- Random freshman boys stopping me in the middle of the cafeteria telling me some kid likes me or whatever
- Childhood friend
So this actually happened last week but I never posted it until now so I guess I will now.
I was walking in the cafeteria, casually, trying to meet up with my friends at the vending machine when this table of boys stops me in the middle of my stride and starts an uproar telling me about how some kid likes me. Or wants to marry me or somewhere along those lines.
And the kid they're accusing is getting all offensive like, "Stop playing around, I swear I didn't say that!"
And I just walked away, didn't say anything. What would I have said anyway? But it bothers me because I don't know if they stopped me because it was true or because I'm butt ugly because people do that. You know how when you see an "unattractive" person and you nudge your friend and you're like, "There goes you 'boyfriend' or 'girlfriend'"? It's the same thing.
I'm hoping it's the better because that would suck if I'm truly that ugly.
And I was thinking about this dude that used to live in my neighborhood when I was younger. Like elementary school younger. I feel like I've talked about him before but I'm not sure. So the boy, let's call him Leap because his birthday is on February 29. When I found out about this, I was officially convinced that this kid was the weirdest kid ever.
Anyway, he moved before 5th grade started. And I guess I didn't have a reaction. Not that I remember. I think we knew he was gonna move. Probably not. I feel like we didn't.
So yeah... the guy was like a friend. But when you're a girl, guys kinda freak you out no matter how much fun you have with them. And I'd have to go over to his house because there was this other family that rented a place downstairs and the family baby-sitted me before my parents got home. I remember the family, Mrs. Estoban, always made me do my homework before I could do anything else. When I was done, I could read a book and have a snack. Looking back at it now, I really loved that lady. And then I'd go outside (if the pollen count wasn't too high) or watch movies with her daughter (who was 3 years older than me but super sweet and nice). But I remember because of my allergies, they couldn't keep the cat inside their house until I left. So the cat stayed upstairs in the main house.
But yeah... since Leap lived in that house, I ended up playing a lot with him and his sister and other people from the neighborhood. I remember this table game with those football players and you swing the knobs at the ends to prevent the ball to getting a touchdown. Yeah, we played on their porch, waiting for my dad to come. It just came to me now.
There were lots of things weird about Leap other than that his birthday was February 29 and only comes once every four years. Another thing was that, you couldn't tell what nationality he was. He had black curly hair, tan skin, and green eyes. If you glanced at his dad, you'd think he was almost black. He was dark skinned. Not very dark skinned. But like a mocha color. Leap looks like his dad except a way younger and lighter version. His mom was obviously white. Leap told me that he was mixed with lots of things, including Japanes and Polish and something. (This reminds me of when he told me how Irish girls' lips were so thin it looked like they didn't have lips at all.)
Another thing was that he was always doing dangerous things like jumping off roofs and such. And he just paroled the neighborhood like he had no parents even though we were the same age.
And he seemed like the person who would never cry and I remember thinking he was very funny. I never saw him on Wednesdays because he had Boy Scouts. I remember that a lot. My brother did Boy Scouts for a little while but my dad hardly ever let him go because he said he didn't trust the instructers. Anyway, Leap was a cool kid, no doubt.
But yeah, I never saw the kid again until 8th grade. But something very weird happened months before I saw him again. My friend, Jasmine, mentioned something about how she knew a kid who's birthday was on February 29 and I was like, "Me too!' thinking back on Leap. (Note: Jasmine and I became friends in middle school. We didn't go to the same elementary school.) And then she mentioned Leap's name and my jaw dropped because that was the exact kid I was thinking of. Small world... small world... They went to elementary school together (the later parts of elementary school obviously) and then she told me how he got homeschooled.
Then some months later, Leap transfers to my middle school. And he was in 7th grade while I was in 8th grade. And I heard rumors about how he got homeschooled but ended up not actually learning anything so the system held him back. I was so surprised because Leap was a very smart guy. My elementary school had this program called the Talented and Gifted (TAG) and you took the test to get in when you were in 3rd grade and once you got in, you were in for life. And no one else could get in after 3rd grade. And yeah, there was only like at most, 5 kids in my class that were in the program. Leap was one of them. I remember we got to get out of class to go to the Tag class and we'd sit and discuss smart things and I liked it because HEY! YOU GOT OUT OF CLASS! And all the other kids would look at you jealously and you'd just feel so special because you were so smart that you don't have to learn stupid 3rd grade math.
But enough of TAG, I knew this Leap kid was really smart and could never be held back. So yeah... The last time I talked to him was in 8th grade and me and my friend were outside waiting for the bus since it was late that day. And since my friend knew him pretty well because they went to school together (not Jasmine but another friend) she went up to him. Plus, she thought he was cute and she's the flirting type.
So I told her to introduce me to him and she did and I was like, "Do you remember me?" and he was like, "Yeah, Jessica from [insert my elementary school here]" And it got awkward and I left.
I wanna talk to him again though. I mean, why not? We used to be close a long time ago. But then, I know the answer to that question. People change. I'm not friends with the girl I used to be best friends with in day care. We went to high school together for one year but I knew we would never be close friends, not even friends. We were on different sides of the clique spectrum.
And that may be the same with Leap. We're not on the same clique spectrum, or friend web.
There are some people you can't be friends with unless you really REALLY force yourself to become friends with that person. Think of the most randomest person that you've seen at school. Someone that's not in any of your classes, someone who you hardly see, only in the hallway a few times. Think, how would you ever get to be friends with this person? Do you just tap on their shoulder and be like, "Hey! My name's blah blah blah! What's yours?" And then you're set for life?
It doesn't work that way.
But I was about to take a nap and I was thinking about it. I used to see Leap outside talking to this girl that lives in my neighborhood and rides my bus. I could've just casually gone up and been like, "Hey, remember me?" And then reminisce about our old days. But that could either go well or go terribly awkward, especially if he was talking to someone else. I have a feeling that it would terribly bad because that's just what happens to me. Everything goes bad when it comes to me.
But it would be nice to do that. But I'm curious about the girl he's always talking to. She lives not very far away. In fact, if she's been living there ever since, we would've gone to the same elementary school together. I wonder if we did. She seems familiar. But I'm not sure. We're in the same grade, I realized. But it boggles my mind how she doesn't live so far, but I've never seen her before. There's so many white kids in my neighborhood but you never see them. Actually, I hardly ever see any kids in my neighborhood. :P Except at the park but then not many even come most of the time.
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