pork out.”
She held up her middle finger and took a bite out of the
quadruple stuff Oreo with the other hand. “What was the gods’ punishment for him?”
“They made him happen upon on a river where he saw a perfect
reflection of himself. And then do
you know what happened?”
She shook her head.
“He fell in love, became so infatuated with his own reflection
that he refused to move away from the river. Eventually he just withered up there
since he had all but forgotten how to eat or sleep.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not buying it.”
“Not buying it?”
“If he got all rexy (Casey and Leigh’s word for girls who were
too thin) then his reflection would’ve taken a hit too. And he would’ve fallen out of love with
it. But anyway who other than a dog
doesn’t know a reflection is just that?”
He scowled. “It’s a myth. You’re not supposed to buy--”
“Next thing you’re gonna tell me is they didn’t have Oreos in
Greek myths. Were you about to say
that, Yull?”
“The point is not realistic merit. It’s the moral, which I do think you
get.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Alex Deal is a narcissist,” he continued, “The only thing he cares
about is himself, and, of course, his band.”
14
The next day Leigh walked over to Casey’s locker and said, “All
is not lost.” For a moment
Casey thought she was talking about Alex Deal and got an excited look in her
eyes. Leigh realized the drastic mistake
of her word choice. “Oh! No. I mean…” She sheepishly took the Arcade Fire ticket out of her pocket
and held it out. “Sorry.”
Casey called Leigh after her conversation with Yull the night
before and told her everything. “Fuck,”
Leigh said, “are you gonna start listening to that Gloria Gaynor song now?”
“Which Gloria Gaynor song?”
“’I Will Survive.’ Once I went to a cousin’s wedding and that song came on and my aunt
who’d just gotten divorced grabbed all the single women at the wedding and made
them dance and sing along to it. My
mom said it was inappropriate.”
“No.”
She took the Arcade Fire ticket from Leigh’s hand and looked at
it. “I found it in the bottom of a
pair of boots I took to LA,” Leigh said.
“But did you find the roach--”
“Shh. No.”
“Maybe you left it at Eva’s.”
“I emailed her last night and asked her to let me know if it
turns up anywhere.”
Casey nodded. “She’ll have your back.”
Suddenly Leigh moved to block her from seeing something at the
other end of the hall. But her
maneuvering was highly unsuccessful. Casey peered over her head and caught a glimpse of none other than
Narcissus himself: Alex Deal, in the flesh. He was with Peter. She inched out from the locker so she
was standing in a place where she knew he would see her.
“You will survive,” Leigh
hissed. Alex saw her. She knew he did because he stopped what
he was doing for a second. Then he
turned around and walked away. She
looked down. “Let’s go to the
movies after school today,” Leigh said.
“Your parents don’t let you go to the movies on weekdays.”
“We’ll lie to them.” She remembered something. “Oh
wait I have that meeting.”
“What meeting?” Casey asked.
“Talent show. They
asked me to do artwork for the posters.”
“It’s fine, I have a lot of T.V. to catch up on.”
Leigh shook her head. “Come with me to the meeting and we’ll go to the movies afterwards.”
It was one of those school days that passed in a slow, boring
hum punctuated by bells and unpleasant moments. Casey was no stranger to those days but
this one was a real standout. En la
clase de español Señor Griffin commented, when he checked homework and saw that
she yet again did not have it, that she needed to get out of whatever “funk”
she was in and get back to doing homework the way she had
She held up her middle finger and took a bite out of the
quadruple stuff Oreo with the other hand. “What was the gods’ punishment for him?”
“They made him happen upon on a river where he saw a perfect
reflection of himself. And then do
you know what happened?”
She shook her head.
“He fell in love, became so infatuated with his own reflection
that he refused to move away from the river. Eventually he just withered up there
since he had all but forgotten how to eat or sleep.”
She rolled her eyes. “I’m not buying it.”
“Not buying it?”
“If he got all rexy (Casey and Leigh’s word for girls who were
too thin) then his reflection would’ve taken a hit too. And he would’ve fallen out of love with
it. But anyway who other than a dog
doesn’t know a reflection is just that?”
He scowled. “It’s a myth. You’re not supposed to buy--”
“Next thing you’re gonna tell me is they didn’t have Oreos in
Greek myths. Were you about to say
that, Yull?”
“The point is not realistic merit. It’s the moral, which I do think you
get.”
She rolled her eyes.
“Alex Deal is a narcissist,” he continued, “The only thing he cares
about is himself, and, of course, his band.”
14
The next day Leigh walked over to Casey’s locker and said, “All
is not lost.” For a moment
Casey thought she was talking about Alex Deal and got an excited look in her
eyes. Leigh realized the drastic mistake
of her word choice. “Oh! No. I mean…” She sheepishly took the Arcade Fire ticket out of her pocket
and held it out. “Sorry.”
Casey called Leigh after her conversation with Yull the night
before and told her everything. “Fuck,”
Leigh said, “are you gonna start listening to that Gloria Gaynor song now?”
“Which Gloria Gaynor song?”
“’I Will Survive.’ Once I went to a cousin’s wedding and that song came on and my aunt
who’d just gotten divorced grabbed all the single women at the wedding and made
them dance and sing along to it. My
mom said it was inappropriate.”
“No.”
She took the Arcade Fire ticket from Leigh’s hand and looked at
it. “I found it in the bottom of a
pair of boots I took to LA,” Leigh said.
“But did you find the roach--”
“Shh. No.”
“Maybe you left it at Eva’s.”
“I emailed her last night and asked her to let me know if it
turns up anywhere.”
Casey nodded. “She’ll have your back.”
Suddenly Leigh moved to block her from seeing something at the
other end of the hall. But her
maneuvering was highly unsuccessful. Casey peered over her head and caught a glimpse of none other than
Narcissus himself: Alex Deal, in the flesh. He was with Peter. She inched out from the locker so she
was standing in a place where she knew he would see her.
“You will survive,” Leigh
hissed. Alex saw her. She knew he did because he stopped what
he was doing for a second. Then he
turned around and walked away. She
looked down. “Let’s go to the
movies after school today,” Leigh said.
“Your parents don’t let you go to the movies on weekdays.”
“We’ll lie to them.” She remembered something. “Oh
wait I have that meeting.”
“What meeting?” Casey asked.
“Talent show. They
asked me to do artwork for the posters.”
“It’s fine, I have a lot of T.V. to catch up on.”
Leigh shook her head. “Come with me to the meeting and we’ll go to the movies afterwards.”
It was one of those school days that passed in a slow, boring
hum punctuated by bells and unpleasant moments. Casey was no stranger to those days but
this one was a real standout. En la
clase de español Señor Griffin commented, when he checked homework and saw that
she yet again did not have it, that she needed to get out of whatever “funk”
she was in and get back to doing homework the way she had
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