Summer/Beginning of Sophomore Year
The summer before my Sophomore year was a great one.
My family had a wonderful vacation over the 4th of July at Pirateland Family Campground in
While we were enjoying quality time along the Grand Strand, I met a cute little brunette named Misty from
** A little known fact – Touching boobies can do WONDERS for a young teenage boy’s confidence.
Also that summer, my best friend David ‘Tater’ Turner-A Great American, and I discovered a love for tennis. We spent nearly every night chasing a little yellow ball.
I wish I could say we became great tennis players, but I would be lying. I actually pretty much sucked. I was not then, nor ever have been very athletic. But we had fun. I lost a lot of the gut and butt that I was so self conscious about. My Mom called it “baby fat”. I refused to acknowledge I lost “baby fat’ at 15 yrs old.
David ‘Tater’ Turner – A Great American had been my best friend since we were in 6th grade band together. We always were somewhat of an odd duo just to look at us.
When I was 15 I looked every bit of twelve years old.
When Tater was 15, he looked to be around 32.
Tater has been over six foot and 180 lbs since he was Nine years old (I may be stretching the truth with that one a little).
Tater was buying Skoal Smokeless Tobacco at 13.
Tater had a full on, Burt Reynolds- like mustache at 14.
I’m in my thirties now, and I still can’t rock a full on Burt Reynolds-like mustache…
Summer came and went way too quickly, and it was time to get ready for the up coming school year. I always hated school shopping, especially when it came time to buy school clothes. My Mom and Dad were always great when it came to providing for me, however I did wear my share of hand-me downs.
One of the draw backs of being a guy that is 15, (but is the size of a 12 year old) is that all of your classmates and friends are so much bigger than you. Especially when your best friend is a big ol’ boy like Tater. I was destined to get his hand-me downs from three years prior.
In other words, Tater’s Mom gave my Mom some clothes that he wore when we were in 8th grade together for me to wear my Sophmore year of High School.
It’s hard to feel cool about your style when that is the case.
I don’t want to sound ungrateful, but if you want to know the truth, all I wanted was to look like one of the “cool kids”; and my folks didn’t have the budget to really make that happen.
I wanted to dress like the cool guys, because they dated the popular girls. I wanted to dress and look like the kind of guy that would catch the eye of a girl like the girl in 9th seat back of the 14th row in my Physical Science class.
During the summer before my sophomore year, I had a talk with my Dad. I explained to him what I was going through. I told him about the cute blonde in the 9th row 14 seats back. I told him about how I wanted to look like one of the “popular guys”.
He understood.
We went to Belk Department Store (A southern staple in world quality high-fashion), and bought clothes for my upcoming sophomore year. He didn’t say a word about the price of the clothes we were buying.
I guess now is the point of the story to where I need to come up with a name for the girl in the 9th seat back of the 14th row… I really don’t want to use her real name. She did not ask to be written about, so I want to protect her identity, (plus I hope to avoid any legal complications if she were not to like what I write).
Let’s go with Megan.
Megan
Alba, (That can be a middle name, right?)
Megan Alba
I went through my first day as a sophomore feeling much better about myself than I had my first day of school the year before. The halls seemed far less crowded, and the school itself didn’t seem as large and intimidating in stature. I felt far more comfortable in my surroundings, and felt sympathetic for the new Freshmen who were feeling what I felt the same time a year ago.
I went through all of my classes hoping I would be in a class with Megan Alba Biel, but it wasn’t meant to be. We shared no classes my sophomore year.
The entire time we shared Physical Science class the previous school year, I imagined what a conversation with her would be like –
Me-“Hello Megan Alba
MAB- “Thanks! Wow, I really like your smoking hot blue jean jacket. Is that a Guns and Roses patch on the back?”(It was the late eighties)
Me- “Why yes it is, would you like to wear it?”
MAB- “Totally! Hey, do you want to make out?”
But sadly, that conversation never happened.
The only time I did talk to her that year it went more like this-
Me- “Um, hey Megan Alba
MAB – “Sure.” (Not really making eye contact)
Me- “Thanks.” (Not really making eye contact either)
I wanted to see if I could muster up more than one sentence to say to her this year.
I had the clothes, I lost some weight, and I even changed my hair (I started feathering it back “preppy-boy style”).
However, I was missing one VERY important accessory.
One I had not thought of until school started.
About four days into the first week of school, I finally saw Megan in the parking lot. She was hanging out with a Senior who lived in my neighborhood. To be candid, (and this may be just sheer envy and jealousy talking), I thought he was a jerk.
He was obnoxious and loud. He was a ball hog in basketball (his house was right behind the neighborhood basketball goal, around the corner from my house). Overall, he was generally unlikeable if you asked me, (again… it could be a bit of jealousy talking).
However, he did have a few things I didn’t have.
For starters he was quite a bit taller than me and more athletically built than me, (All of those nights playing tennis with Tater hadn’t paid off for me that much). He was a baseball player with thick reddish hair, big arms, a thick neck, and an abnormally large, goofy looking head.
He smoked Marlboro Reds with a type of cool that I would never have, (mostly because I didn’t smoke).
He also had the one accessory (that I mentioned earlier) that I did not have.
He had a C-A-R.
And, rumor was that he was Megan Alba Biel’s new boyfriend.
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