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may you always find heroes who remind you of yourself
If I knew he’d be around, I’d stay as far away from him as possible, for fear he’d be able to read my mind and he’d find out I had a massive crush on him.
The birthday girl wore a holographic tiara with white pom-poms and blue rhinestones.
an outdated “Rachel” haircut
“She looks like an ugly Lisa Kudrow,” he said, grinning.
“Yeah,” I said. “Ugly Lisa Kudrow, but she’s skinny and blonde, so people say she’s beautiful.”
Daniel was a dick, but I allowed him to treat me like shit over and over when I knew better.
“Hey,” he said. “If you had her body, you’d be so hot you wouldn’t even talk to me.”
And yet, worst of all, I still wanted him to acknowledge me.
I should’ve walked right past the railing and gone down the stairs to leave the mall. Instead, I opted to stand close by and aggressively ignore him. He would see I’d moved on and didn’t care about him anymore, I would make sure of it.
Oh teenager logic. Been there though…
“If you’re not eighteen, you should have parents with you. If you are eighteen, you don’t belong here if you don’t have kids. I’ll
look the other way, but don’t fucking cuss near my kid again.” Sweat beads glistened on Josh’s forehead as he fought back a diatribe on irony.
“My mom called me,”
“His mom called him?” I asked.
“He got a cell phone. Rich fuck.”
“What am I even doing?” I asked. Michelle called my name. She told me over and over that Daniel was an asshole. She would never say ‘I told you so,’ but I would hear it in her voice if I stopped to talk to her. I hit the stairs, gripped the railing, and ran as fast as I could.
The VHS tape I’d put in the night before had popped from the VCR slot when the movie ended.
cursed my parents for leaving me there so they could go off and save the world from Y2K, and cursed the shitty computer programmers who destroyed my life without ever even meeting me.
How do you not know you need to program a year with four digits? Yeah, it saves on storage, but at what cost, morons.
The TV was a huge nineteen inches, way bigger than the thirteen inch I’d had in my room at home.
I hit fast forward.
“Why are they comparing last week’s storm to the flood back in ninety-two?
which made it perfect to display my prized possession: an eleven tape box set of the Across the Street movie series. Nine movies, plus a six hour long behind-the-scenes documentary that took up two tapes. I’d watched them all so many times I could recite every word.
He sipped his coffee and held up his Don’t Mess with Texas mug. “We’ve got the best slogans too. Nobody messes with us!” “That saying was a marketing gimmick to keep people from littering,” Michelle mumbled. “It’s not a call to war.”
She dug all the way in the back to find a long forgotten Capri Sun.
I pulled out my notebook and a glitter gel pen.
“My shrink says people with anxiety sometimes watch the same movies and television shows over and over as a coping mechanism. Gives you control over your life you don’t have otherwise.”
Nicole and I jammed ourselves into the Neon’s tiny backseat, knees crushed together, backs hunched so we didn’t hit our heads on the ceiling.
Manic Panic and giving it a mohawk.”
My inspiration was Kendra from Buffy.”
“Baby One More Time” and Britney began to sing.
Every group needs a punching bag, someone who makes everyone feel like less of a loser.
Turbo Pascal,
Visual Basic,
a painfully slow dial up connection,
Daniel styled himself like a slimy bad boy from a Backstreet Boys cover band,
Who cares about job security if it makes you want to drive a pencil into your brain?
“Oprah has had several of Morrison’s books in her book club,” Nicole whispered.
“Fine,” I said. “Unlock the door.” He leaned over and manually popped the lock.
hottest hits of the hour on KRGR radio. “California Love” started.
Y2K?
We listened as Tupac blended into Backstreet Boys.
Still, a trip to the mall would be better than sitting in the yard alone.
“You’re buying me a concha. A half pink, half chocolate one.”
“We’re going to the video store after this.
Spencer Gifts.
“Did he intentionally run Michelle over?”
Should be Jenny
CD.
“Who’s there?” Sterling asked. After the words came out, he bit his cheek. He’d watched Scream. He knew better than to yell at dark figures in empty halls.
