Miss Space Case

Dull words rolled off her large chapped lips. Her mole moved every time she recited a word she didn’t know. I could practically see the dark hair sprouting from the mole, just waiting to be plucked by holy silver. Like most substitutes, Mrs. Von Eye fell into the potential mass murder category. She slapped a long meter ruler along the desks as she paced back and forth. She had a permanent scowl that never left her face. She was like hell on legs.

Summer was only 12 minutes within my reach. Somewhere over the rainbow, I would be heading to the library to spend my first few minutes of summer in silent bliss. But this was not the case. I had a date with the doctors’ office. I wasn’t too thrilled myself. But everybody knows that you have to visit every once in a while, unless you want to be found dead on the floor. I want to die of old age and not of any other natural cause.

Living with a disease is like walking a road that hasn’t been marked. Every case is different, they say. But my case is more on the common side. Mild cognitive impairment they call it. I’m living a life with disease almost like Alzheimer’s. My mind is always blank, I sometimes forget words, and I can’t remember anything. My attention always switches every 10 seconds. I’m abnormal sure, but not to the extreme. I still have my eyes to see, my ears to listen, and 10 fingers and ten toes.

If I could change anything about me I wouldn’t change a thing. My chicken legs matched my short stature that I have inherited from my Korean ancestors. I have a round face; tanned and blemish-free, with round, dark eyes. I was normal to say the least. If I didn’t have the disease I have now, I would have probably been messed up in some other way. I am content with myself for the moment.

When I was in elementary school, I was looked upon as unusual and strange. I always wore my older brothers hand me downs. They consisted of old Chuck Taylors, baggy jeans, and odd t-shirts that my mom found at the good will for half price. My family wasn’t the richest of the pack. We were far from it. That’s why I’ve been working my ass off for a scholarship. After 4 years of high school I had achieved the impossible, a scholarship to some little known college in Oregon. But get this straight. It is an all boys’ college. I'm in deep shit.

Everything is paid for and taken care of. The only thing I had to do was make up a lie to tell my mom. I dreaded telling her because it always seems like she can read everything that I’m thinking. It’s really depressing. She always wants me to stay home because of my condition. She wants to lock me up and throw away the key. But I won’t let her. When something is wrong you have to come out of the shadows and face the light. If you make it, you will become just another success story. If you make it and find yourself, you have really achieved something.

Hi I’m Frankie Haneul, and I just got the opportunity to mess with some boys. Welcome to my life.