Old Choky's Touchdown

My name is Freckle DeFlora. I speak in truths. I'm not a talented writer. I start things off like alternative kids with the dream of becoming a successful author even though all of their half finished stories start the same;

"Hi, my name's _____!"

Truth be told, no one really gives a shit what my or your name is. They only give a shit if my boobs are bigger than yours or something superficial along the lines of that.

I'm not sad and I'm surely not depressed. I don't sit alone at lunch and I have a boyfriend. I don't know if I'm ugly or pretty or disgusting or perfect. I'm never alone on the weekends unless I want to be. I'm like any other teenage girl, tempted by things shiny to the eye and opposed to those that look boring and unappealing.

Senior year, for example, is as boring and unappealing as you can get. Work practically doesn't exist apart from taking a few tests that you learned the answers to the year before. The people get more annoying than they were when they were fourteen, fifteen. I had to watch people grow up into things they swore they'd never be.

I was one of them.

But I'm not sad about that because it's a promise of growing up. You get old, you get boring and knowledgeable. You get usual and that's it. And chances are when I'm done here, I'm going to go to college then get a job then break up with Augustus and meet someone new and have children with them and then I will retire and die.

And you will do the same.

Don't get me wrong though. Life's pretty kick ass when you walk into school and meet your perfect boyfriend at his locker every morning. The jealous stares of girls passing when we kiss never got dull. His hand in mine never got any colder and the music we listened to never failed to inspire me to do stuntman stuff.

There's always one day that ruins everything, no matter what. Don't think you can avoid it because you can't and you won't. And chances are it'll happen when things are almost over and you're almost free.

That day for me was the day before graduation. And that was the day I woke up to no text telling me Gus wouldn't be in school and I showed up anticipating his lips but only found his absence.