My Boy Hood

After yesterday’s long party, today things went back to normal. That is me wearing a tight bandage to keep my chest flat and throwing away the wig that weighed a ton. I was at Summer’s, but I caught her in the middle of her piano lesson. Penny and Blake were in the other room, testing out her 80’ flat screen TV.

The moment I saw the outside of her house, I could tell she was very wealthy. And when Summer’s mother greeted me at the door, I could tell she was a very gentle person, and it wasn’t an act she was using to impress either. I supposed having a daughter that’s never spoken can cause these kind of emotions. I never saw her Dad, but her mom, who insisted I call her Heather, said he was on a business trip overseas.

Not to mention she gave me a big hug when I walked in, “I’m glad she could help a boy like you. Normally, it’s difficult for her to make friends on her own because of her impairment, but im glad you two are getting along well.”

“Really? I understand her just fine. She’s pretty blunt when it comes to what she wants.” I said, trying not to make a big deal out of the situation. If I didn’t catch on to what her mother’s words during our conversation, I’d think she was trying to get us together. I mean, even Blake was convinced we were dating after he admitted spying on us one day.

I sighed, there was no way in hell I was going to date any girl. Not that I'm against gays or anything, but I was totally not into that kind of thing. Hell, after these two months of sticking around men in the locker room, I was starting to despise guys. I mean, haven’t you ever walked past one of their lockers? It’s impossible to breathe, because it either reeks of cologne or sweat.

Heather left me alone after a while; she said that it was time to check her plants in the green house. I went into Summer’s room with the others, where they were jamming to whatever music video was playing. “Wait! Wait! Nick!” Penny excitedly said, dragging me into the room , “Didn’t you say you could breakdance?”

“Yeah?”

“Great! We need Summer in here! There you are! Get in here. Nick, you have to dance. I want to see it.”

I saw Summer and I anticipated that her practice was over, I decided she earned a small break since it was my turn next, “Fine, but one song. And it’s freestyle.”

“Ok, I want to record it.” Penny said.

Summer’s room was spacious and luckily the floor was hardwood. “Dude, I didn’t know you could dance!”

“Blake, it wasn’t a week ago yoy didn’t know my number, I’m not surprised it took you this long to figure out that I could dance.” I said to him.

I threw my sunglasses on a chair and prepared my hat. Penny found a song on TV, and it started, “Summer, this is for you!”



I did know this song, and it was one of my favorites. Blake had to be an idiot and sing the girl part, but I didn’t start my part until the rap came on. “Sweet!” I heard Blake yell.

Dancing did have its effect on me, and sometimes I took it seriously, but other than that, I goofed off, and that was what I did during the second rap. It was fun, and we continued goofing around in the room for about an half hour until Summer’s mom peeked in the room to see what the commotion was. Only she caught me in the middle of spinning on my head.
God bless her heart, I’ll never forget that moment, she was freaking out, thinking I fell or something. Summer was smiling the whole time her mother was there. She wanted to take me to the hospital, but after explaining thoroughly what was going on, we finally convinced her to calm down. She ordered me not to do it again if she was under the same roof and I agreed with a fat smile on my face.

The goofing off part was over now, and Summer and I went to the piano. Blake and Penny came to watch, reviewing the video Penny took with her camera. Summer stroked her fingers across the keys, and gently started to play. This was our usual routine, she’d play the song, then I’d take after. She’d do it in thirds though, playing thirty seconds at a time. I’d play afterward, then she’d make me play it as good as I could, and after spending so much time on one part, we’d continue to another one.

Since I haven’t been on a piano in a while, it took me a little bit to get my fingers flexible again, but each day I could tell I was improving a lot. I was proud of myself, and I was confident I’d be able to be prepared by next weekend. Summer wrote to me saying that I should master it by Wednesday at the most, so I could practice with Lala to get the song in tuned. I agreed, and that night when I went home, I called Lala up.

We decided to meet after school Wednesday, so we could practice at my school. I’d have to meet her at my school gate. It’d be a twenty minute walk from her school to get there, but she was going to take her bike so it will be quicker. She updated that she’s been practicing everyday with her sentence, and when she heard about the progress I’ve done, she was really happy.

“Nicky, you really are the best.”

Those were the words that I went to bed with. I had school tomorrow, and a weekend to look forward to with Lala, and I knew this audition would bring her one step closer to getting toward her dreams. I would be her benefactor in this dream, and I knew that I had to do my best to help her. And I would do everything in my power to be at that audition on Saturday.

I didn’t care what anybody thought of it, not even Dad, who thinks dreams were pointless. That’s why I never told him about the contest.