In one of the first lessons we’d sat next to each other, and after the homeroom teacher had handed out slips of paper for us to write down three personal qualities we had, Bassen had looked at my answer. Somber, torpid, and serious, I had written. “Are you a complete idiot?” he had said. “You should add lacking in self-knowledge! I’ve never seen anything like it. Somber and torpid, you’ve got to be kidding! Who’s put these ideas in your head?” “So what did you write?” He showed me. Down to earth, honest, horny as hell. “Throw that away. You can’t write that!” Bassen said. I did as I was told.
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