her cat, Mr. Momo, and Mr. Momo’s been Trina’s constant companion since the second grade.
Still, I didn’t realize what was going on until I was in Steve’s car on the way home. Neither Trina nor I have our drivers’ licenses yet, because
a) our parents are afraid to teach us and they don’t offer drivers ed. in our school and,
b) even if they did, there’s nowhere worth driving to in Clayton and
c) even if there were, we always have Trina’s boyfriend, Steve, who does have a car, to drive us there.
Fortunately for me, Trina and Steve always stay late at school, rehearsing for whatever play the Drama Club is doing. Right now it’s this major yawn called
Spoon River Anthology
, which happens to be about dead people—but not zombies or anything cool—just dead people sitting around in a graveyard talking about what it had been like to be alive, I guess to make us all appreciate our loved ones more or something. I’d told Trina I’d go to opening night and all, but I fully plan to sit in the back row with the latest Dean Koontz and a book light.
I probably could have gotten a ride home with Scott—he always remembers to ask if I need one.
But lately catching rides with Scott hasn’t been all that much fun, on account of Geri Lynn’s moodiness. I mean, I’ll be sitting in the backseat, having a perfectly civil conversation with Scott about something or other—like
The Two Towers
and how I thought the ents looked kind of Jar Jar Binks-ish or whatever, a fact he strenuously denies—and suddenly Geri Lynn will interrupt with something like this:
Geri Lynn: Scott, did you remember to ask Ellis Floral if they were running their annual Spring Fling special clip
’
n
’
save coupon on corsages
?
And then the conversation goes from ents and Jar Jar Binks to this:
Scott: No, Geri, I didn’t ask Ellis Floral if they were running their annual Spring Fling special clip ’n’ save coupon on corsages because that’s Charlene’s job. She’s in charge of ad placements.
Geri Lynn: Scott, your duty as editor in chief is to oversee
all
aspects of the paper. You can’t expect Charlene, who is a freshman and wasn’t even at Clayton last year for the Spring Fling, to remember to ask Ellis Floral if they’re running another special
.
Me: Um, actually, Geri, I noticed their ad didn’t have the coupon when I was laying that page out, so I called them and they are, so I put it in.
Geri Lynn: Well, it’s good to know
someone
on staff is paying attention
.
See? Talk about uncomfortable. It’s just easier to get a ride with Steve.
As Luke and I emerged from our session at the
Register
—yeah, he even came to my after-school meeting at the paper. How interesting could
that
have been for him? Although he and Geri Lynn did get into a pretty spirited argument about a celebrity’s right to privacy, with Geri insisting that journalists play an important part in building up a celebrity’s status and that anybody who willingly takes on a job in the public eye should expect to be stalked by paparazzi and Luke, not surprisingly, having a different view of things. Luke went, "So that was a typical day in your life?"
"Yeah," I said. "I guess so."
It was kind of weird to think about—you know, your life from somebody else’s perspective. Especially somebody who has such a
different
sort of life from mine. I mean, my life must seem really, really boring to Luke, compared to his own, which I’m sure is filled with invitations to club openings, stints on talk shows, movie premieres, nude scenes, chocolate body paint, and that sort of thing.
But Luke didn’t say anything about it. I mean, about how boring my life is compared to his. Instead, he said, "Okay, then."
Okay, then
? What did
that
mean? What was
up
with this guy? Why couldn’t I figure out what made him tick? I mean, that’s what I
do
.
It was right at that moment that Steve pulled up in his Chevette, and Trina leaned out and was all, "Going our way?"
Which
Still, I didn’t realize what was going on until I was in Steve’s car on the way home. Neither Trina nor I have our drivers’ licenses yet, because
a) our parents are afraid to teach us and they don’t offer drivers ed. in our school and,
b) even if they did, there’s nowhere worth driving to in Clayton and
c) even if there were, we always have Trina’s boyfriend, Steve, who does have a car, to drive us there.
Fortunately for me, Trina and Steve always stay late at school, rehearsing for whatever play the Drama Club is doing. Right now it’s this major yawn called
Spoon River Anthology
, which happens to be about dead people—but not zombies or anything cool—just dead people sitting around in a graveyard talking about what it had been like to be alive, I guess to make us all appreciate our loved ones more or something. I’d told Trina I’d go to opening night and all, but I fully plan to sit in the back row with the latest Dean Koontz and a book light.
I probably could have gotten a ride home with Scott—he always remembers to ask if I need one.
But lately catching rides with Scott hasn’t been all that much fun, on account of Geri Lynn’s moodiness. I mean, I’ll be sitting in the backseat, having a perfectly civil conversation with Scott about something or other—like
The Two Towers
and how I thought the ents looked kind of Jar Jar Binks-ish or whatever, a fact he strenuously denies—and suddenly Geri Lynn will interrupt with something like this:
Geri Lynn: Scott, did you remember to ask Ellis Floral if they were running their annual Spring Fling special clip
’
n
’
save coupon on corsages
?
And then the conversation goes from ents and Jar Jar Binks to this:
Scott: No, Geri, I didn’t ask Ellis Floral if they were running their annual Spring Fling special clip ’n’ save coupon on corsages because that’s Charlene’s job. She’s in charge of ad placements.
Geri Lynn: Scott, your duty as editor in chief is to oversee
all
aspects of the paper. You can’t expect Charlene, who is a freshman and wasn’t even at Clayton last year for the Spring Fling, to remember to ask Ellis Floral if they’re running another special
.
Me: Um, actually, Geri, I noticed their ad didn’t have the coupon when I was laying that page out, so I called them and they are, so I put it in.
Geri Lynn: Well, it’s good to know
someone
on staff is paying attention
.
See? Talk about uncomfortable. It’s just easier to get a ride with Steve.
As Luke and I emerged from our session at the
Register
—yeah, he even came to my after-school meeting at the paper. How interesting could
that
have been for him? Although he and Geri Lynn did get into a pretty spirited argument about a celebrity’s right to privacy, with Geri insisting that journalists play an important part in building up a celebrity’s status and that anybody who willingly takes on a job in the public eye should expect to be stalked by paparazzi and Luke, not surprisingly, having a different view of things. Luke went, "So that was a typical day in your life?"
"Yeah," I said. "I guess so."
It was kind of weird to think about—you know, your life from somebody else’s perspective. Especially somebody who has such a
different
sort of life from mine. I mean, my life must seem really, really boring to Luke, compared to his own, which I’m sure is filled with invitations to club openings, stints on talk shows, movie premieres, nude scenes, chocolate body paint, and that sort of thing.
But Luke didn’t say anything about it. I mean, about how boring my life is compared to his. Instead, he said, "Okay, then."
Okay, then
? What did
that
mean? What was
up
with this guy? Why couldn’t I figure out what made him tick? I mean, that’s what I
do
.
It was right at that moment that Steve pulled up in his Chevette, and Trina leaned out and was all, "Going our way?"
Which
Similar Books
