their responses and went onward towards breakfast. Then I noticed people were paralleling me, watching me. Among the group was Joe from Walmart, which made me nervous because I was afraid he was going to try to ask me out again, and Avery, who had been absent all night and who I assume had a restful night of sleep, since he skipped the party. I took care to keep an eye on that group, because Joe from Walmart made me really uneasy. And hey, being followed for unknown reasons makes me uneasy too.
I went through an outdoor gym area. They were doing sprint races or something, pitting students against each other for amusement's sake. I think I stopped to hear the gym teacher talk (he or she was vaguely familiar- maybe a mix of a lot of gym teachers I knew in school) There was a track in a wide open field on one side of the starting ramp. Sort of like the high fields near DeVos and the Prince Conference Center at Calvin, only with a track in the middle. I think there was a swimming pool on the other side. Anyway, as I finished listening to the teacher talking, I woke up.