Good Riddance

PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN ON HIGH SCHOOL NORMALITY

"I'm coming to your concert on Friday."

"That's great. Hopefully the music will be good."

"I'm gonna take a date with me."

"Why don't you just tell her you like her?"
"Because she doesn't want anything serious. And neither do I."
"But you obviously like her, right?"

"Honestly Aaron, I'm sick of your whole 'holier-than-thou' attitude. I'm tired of you feeling superior to me."

"You know what, Mark, if that's what you think then you can go right ahead and think it. I'm done."

"Your father owes Lucy Greer a lot of money."
"Yeah..."

"He has a three year-old daughter with her, and now has four thousand dollars in child support that he has to pay."

"The only way for us to work is if we leap; if we forget about the possibility of us falling on our faces. Otherwise, we're never going to get off the ground, and we'll never be able to fly."

"I've been wanting to ask you out for a while, Lupe, but there's always been something in my way."
"Like what?"
"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're together now."

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"I had a really great time tonight."

It was my first official date with Callie Anderson, and it had been a perfect evening.

"Me too. I'll call you tomorrow?"

"Sounds good."

We kissed and I walked back to Cal's prius, wishing the date hadn't ended. On the drive home, I thought about our romantic dinner at 18 Degree Grill and ice skating at the Alltel Ice Den. I felt so good whenever I was around her, and there was a definite bonus in the fact that she knew nothing of my horrible family dynamic, and if I had anything to say about it, she never would.

My name is David, and I'm a normal high school student.

And without the burden of my family issues, it felt like I was in a normal relationship.

"FUCK YOU ALL!"

It's really sad when you're used to walking into your house in the midst of a terrible argument.

"Don't speak to me like that, Jake, I'm your FATHER!"

"You're not my father. You never have been, you never will be, so why don't you go back to Lucy Greer and try to father someone who's too young to know what an ASSHOLE you are!"

My 14 year-old brother, Jake, proceeded to slam his bedroom door six times to emphasize how angry he was. As I walked upstairs to my room, Cal stopped me.

"How was your date?"

"Fine."

"What did you guys do?"

"Cal, I'm really tired, can we talk about this tomorrow?"

"Sure, son. Good night."

We both knew we weren't going to be talking about it the next day. "I'm tired, can we talk about it tomorrow" is my code for "It's none of your business, I don't want to talk to you about it." Cal caught onto this when I was 13, tried to get me to talk to him about things, and finally, after about a year, he gave up, and we had little to no relationship with each other until the end of the summer when he came home. We had been trying to rebuild our relationship, but when I found out about his three year-old love child, my efforts became effortless and I really didn't care.

RING RING RING

"Hello?"

"David, I have something really important to tell you!"

"Let me guess, you and Lupe Gonzales hooked up after the concert and now you guys are going out?"

Aaron Stanwick was silent.

"How did you--"

"I saw it with my own two eyes before we all left to go to Sonic."

"Oh."

"So how did this come about?"

"Well, I've liked Lupe since I first laid my eyes on her, but Mark wanted her, so I stayed clear. But now that Mark and I aren't friends, I don't really care whether he likes her or not."

"But Aaron, he will NEVER forgive you for this. You know how he feels about the bro code."

"He never dated her, and even if he had, Mark and I are no longer bros, so there's really not much of a code in there."

"So, how are you planning to tell Mark about this?"

"I don't owe Mark anything. He can figure it out on his own."

On Monday morning, Aaron, Michael Florence, and I met in the parking lot. Callie joined us as we walked through the front gate of the school, and Michael's girlfriend, Leslie Lawrence, met up with us as we went to our designated sitting spot.

"It's starting to get kinda cold. Maybe we should move inside."

"Let's give it another couple weeks. Besides, the cold gives us an excuse to get really close to each other."

Michael and Leslie made out as Mark Adams walked toward us and Lupe Gonzales came from the opposite direction. I walked over to Mark and turned him around to divert his attention from Aaron and Lupe's reunion. I couldn't allow him to see his former best friend betray him like that.

"Hey Mark! I need to run into journalism to pick up some stories to edit. Wanna come with?"

"Sure. Anything to stay away from the Mad Mormon over there."

In Pre-Calc, I told Michael about "Operation Keep-Mark-From-Knowing."

"Are you crazy?"

"Michael, how is he going to feel when he sees that Aaron's tongue is halfway down Lupe's throat?"

"Probably the same way the rest of us felt. Awkward and rather taken aback."

"You know how Mark can be sometimes. He really liked Lupe."

"David, he just wanted to get in her pants. Besides, he's going to find out eventually."

"But he shouldn't have to find out by watching it. He needs to hear it from Aaron."

"Look, if it's that important to you to shield Mark from this, then I'll help you. But I have a feeling that this isn't going to end well."

For the next two weeks, Michael and I spent much of our energy on keeping Mark from the truth, which meant not spending a lot of time with Aaron and Lupe, or our own significant others. This gave Aaron and Lupe an opportunity to have some alone time with each other.

"It feels so good coming to school and seeing you."

"I love that yours is one of the first faces I see every morning."

"I feel the same way. Hey, whatever happened to that friend of yours? The one who always stairs at my butt?"

"Oh, yeah, we're not friends anymore."

"What happened?"

"We had a big fight, and honestly, we just weren't compatible as friends."

"I'm sorry, baby."

"It's really fine. It hurt a lot when it happened, but now I'm just kind of glad that we're not friends."

While Aaron and Lupe's relationship blossomed without Mark's knowledge, Callie confronted me about Mark's lack of knowledge.

"So how long do you plan on delaying the inevitable?"

"Until Aaron decides to tell him. It's not fair for him to have to find out the hard way. He has the exterior of an asshole but he gets hurt when he likes someone badly enough."

"And you don't think you're hurting him by keeping this information from him?"

The thought had never crossed my mind until Callie brought it up. I guess it had always been in the back of my mind that the end would justify the means, but what end was going to justify this? No matter who was going to tell him, he was going to find out. No matter how he found out, he was going to hate Aaron. And the fact of the matter was that Aaron wasn't going to tell him because as far as Aaron was concerned, it didn't matter what Mark thought of it.

"You're right. I'll tell him tomorrow morning."

The next morning, Jake and I were running late to school. On the drive to school I hoped and prayed that I would get there in time to tell Mark what was what. Yes, he needed to find out, and yes, I was done shielding him from the truth, but I still didn't want him to find out by witnessing it. He had to hear it. It would be better that way.

I finally got to school at 7:19, six minutes before the first bell. Michael and Mark were walking toward the sitting area and I caught up with them.

"Hey guys, what's up?"

"Nothing much. I'm just so happy it's Friday. It's been a long week."

"Yeah, I feel you."

"Yeah, it's been a long week for all of us. Hey Mark, I've gotta tell you something."

He didn't respond; he just stopped in his tracks. When I looked up, I could see exactly why. Aaron and Lupe were making out. Mark stormed toward them.

"Mark--"

But it was too late. He had already reached the happy couple.

"What the fuck is this, Aaron?"

"What?"

"Don't play dumb with me, motherfucker, you know exactly why I came over here!"

"Excuse me, Lupe, this will only take a minute."

They walked away from Lupe and the rumble really began.

"You KNEW that I liked her! You KNEW and you fucking did it anyway!"

"So what if you liked her? I liked her too!"

"Yeah, like I believe that. I would have known if you had liked her."

"That's where you're wrong. I knew that you liked her, so I kept my distance because you were my best friend. But we're not friends anymore, so there was nothing stopping me from asking her out."

"I just can't believe you did this, Aaron! After everything we've been through!"

"You can't use that card, Mark! The friendship card no longer exists with us!"

"Well, it sure as hell doesn't now, you Mormon piece of shit!"

Aaron watched Mark walk toward us, and both of them had tears in their eyes.

"Did you guys know about this?"

"Well, Mark, you've gotta understand--"

"Did--you--know--about--this?"

"Yes, Mark, we did."

"How long?"

"They got together after the concert."

"THEY GOT TOGETHER AFTER THE CONCERT AND YOU DIDN'T FUCKING TELL ME?"

"Mark, we wanted to tell you, but--"

"But what? You didn't want me to get hurt, you didn't want me to feel betrayed?"

"Exactly."

"Well guess what? I AM hurt, and I DO feel betrayed--by all of you!"

Mark stormed off.

"MARK WAIT!"

"NO! I never want to speak to either of you again!"

And Mark was gone.

It's strange how people can walk right out of your life with such ease. Cal had done it to my family and I just six months prior to this, and it seemed very easy for him to do so. I had walked right out of Joy's life after prom and it seemed like such an easy decision at the time. The fact of the matter is that at the time, it is an easy decision, but the aftermath of that decision is the most intense kind of pain there is, ultimately because it doesn't hit you right away.

"Libby, wait!"

"I can't live like this anymore, Mom! I'm 30 years-old, and it's about time that I started living my own life away from here!"

"Please, Libby, I can't afford it, and Cal isn't contributing a dime. Please don't go!"

"I will be glad to send you some money every month, but I will not live with that man anymore. I can't forgive him. It's not in my heart."

And yet, while the pain of walking out doesn't hit you until later, those that you walk out on feel the brunt of it immediately following the slamming of the door.

David Adler

Normal High School Student

Taking Chances

PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN ON HIGH SCHOOL NORMALITY

"I'm not looking for anything serious right now, especially with all of this stuff going on with my family, and work, and journalism, and--"

"Who's asking for something serious?"

"So I was thinking, friends go out to dinner, right?"
"Yeah."
"And friends go to movies together, right?"
"Yeah."
"Do you really not know where I'm going with this?"
"I do. Sure, let's go to dinner and a movie. We're friends, we can do that."

"Do you like her?"
"Yeah. I do."
"Then what's so complicated about it?"
"It's not really. I'm just not looking for anything serious right now."
"It sounds like you're really messed up."

"Your father owes Lucy Greer a lot of money."

"Yeah..."
"He has a three year-old daughter with her, and now has four thousand dollars in child support that he has to pay."

"I'm coming to your concert on Friday."
"That's great. Hopefully the music will be good."
"I'm gonna take a date with me."

"Really?"

"Look, David, we never said we were exclusive. We're--"
"--just friends. I know."

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"Are you really surprised by this?"

Michael Florence is quite possibly the most intelligent person I know. He's also the most cynical.

"Well, she had told me she wasn't seeing anyone else."

"But you gave her the freedom to date other people. I thought that this wasn't supposed to be serious."

"It wasn't. It's not. I'm just--surprised, that's all."

The sad fact was that I really did like Callie Anderson. She was smart, funny, beautiful, and like me had gone through a drug problem that few people our age understand. She was perfect, but I was scared.

My name is David, and I'm a normal high school student.

And after everything I had been through, it was normal for me to be a little scared of committment.

I decided not to think about the end of my fling with Callie and focus my attention to our fall concert. We had one more day until we were onstage in tuxes and gowns, and some of us were still a little iffy on our parts.

"Can I hear that interval?"

"Can you please play the tenor line at 19?"

"Does anyone want to hear a joke?"

"Randy, would you please not talk?"

"Sorry, Miss Connolly."

Our music was nowhere near where it needed to be, but every day we got a little closer. The bell rang, and we all left the auditorium praying that we would sing well at the concert.

"Please, Lord, allow us to perform well at the concert. Amen."

"Aaron, haven't you ever heard of separation of church and state?"

"I'm not leading a service, I'm just doing a short prayer. We need all the help we can get."

"I don't understand why everyone is making such a fuss. It always comes together in the end."

"Not always. Don't you remember the holiday concert sophomore year?"

"Oh yeah. Damn, I haven't thought of that in a long time."

While Mark Adams and Aaron Stanwick reminisced about the days of old, Michael and I continued talking about my present situation.

"Why don't you just tell her you like her?"

"Because she doesn't want anything serious. And neither do I."

"But you obviously like her, right?"

"I do. It's just that--well, everything with Joy was so complicated, and Callie is fun. I feel like when I'm around her, I can forget all the bad shit in my life and focus on her."

"Then what's the problem?"

"The problem is that things are so crazy in my life, with the editor-in-chief position, and the concert tomorrow night, and lest we forget the newly announced love child."

Michael looked at me with concern in his eyes.

"Joy knew everything on our first date. After three weeks, she got to see it. Letting her into my life that way scared the shit out of me, and I'm not sure I'm ready to do that again."

Michael continued his silence for a moment before he answered.

"You said that when you're around her, you forget about all that stuff, right?"

"Yeah."

"Then why do those things have to play a role in your relationship?"

I thought about what he was saying for a second before he continued.

"Look, sometimes you just have to take a leap. I took a leap with Leslie and I've never been happier. Love comes when you don't expect it. I've gotta get to a meeting, but just think about it, okay?"

"Okay."

While I worked in the newsroom during lunch, I thought about taking leaps. I had taken a leap with Joy by letting her into my heart. I had taken a leap with my father, Cal, by trying to give him another chance. It seemed that every leap I had taken ended with me falling flat on my face and breaking my nose. What would make this leap any different?

As I thought and worked on story assignments, Mark, Aaron, and Leslie were in the courtyard discussing Mark's current dilemma.

"Mark, I don't know how to tell you this, but I don't think she's going to sleep with you."

"What makes you say that?"

"Mark, she works at the soup kitchen--for recreation."

"We all have our hobbies."

"The point is that she's a good girl, and I doubt she's going to fuck the first thing that comes around."

"She's probably waiting until she's in love, if not waiting 'til marriage."

"Aaron, no one waits until marriage unless they're Mormon! And even then, not everyone does."

"You won't find that very often. Honestly, I'm perfectly fine waiting until marriage."

"But is this God of yours going to hate you if you do have sex?"

"I guess not..."

"Then why make such a big deal out of it?"

"You know what, Mark, I've never once questioned your belief in God. I don't understand why you're always hating on my religion, but I'm done with it. This is what I believe, and I don't have to justify myself to you."

And on that note, Aaron stormed away from Mark and Leslie.

"So what happens now?"

Aaron told me everything as he, Michael, and I walked to the parking lot after jazz choir.

"I don't know. I don't want to end our friendship, but I don't think I can handle it anymore. He doesn't say anything about you being Jewish or Michael being Catholic."

"Well, it's just that your beliefs are so different than mine and David's. We swear, and we drink coffee, and we have sex."

"Still a virgin."

"But not by your own choice."

"Ouch."

"The point is that you and Mark have never really seen eye-to-eye about anything. I'll admit, your love/hate relationship is hilarious to watch, but how much of it is love?"

Aaron stopped in his tracks to consider this. He and Mark were friends, but we always questioned how close they really were.

"No, we don't see eye-to-eye on a lot of things, and yes, he sometimes annoys the crap out of me, but when all is said and done, he's one of my best friends. I don't wanna lose him."

"Then just call him tonight and tell him that you don't want your friendship to end. It's as simple as that."

"It is, David?"

"This isn't about me and Callie! This is about our two best friends continuing to be friends. The last thing we need is unnecessary awkwardness."

On the drive home, I thought about what I had said. Maybe my situation was just as simple as Mark and Aaron's. What if all I had to do was pick up the phone and say how I felt about her? What if I could just take a leap?

That night, Aaron called Mark in order to clear the air, but instead, it just got more clouded.

"Honestly Aaron, I'm sick of your whole 'holier-than-thou' attitude. I'm tired of you feeling superior to me."

"But I--"

"Save it, Aaron. We all know that you feel superior to me and everyone else that's not Mormon."

"You know what, Mark, if that's what you think then you can go right ahead and think it. I'm done."

Aaron hung up and the two of them sat at opposite ends of the phone line, astounded that their argument had led to this.

Concert night came finally, and none of us were really in the concert spirit. We all had something on our minds that had nothing to do with music. I was thinking about Callie sitting in the audience with some other guy, Mark and Aaron were thinking about the end of their six year friendship, and Michael was distraught over all of us. If the concert had been one week prior, everything would have been fine. Mark and Aaron still would have been friends, Callie and I would still be seeing each other, and Michael would be content knowing that we were all content.

Miss Connolly stood up in front of the entire choir program to start the pre-concert warm-up, a tradition meant to pump us all up.

"So, it's the first concert. Is everyone excited?"

There was a short period of rambunctious cheering, and then Miss Connolly settled everyone down.

"Okay, everyone close your eyes. Think about where we started this year. Think about where we are now. Think about the first time you ever walked into this choir room. Think about the first time you stepped onto that stage out there. Now, with everything in mind, go out there and just have fun."

Walking onstage for the jazz choir set, I thought about more than the things that Miss Connolly had mentioned. I thought about my relationship with Joy, I thought about my time in rehab, I thought about my relapse and my first date with Callie. I thought about every fight my parents have ever had and my reluctance to let Cal back into my life. But after our set was over, I decided to stop thinking because life is not about thinking. It is about living.

After the Acme Choir's set (which sounded really fucking good, by the way), we headed out into the lobby for meet-and-greet. After saying hi to my family and hugging every single person in choir, I found Callie and her date, Scott.

"Hey, good job!"

She gave me a hug and I went in to kiss her. She kissed me back, and after a couple minutes, we unlocked our lips to find that Scott was no longer standing there.

"What was that for?"

"I'm tired of staying on the ground."

"What?"

"The last relationship I was in fucked me up pretty badly, but I'm tired of letting it stop me from trying again. The only way for us to work is if we leap; if we forget about the possibility of us falling on our faces. Otherwise, we're never going to get off the ground, and we'll never be able to fly."

"I feel the same way."

"I'm so happy to hear you say that."

We kissed more and then Michael interrupted us.

"Forgive me for interrupting, but are you gonna go to Sonic with us?"

"Um, Callie, a bunch of us go to Sonic after choir concerts. It's a big tradition. Do you want to come with us?"

"There's nowhere I'd rather be."

"Great! I'm going to go get changed, but I'll meet you in the parking lot?"

"Yeah. So Callie, where are you from?"

All in all, things turned out really well that night. Our music sounded amazing, our choir program benefited greatly from the big crowd, and my relationship with Callie was finally off the ground. I wondered if anything happened between Mark and Aaron. Maybe they had settled their differences. Maybe they were gonna carpool to Sonic. Maybe--

"Oh Aaron, I've wanted this for so long, but I didn't think you knew I existed."

"I've been wanting to ask you out for a while, Lupe, but there's always been something in my way."

"Like what?"

"It doesn't matter. All that matters is that we're together now."

The thing about taking leaps is that you take them because you believe that you will fly. You think of the possibility of falling flat on your face, but ultimately, if you see fit, you take the chance and leap. But the one thing you don't consider when taking a leap is the reaction of the people you will leave on the ground.

You never think of the ones who are choking from the dust you leave behind.

David Adler

Normal High School Student

Complicated

PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN ON HIGH SCHOOL NORMALITY

"So we're friends?"
"Yeah, you could call us that."

"How can you have a fuck buddy that you don't fuck?"
"Because we're not fuck buddies! We're not anything! We're just--"

"Friends who enjoy what they do and don't want to complicate anything by putting a label on it?"
"Yes."
"That's a fuck buddy!"

"I'm not going to play this guessing game with you, Jake. You have to tell me what's going--"
"It's Mom and Dad."

"What's going on with them? They've been fine."
"That's the problem. Things have been too calm."

"Mark, I want to be with you."

"Faye, 6 months ago I would have jumped at the chance to be with you, but when we had sex last week it was just sex. Nothing more."

"YOU GOT ME ARRESTED!"
"No, Linda, LUCY GREER got you arrested!"

"Your father owes Lucy Greer a lot of money."
"Yeah..."

"He has a three year-old daughter with her, and now has four thousand dollars in child support that he has to pay."

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"He what?"

Breaking the news of my father's lovechild to my brother Jake was surprisingly easy.

"How did this happen? How long ago? Why would he do such a thing?"

Explaining the situation was the hard part, especially at 6:45 in the morning.

"Well, Cal met Lucy Greer, he fucked her, and conceived a baby girl. Nine months later--"

"I understand that part, but why?"

"Why did she have a baby, or why is Cal the shit of the Earth?"

"Both."

"I'm guessing because she's against abortion. And for the second question, some are born assholes, and some have assholeness thrust upon them."

I wish I could have been more helpful, but the truth is that I didn't know why my father was a scumbag or why Lucy Greer had a child with him. All I knew was that of all the times that man has betrayed me and my family, this was the worst of them all.

My name is David, and I'm a normal high school student.

And finding out about three year-old half-sisters is just not a normal occurrance.

We didn't speak for the rest of the ride to school. After "Cal has a three year-old daughter," there's really not much to say. After we pulled into the parking lot, we got out of the car and went our separate ways. At school, Jake and I were basically strangers. We never talked, or waved, or even saw each other. We really weren't that close anyway, so it wasn't a big deal.

"David, wait up!"

Callie Anderson caught up with me and we entered the school together hand-in-hand. It was the perfect situation: all of the benefits of having a girlfriend without the label or the committment.

We stopped in the middle of the breezeway and held each other's hands as we looked into each other's eyes.

"So I was thinking, friends go out to dinner, right?"

"Yeah."

"And friends go to movies together, right?"

"Yeah."

"Do you really not know where I'm going with this?"

"I do. Sure, let's go to dinner and a movie. We're friends, we can do that."

"Okay, great. How about tonight?"

"Sure. Sounds good."

"Great. Anyway, I've gotta go talk to my math teacher, but I'll see you later, sexy."

We made out and then she seductively walked to her math class.

"You're telling us that's NOT dating?"

Michael Florence and his girlfriend, Leslie Lawrence, had sneaked up behind me.

"Where did you guys come from?"

"Well, I came from my mom's uterus, and he probably came from his mom's uterus."

"We've been standing here since 'How about tonight.'"

"Oh. And no, we're not dating. Why does everyone find that so hard to believe?"

"Because of all the PDA."

"Aaron, where did you come from?"

"I've been standing here since 'We've been standing here since "How about tonight."'"

"Oh. And so what if we show PDA? I hug you guys. That's PDA."

"But that doesn't involve tongue."

"What the hell? Let me guess, you've been standing there since 'We've been standing there since "We've been standing there since 'We've been--'"'"

"If you knew I was there, then why were you so surprised?"

Wow. Just--wow.

"So, you guys are going to a movie tonight?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"Nothing, it's just, you know, a really big step."

"Okay, for the last time! Callie and I are NOT dating! We're friends!"

"We're friends and you never kiss me."

"You're dating my best friend."

"And she may be dating someone too. You never know."

I had never thought about that before. I mean, Callie had the freedom to be with whomever she wanted, as did I. But we never talked about the subject.

After the movie, I approached the subject.

"So, are you seeing anyone?"

"No, not besides you. Why?"

"No reason. I just wanted to let you know that if you wanted to see other people, you totally could."

"Okay, but I'm fine just seeing you right now. More than one fuck buddy at a time is too complicated."

"But we're not having sex."

"That could change."

And just my luck, we arrived at her house right when she said that.

"I would invite you in, but my parents are home. Some other time, though."

It occurred to me as I drove home that I didn't want to see anyone else either. But did I want to have a relationship with her? Things were so good the way they were.

While I continued driving, after missing the opportunity to have sex, Michael and Leslie were lying in his bed after just having sex.

"I love you so much."

"I love you too, Michael. And we are getting really good at that."

They lay without speaking for a little while, embracing each other in their silence. Finally, Michael spoke.

"So what do you think of the whole David thing?"

"I don't know. He seems like he really likes her, and honestly, he's the one complicating things by not being in a relationship with her. I mean, look at us, we're in a relationship and nothing's really complicated with us."

"But think of how long it took us to get to a no-complications point in our relationship. If you ask me, he's still licking his wounds from Joy. If he was really completely over her, then he wouldn't be making things so complicated with Callie. And she's a really nice girl. I have a feeling he's going to hurt her and hurt himself in the process."

"Maybe. I guess we'll see what happens."

Over the next couple months, Callie and I continued to see each other outside of school. We went to dinners and movies and we even painted pottery a couple of times. And we weren't seeing anyone else, so we were like a real couple. But our Facebook pages still said single, and we were okay with that.

Callie was not the only exciting thing in my life. My journalism advisor, Mrs. Beasely, had named me editor-in-chief of The Summit Sentinal, and in choir we were busy preparing for our fall concert.

"You need better vowels! How many times do I have to tell you? I'm not telling you this to hear myself talk."

We all loved Miss Connolly, but she was a little neurotic when it came to be crunch time for the concerts. Our concert was on Friday, and it was Wednesday, and our music was still sub par.

"That piece has so much potential and you guys are just not giving it all you have. I need all that you have to make this piece good."

After choir, Mal Wales, who had never spoken to us before, approached us.

"So rehearsal kinda blew, didn't it?"

"It wasn't the greatest rehearsal we've ever had."

"Yeah, well, I was wondering if you guys would want to have a rehearsal after school. I just need someone to drive me."

"That sounds good. We can do it at my house. But we should probably get a soprano--"

"Lupe!"

Lupe Gonzales turned around.

"You're a soprano, right?"

"Yeah."

"We're having a rehearsal at Michael's house after school. You in?"

"Oh shoot. I would, but I'm working at the soup kitchen today. Maybe next time though."

Mark stared as she walked away.

"She's perfect. Why won't she fuck me?"

"I dunno. Must be your charm."

Mal walked away, still carrying her sarcastic exterior. Mark was astounded.

"Who does she think she is?"

"Mal Wales."

"But what would she know about my charm? We've never even spoken!"

"Maybe your eagerness to ride Lupe off into the sunset gave it away."

"OHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!"

We high-fived Aaron and went to lunch.

After school, we met in the parking lot. Jake rode the bus home, Michael picked up Mark, and I drove Mal after Callie and I made out.

"So, is she your girlfriend?"

"No, we're just friends."

"Then why are you guys always sucking face in the hallways?"

"It's complicated."

Oh my God! I just said the words that I thought I would never say during our friendship!

"Well, do you like her?"

"Yeah. I do."

"Then what's so complicated about it?"

"It's not really. I'm just not looking for anything serious right now."

"It sounds like you're really messed up."

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"I mean, it sounds like you're afraid of getting into something serious because of something else that may have happened before."

"I'm not afraid of anything."

"Then why not just call a spade a spade and ask the girl to homecoming?"

"You ask a lot of questions."

The rehearsal was a lot of fun. Mal was a really deep alto. After the rehearsal, I drove Mal home. After a while, she spoke.

"You know, I can walk from here."

"What? That's silly. Why don't I just take you all the way to your house if it's not that much farther?"

"I like the exercise. Really."

"Mal--"

"David, just let me out of the car."

"Okay."

She got out of the car and motioned for me to roll down the window.

"Tell your girlfriend I said hi."

I rolled my eyes and thought about what Mal had said. I really liked Callie, but things were so complicated in my life. I didn't know if a girlfriend was the best idea. She was a nice distraction, but I wasn't sure if she was really anything else.

At school the next day, Callie met me like she usually did.

"Hey beautiful."

"Hey."

"What's up?"

"Not much. Um, I'm coming to your concert on Friday."

"That's great. Hopefully the music will be good."

"I'm gonna take a date with me."

I was temporarily speechless.

"Really?"

"Yeah. His name is Scott, and he's really nice."

"Okay."

"Look, David, we never said we were exclusive. We're--"

"--just friends. I know."

"Anyway, I'm about to go meet him in the library to do some studying, so I'll see you later."

I almost couldn't believe what had just happened. She didn't break up with me because we were never dating, and she didn't end our friendship, but something ended.

Maybe Mal was right. Maybe I was just complicating things more by not making things official. Maybe I was afraid. Joy and I had broken up months ago, and I never thought that the repurcussions from the break-up would still be affecting my life this way.

I didn't want Callie to see this guy on Friday night, but what could I do? I gave her the freedom to see other people.

I just never knew freedom could be so restricting.

David Adler

Normal High School Student

Something to Talk About

PREVIOUSLY WRITTEN ON HIGH SCHOOL NORMALITY

"I was wondering if I could, you know, hang out with you during school hours?"
"I don't see any reason why not. We're friends, right?"

"Yeah. Friends."

"I decided to go to 3.14 for a slice of pizza, and, well..."
"Well, what?"
"Faye was there."
"So? I thought you guys resolved everything at prom."

"I slept with her."

"Where the hell have you been?"
"None of your business."

"David, I'm sorry about the way that I left, but at the time I thought it was best."
"So that Mom would get arrested instead of you?"

"I'm not looking for anything serious right now, especially with all of this stuff going on with my family, and work, and journalism, and--"

"Who's asking for something serious?"

"So we're friends?"

"Yeah, you could call us that."

-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

"Mazel tov, David!"

I guess Mark Adams saw me making out with Callie Anderson, my--friend.

"I knew this was going to happen! As soon as you started talking to this girl you were destined to start dating her. David, what did we talk about?"

"Okay, first of all, Joy and I broke up almost four months ago and we only dated for three months. And second of all, Callie and I aren't dating. We're just--friends."

Michael Florence had suggested that I not date for a while. I'd had a really difficult break-up that preluded an even more difficult summer. But I wasn't dating Callie. We were merely having fun.

"Fuck buddy! Nice!"

Mark really does have a beautiful way with words.

"I know I can't stop you from using that word, but could you maybe use it in a different context?"

And Aaron Stanwick has a beautiful way of contradicting Mark's words.

"Aaron, I'm only using that word because that's what David and Callie are...FUCK buddies."

"Actually, so far, we're just buddies."

"How can you have a fuck buddy that you don't fuck?"

"Because we're not fuck buddies! We're not anything! We're just--"

"Friends?"

"Yes."

"Friends who hold hands?"

"Yes."

"Friends who make out in the hallways?"

"Yes."

"Friends who enjoy what they do and don't want to complicate anything by putting a label on it?"

"Yes."

"That's a fuck buddy!"

My name is David, and I'm a normal high school student.

And the way I see it, what Callie and I were doing was completely normal.

We had started being--friends--a week ago. It was the ideal situation; have fun with each other during school, make out in the parking lot after school, and get in our cars and go home without any obligation to the other. There was none of that "candy and flowers" crap that boyfriends and girlfriends had to deal with. My Facebook profile didn't even say "It's Complicated" because it wasn't complicated at all. Just two friends hanging out. That's all it was.

"You know, Joy was a lot prettier."

"Huh?"

"What are you, deaf? JOY WAS A LOT PRETTIER!"
"Than Callie? I haven't even thought about it."

"How?"

"Because I don't look at Callie the way I looked at Joy."

"You sure kiss her like you do."

"We're friends, Jake."

"I don't make out with any of my friends."

"Because you're ugly."

"DON'T SAY THAT!"

Jake doesn't usually get that offended when I say that, considering he's not ugly at all.

"Hey, are you okay? You've been a little--well--off since school started."

"Just got a lot on my mind."

"You're a freshman. You have nothing to--"

"Can you stop calling me a freshman? I know I'm in ninth grade, I don't need a constant reminder from you and your friends."

"Is that what this is all about? People reminding you that you're a freshman?"

"No."

"Okay, I'm not going to play this guessing game with you, Jake. You have to tell me what's going--"

"It's Mom and Dad."

Being that my parents have been fine since Cal moved back in, it was the last thing I expected to be bothering him.

"What's going on with them? They've been fine."

"That's the problem. Things have been too calm."

"Too calm?"

"And I'm just waiting for things to erupt again. That's all."

Jake had a valid reason for feeling this way. Even when Jake and I were little kids our parents couldn't stand each other, yet they never got divorced because they didn't want to upset us. If only they knew that it would ultimately lead to our 30 year-old sister, Libby, being unable to move out because she had an obligation to pay our rent. Cal left eventually, but came back toward the end of the summer with a promise to provide the rent every month and pay Libby back every cent that he owed her. So far he's kept to his word, but I could see why Jake was suspicious.

"I think that we just need to hope for the best and see what happens. Maybe this time really is different."

To be honest, I wasn't sure if I believed that things were better, but I would have liked to believe that they were.

The next day before choir, Mark ran toward me with a worried look on his face. When he caught up with me we stopped and he caught his breath.

"What's up?"

"It's Faye."

"What did she do--besides you?"

"Nothing. Everyone else did."

"What?"

"David--did you tell anyone that Faye and I slept together?"

"No."

"Well somebody did, and they told the whole fucking school!

"Oh shit! Does Remi know? Of course he doesn't, you're still alive."

"What am I supposed to do?"

"Deny it. If you say you didn't fuck than people won't think you fucked."

"You're saying I should lie?"

"It's not that bad compared to everything else you do."

In choir, as we were being voiced, everyone kept asking Mark about it.

"Did you sleep with Faye Winston?"

"No."

"Did she forget to mention that she has a boyfriend?"

"We didn't sleep together."

"Hey, maybe you, me, and Faye could get together some time."

"We didn't sleep together--but you and I still can."

"How come everyone's asking Mark about Faye?"

"Because someone started a rumor that they slept together."

"But they DID--"

"--NOT sleep together, I know, but not everyone knows that."

"What's the point of rumors, anyway? They only hurt people."

Lupe Gonzales was a really hot sophomore who had just transferred to Summit Peak, and Mark really wanted to get in her pants (well, Mark wants to get in everyone's pants, but especially this one's.)

DING DONG DING DONG

At lunch, Mark was pleased with himself for dispelling the rumor. All sorts of people are in choir, so it wouldn't take long for the rumor to be completely dispelled.

"Mark, can I talk to you for a sec?"

Faye Winston decided to grace us with her presence.

"Um, yeah."

Mark and Faye walked away to talk.

"I take it you've heard the 'rumor'."

"Yes, and I've crushed it. You should be doing the same."

"Mark--I started it."

"What?"

"I broke up with Remi because when we made love it made me feel so alive. As if something had been missing and then magically fell into place."

"So Remi's smaller than me?"

"Mark, I want to be with you."

A couple months before prom, Mark lost his virginity to Faye and told her the same thing. He was in love with her and wanted to be with her, but she was in love with Remi. Mark wasn't seeing anyone at the time, and was definitely not in love with anyone.

"We can't do that."

"What? Why?"

"Faye, 6 months ago I would have jumped at the chance to be with you, but when we had sex last week it was just sex. Nothing more."

"But--"

"No. You have a way of making things harder than they have to be. If we stop now, we can forget that this ever happened and we can go on with our lives. I have moved on--with SEVERAL girls, I might add--and now you need to. You love Remi. Don't give that up on my account."

"What did she say?"

"Let me just say that things have a way of coming full circle sometimes."

"You mean she's in love with you?"

"Yeah, but I'm not in love with her. She's not for me. Love's not really for me."

DING DONG DING DONG

The rest of the day went by quickly. Sitting with Callie in journalism felt good. It was nice to know that there was no stress and that we were both under that concensus. With Joy everything was so complicated; so extreme.

After jazz choir, Callie and I found each other, walked to our cars, kissed goodbye, and then Jake and I went home.

"YOU GOT ME ARRESTED!"

"No, Linda, LUCY GREER got you arrested!"

"Because of something YOU DID!"

"You know, I thought that if I just came home, things would be better; things would be different."

"Well, things aren't better, Cal. Things don't happen that way."

"Then I guess I'd better pack my bags."

"No!"

My parents looked at me. It was probably the first time they noticed Jake and I standing there.

"Cal, you can't go because you can't run away from your problems. That's what you tried ot use religion for, and look where you ended up? You can't shove things under the rug by leaving. You have to deal with them, or else you will only hurt yourself."

It was silent in the room. My parents seemed astounded.

"I'm sorry about everything, Linda. That's all I can say. If I could change everything I would. I'm different now; you have to trust me on that."

"I can't trust you, Cal. But I can give you a chance to earn back my trust."

"Thank you."

That night, Cal had class, Libby had book club, and Jake was hanging out with some friends, so it was just me and my mom at home. We sat in silence and I finally said what had been in the back of my mind since prom night.

"Mom, why did you get arrested?"

She looked at me a moment before she spoke.

"Your father owes Lucy Greer a lot of money."

"Yeah..."

"Well, it's not just her that he owes to. It's the state."

"Okay..."

"He has a three year-old daughter with her, and now had four thousand dollars in child support that he has to pay. They arrested me so they could ask me some questions about him, but I had no answers, so they brought me home. That's when I found out abouth the car accident, and the rest is history."

I couldn't believe what I had just heard. Cal had another daughter, I had another sister.

"So what's going to happen?"

"If he doesn't pay it all back, he's going to go to prison. Apparently he's working on it, but you know how he is."

"Yeah, I know."

We were silent again. I hadn't fully digested the fact that not far away was a little girl that might have my father's eyes, or nose, or hair color.

People have a way of surprising us. They may say things that we don't expect, accomplish things we didn't know were possible, or do things that hurt us so much that we simply can't believe that they could do such a thing. Cal had done some horrible things in the past, and had kept some horrible truths from us in the past, but that was all supposed to be in the past.

I couldn't believe that I actually trusted that the future would be any different.

David Adler

Normal High School Student