My High School Years

Zwei

Corbin

*********

Has anyone seen that commercial, (it's in black-and-white btw, for that gritty, 
down to earth appeal I guess), the one where a man and a woman are standing in 
the middle of some large town square and he proclaims his love for her. He 
starts shouting "I love this woman!" while waving his arms. Has anyone seen 
this farce?
 
Well this woman, is like, looking totally embarrassed, ready to crawl under a 
rock because she thinks her boyfriend is loosing his mind...or simply 
embarrassed by his calling to the goddess of love in her name. (Please, put me 
in that commercial so I can sock him in the kisser, just to shut his loud 
idiotic mouth).
 
Anyway, he then proposes to her...giving her this diamond, well that just sends 
this woman over the romantic edge and she embraces him warmly (awwww) while 
saying "I love this man".
 
Isn't that just dandy?
So the man is the one who is portrayed as the self-confident, romantic nut (nut 
case all right) with emotional depth and passion. The woman is the shallow one 
who only comes to life when a fucking rock is shoved under her nose. She looks 
scared, insecure, and that hunk of a diamond suddenly brings all the love out in 
her. Simply pathetic...I see nothing romantic about that commercial at all!
 
In fact, I see it as an advertisement for prostitution. Basically, it's saying 
that if you give a woman a diamond, she will open her heart and legs for you 
instantly, that women are superficial and only understand the language of 
jewelry. They are not trading in cold hard cash but the diamond market you see. 
Very clever, but I'm on to you advertising punks! More attempts by men in the 
advertising field to patronize, insult, and demean women while we buy their 
junky products, or have them given as gifts from retarded men who should never 
have come out of their role of hunting-and-gathering to begin with.
 
*Okay...deep breath....I feel better now...*

**********

Where was I? Oh yeah...
 
So back to my gymnastics routine, I really did need to refocus; besides Sharon 
had already disappeared into the locker room. Basically, I was done, but dragged 
out the minutes by stretching because people like Sharon annoyed me and I 
figured if I waited long enough she would be long gone from the locker room. I 
also enjoyed the moment of peace and quite as I was in a bit of a funk; you see 
I was beginning to realize my gymnastics days were numbered although my 
Scholarship to College was based on just that. I knew I would never be able 
to compete at the level I really wanted to, not against the girls I would be 
going up against. They were so small, body frame wise, and willing to risk their 
neck at any price...not me, sure I would do some of the more difficult routines, 
hence dangerous, but I think my coach sensed my growing apprehension. After all, 
the bigger you are the harder you *DO* fall.
 
I slowly twisted my torso to my left, then right, while keeping my legs 
stretched out in a full split just a little longer while I sat contemplating my 
current and future role in gymnastics (I am flexible, proud to say. I still 
am, full split, anytime of the day baby! Good grief, god only knows what 
perverted fantasies are dancing thru your guy's heads). By now I had gotten 
myself into a nice little funk as I pulled on my track shorts. When I strolled 
into the locker room I was not at all prepared for what I saw...I think I was 
so stunned I almost went about my regular business.
 
For you see, right in front of my very eyes was the makings of one 
nasty fight and Sharon looked like she just might wind up on the loosing end 
this time. There was Janet and Taylor, two girl's from the Softball team who 
seemed intent on confronting Sharon, and for what seemed like the first time I 
saw a look of 'I'm in deep shit' on Sharon's face, although she was putting 
up a brave front. Well, considering she was standing in her underwear with 
nothing but a clutched shirt to cover her chest, it was a difficult front to 
maintain at best, but boy-oh-boy was she trying, I'll give her that!
 
Now I've got all three looking at me like I'm some alien that just landed in 
the middle of the locker room, giving me that look somewhere between annoyed and 
scared, with that nervous energy kind of stare. As for me, well I just wanted 
get my gym bag and get out of there, I needed to get home and study. It's not 
that I don't care enough to intervene, but really now, you sometimes have to 
let things play out on there own.

Let me describe Sharon's two tormentors a bit; The first and most aggressive is 
Taylor with her short curly reddish, brown hair and stocky build, she was close 
to Sharon's height but about an inch shorter at 5'8"; Janet on the other hand 
was shorter and skinner, about 5'5", wearing her light brown hair pulled back 
in a sloppy pony tail. They both shared the same mocking, nasty look in their 
eyes; they were enjoying every bit of the moment, until I walked in that is. 
They were decked out in their uniforms, covered in dirt, sweat and dust, their 
faces tan from playing outdoors all spring as streaks of dirty sweat 
crisscrossed their faces, only adding to their already heated, mean looks. 

That's when I noticed Sharon's left hand was clenched into a first, and let me 
tell you, if she ever does clench it she's going to use it. But of all the 
things I noticed, nothing caught me more off guard then this vulnerable 
expression in Sharon's eyes as she looked at me, a look of relief I would say 
because of my sudden appearance.
 
I still wasn't sure what to do as I continued to walk to my locker; my mind was 
spinning because this kind of crap I did not need! I mean my little plane was 
not flying below the radar at this moment! My right hand just seemed to fumble 
with that lock when Taylor's big mouth made the decision for me.
 
"Hey Corbin, could you give us a few minutes?" she piped up. I glanced over 
and she had this sadistic smile on her face which really annoyed me, more then 
Sharon ever did. Now I'm catching a glimpse of Sharon's head, in panic mode 
now I suppose, as she looking back over her shoulder to where I'm standing, 
waiting...looking for what my reaction will be.
 
"Actually, could you come back in a half hour, this could take awhile." Janet 
kind of chuckled.
 
"Yeah! A half hour should do it." Taylor looked over at her partner in crime 
and they both laughed. I noticed that Taylor's confidence level was coming back 
now, hedging her bets that I wasn't going to intervene. Sharon didn't move she 
just kept looking at me, frozen in anxious anticipation as if waiting for some 
winning lottery number to be called out. Now I have to say, why I did what I did 
that day I still can't explain, it was like another 'Corbin' stepped in and 
took over. I am all too familiar with that side of myself now, but why it choose 
to reveal itself at that particular point in time, I will never know...maybe I 
don't want to know. It was only a couple of months into weight lifting, I 
sometimes wonder if there is a correlation?
 
In any case, I wasn't friends with any of these girls, nor enemies, honestly 
they meant nothing to me, but I was about to choose sides and it would forever 
alter my life. I remember my head looking over at Sharon as my right hand calmly 
pulled my gym bag from the locker, our eyes drifted and eventually locked on one 
another and there it was again, no bravado...bullshit...nor arrogance, but a 
very simple stare from this brunette. I almost smiled at Sharon she gave me such 
a sincere look, how sappy is that! <rolling eyes>
 
"Sharon, do you still need that ride home?" The words just came out of my 
mouth, 'Did I just say that?!'
 
Sharon just nodded 'Yes' franticly.
 
"Then get with it, I don't have all day."
 
That really set Taylor's and Janet's world on end, they seemed frozen in time 
for a second, simply stunned. I think Sharon was a bit dumbstruck too, but shot 
Janet an eat shit look as she quickly got dressed. It took a minute for what 
just happen to process in Taylor's mind I suppose, "Corbin? Are you shitting 
me?!'" she blurted out in shock, "Since when did you buddy up with princess!?"
 
"Yeah!" Janet added.
 
Sharon fumbled with her clothes trying to get dressed without revealing any more 
skin then necessary, but it was slow going. She was slightly hindered by her own 
distraction as she watched and studied what the two girls were contemplating. I 
guess as a show of solidarity I took a couple of steps forward, putting me side 
by side with Sharon at this point. You know, as I indicated I didn't have a beef 
with either Janet or Taylor, but I just felt the overwhelming air of calm and 
confidence swoop down on me and it seemed to totally freak them out. I also 
liked the fact that I was taller then any of them, and since I started lifting I 
was undoubtedly the strongest girl in school and they all knew that. Now that 
doesn't add up to a hill of beans when it comes to fighting, but I was still 
waging a psychological war at this point and winning :) Just thru posture and 
eye contact I had them believing that I could put up one hell of a nasty fight.
 
Taylor's wheels were obviously spinning in her small mind, contemplating what to 
do next...or not to do...and that's when I detected a change in Taylor's 
expression, it was subtle, something in her eyes...her mouth even, that told me 
she was going to back down. She simply patted her little buddy Janet on the back 
before speaking, "See you around Princess and you too Corbin." An annoying 
smirk curled out of the corner of Taylor's lips as she got that little jab in 
at me as well.
 
Well bitch you want to banter, we can banter all day; "You see me now, don't 
you? And you'll see me every day until the end of the school year." I fired 
right back, again very uncharacteristic for me. So much so, that the comment 
caught Taylor and Janet dead in their tracks as Taylor just studied me in dead 
silence. Yet there I stood, totally unwavering, but Taylor was anything but 
remaining calm, I could tell she wanted to blow her cool and so our little stare 
down continued. Again, it was Taylor that chose to back down and I watched her 
head shake in disgust before prodding Janet to walk back down the row of 
lockers.
 
"We're just walking away?" I heard Janet mumble in shock to Taylor. I couldn't 
clearly make out what Taylor said in reply...something to the effect of "Soon 
enough..." or some bull reply like that. The corner of my left eye caught 
Sharon looking, actually watching sort of awestruck as her two antagonists 
walked away, and 'just like that it was over' she couldn't believe it, hell I 
couldn't believe it. I suppose I was even a little stunned at what just 
happened. There was this uncomfortable pause...that awkward silence as Sharon 
simply stood, her skirt half way up her legs. I was stumped, what do you say to 
someone that you don't even know after something like this? While I was trying 
to think of something cool to say, I could still feel her eyes staring right at 
me, I guess waiting for something. But I chickened out and turned my back on her 
so I could take a seat on the bench which still separated us as my fingers 
nervously played with the strap on my gym bag. 'Hmm, that was kind of rude' I 
thought and mustered up enough concentration to formulate some dialogue between 
us;
 
"I'll wait and walk you out, you know, just in case." There, that wasn't so 
hard, even if my voice was barely above that of a whisper, good grief I'm more 
nervous trying to carry on a conversation with this prima-donna then when I was 
confronting Taylor and Janet, what's up with that? Maybe because Sharon was the 
self imposed Queen of our school who could launch long-term plans of war to make 
your life at school hell. Where Janet and Taylor were not that organized.
 
Well, I guess my comment was the queue Sharon was waiting for 'cause she snapped 
to and started getting dressed, damn fast too. I heard her locker door slam 
shut, 'Damn that was quick' and I stood up and turned around, noticing that 
Sharon wouldn't look me in the eyes anymore and I felt really bad for the girl. 
'God knows that would have shaken me up.'
 
"You okay?" I asked.
 
Sharon didn't move, she didn't look well either, little did I know she was 
shifting into 'drama' mode, she should be an actress. Why the hell can't people 
just stop putting up fronts? Argh, but that's Sharon for you as I suddenly 
watched her knees buckle, followed by her whole body slumping backwards and into 
the lockers. If that wasn't bad enough, her left hand came up to quickly cover 
her face as she began to lose her composure. Within an instant her entire 
composure broke down and Sharon began choking out the tears and sobs, 'This girl 
should win an Oscar!' That's what I'm thinking now of this unfolding 
performance. Well, to be fair, I must admit that the tears seemed real enough, 
but as I indicated, Sharon was well known for taking drama to a new level 
amongst her friends, but at that moment I went ahead and assumed the whole 
experience had shaken her up pretty bad. In fact, I even started to assume 
the worst that Sharon was fainting, what with the way her body fell backwards. 
So now I'm letting go of my gym bag as I cross the bench separating us so I 
could keep her from falling, or from...hell I don't know.
 
Now I'm frozen, not sure what to do, 'cause she obviously isn't fainting and I'm 
looking over my shoulder and yep we are still alone. 'Now what?' I wondered.

Cautiously I began my advance, I wanted to give her a hug...I don't know why, I 
sensed she wanted me to I guess, but at the same time I wasn't sure if she might 
smack me or freak out...or something. 'This is so awkward' I don't even know 
this girl and now I'm trying to figure out how to console her, 'I guess I should 
do something?' The truth is I'm not very good at this sort of thing. But before 
I knew what to do next or what was even happening, Sharon's fingers were coming 
towards me and gripping at the fabric of my leotard, so much so that I feared 
the girl might rip it. 'She's rather strong' I had to admit, but the surprise 
came pleasantly.
 
My eyes are bugging a little as Sharon was now clinging to me! But I didn't 
push her away either, It probably felt good to be consoled like this, not to 
mention it was rather pleasant to be the one doing the consoling. Somehow, in 
the middle of that very impersonal, cold locker room, with our bodies 
sweaty, shaking and tired, I found the moment to be one of the most intimate I 
had ever experienced. I would later come to learn that Sharon shared the same 
realization as I did. Maybe it was the way Sharon rested her head comfortably on 
my right shoulder as I stroked her back. I could feel the girl squirm a little 
in my grasp and wondered if she wanted a release from this impromptu embrace, 
but was a bit surprised to feel her press in a little tighter, or maybe my mind 
was playing tricks on me?
 
The whole experience sent a tremble thru my body, not just a flutter in the 
heart, but a true nervousness that seemed to radiate throughout my entire body 
and needless to say I was just more then a little stunned because I knew when I 
was getting aroused, and I was NOT hugging a boy either. I wasn't even sure at 
first that anything had changed in our simple embrace, but I thought I could 
detect Sharon's whole body tense suddenly. I don't know if her tensing was a 
reaction to me or was Sharon's mind swirling with the same thoughts as mine? 
With that subtle increase in tension between our bodies, I knew...or at least I 
thought I felt a slight shift take place between our chests. 'The added 
pressure against my body...my chest...my breasts...it felt so fucking 
hot!' Well, that's it, I'm loosing it...because again you see I'm hugging a 
girl...not a boy...that was messing with my head something awful. 'And it's 
not my imagination either' it really did feel like Sharon's chest was now 
pressing head-on into my own, well not directly, you see I am a couple of inches 
taller then her. But with Sharon's seemingly emotional sigh and 
tightening embrace I kept wanting to deny anything more than a simple endearing 
moment.
 
I think the thing that frightened me the most was how exquisite the pressure of 
the hug felt, and wondered if this brunette...this Cheerleader with her diva 
sneer and attitude was also becoming 'turned-on' in our private moment, 'As much 
as I am?' My own dilemma was accelerated when I began to feel that damn leotard 
dig and rub against my crotch as I shifted my legs to try and make some minor 
adjustments.  I also found myself clenching my ass, along with different parts 
of my body, not to mention that fucking leotard...again...creeping up the crack 
of my ass. Now I just wanted to leave and go home, I didn't want anymore trouble 
from anyone, I was starting to panic!
 
'But wait, what the hell? I was just trying to comfort her' I alternatively 
considered. Well onto a bigger problem, it was no stroke of genius when I 
realized that this embrace was beginning to linger into a dangerous amount of 
time, that if one of us didn't break it off soon, it would become painfully 
clear that the whole moment was going to become very awkward, well beyond what 
it already was.
 
"Feeling better?" I finally said, the quiver in my voice caught me off guard and 
I feared it may give away more emotion then I was ready to deal with. It 
actually seemed to startle Sharon slightly but the girl recovered as her right 
hand gently performed a small pat and rub on my back. *Sigh* Finally let's get 
this over with already.
 
"Thanks for everything" Slowly, cautiously I felt Sharon relax her grip, 
almost with some degree of reluctance her head tilted away from me, as if to 
hide her face...she was blushing maybe, but then her eyes closed as she appeared 
to contemplate something (I'm pretty good at reading people I think). But I 
watched her lips part with a sigh as if to speak, 'What's going on in that head 
of hers?' I was wondering, but all of the sudden she did something that I swear 
must have been on purpose, it just about caused me to swoon. Her fingers, with 
those perfectly manicured nails seemed to take their own sweet time as they 
graced over my ribs, even coming around to tease the ridges of my abs right 
below my breasts, before finally slipping away. 'Did she just feel me up?' Was 
all I could think and it was sending pleasurable shivers up my spine. This girl 
has some nerve, it's like she acts like she can do whatever she pleases, but you 
don't see me stopping her either...or maybe I'm so stunned by what just happed 
that things were still not registering with me.
 
That hug, which I just described in extraordinary detail, seemed to draw out 
Forever, but in reality it had barely lasted a couple of minutes, at max.
 
"Well, that was interesting!" Sharon looked up and smiled. The first thing she 
ever really said to me directly, but her expression quickly turned to dismay and 
shock, like she couldn't believe she just said that. Not to mention I couldn't 
believe what I just heard.
 
"I'm sorry, I....." Sharon blinked, but still averted her eyes for a few 
seconds, looking like she wanted to crawl into a hole and die. Hell, she and I 
both probably felt that way.
 
Finally, I felt my whole body relax, letting myself smile even and look into 
Sharon's blushing face; "It's ok, really Sharon." Trying to sound reassuring, 
sensing Sharon was sharing the same amount of embarrassment as I was. 'Things 
will be OK? Did I just say that? This is all very far from being just OK' I told 
myself, worse still I had no idea how to reconcile my own pleasurable reaction 
to the whole thing. When Sharon finally looked back up, I had already taken a 
step back. That's how we stood for a few seconds, staring across at one another, 
simply smiling, it was kind of a relief in some ways. (Sorry folks I know it 
sounds mushy, but it really does make my heart flutter when I think about it.) 
Sharon's deep blue eyes with her beautiful smile momentarily had me mesmerized, 
I wasn't even sure why, but there was a slight guilt tugging at my heart, 'maybe 
it was believing all the hateful stories people spread about this girl' I 
thought.
 
I let Sharon turn to leave first and then quickly reached behind me and dug into 
my track shorts to pull that damn leotard from my butt. Frantically I pushed 
some of my blonde hair out of my eyes and cleared all the sweat off my forehead, 
'Jesus, what the hell is going on?' My brain seemed to be spinning out of 
control. 'Don't use the Lord's name in vain.' My subconscious scolded me.
 
We walked out to Sharon's car thru a mostly empty parking lot, neither of us 
speaking a word, Sharon was more or less dragging her feet as we got closer to 
her car. Every once in awhile I would catch her sneaking a glance over, studying 
me. I was a little taller then her, and could hold my own in the looks 
department, so I guess I was somewhat of an anomaly at the moment because I 
always tried to downplay my looks. Sharon, was just the opposite, throwing her 
looks in front of everyone's faces. In any case, I was classified as a non-
threat by most girls', I wore my hair in no particular manner, it hung 
long and 'very untidy' as Sharon would later comment, not to mention I was a 
fashion victim; baggy and wrinkled was my look and I didn't buy my clothes that 
way either, it was just obvious that I was not one for ironing.
 
"You sure don't talk much." Sharon said. To which I simply shrugged and smiled, 
that was how I really am, pretty quiet.
 
"But that's okay, it's kind of nice..." She smiled and looked back at me. I 
think it kind of put Sharon at ease that I was not very dominating in certain 
ways, at least not around certain people. Sharon seemed to spend allot of time 
analyzing me, I really didn't give her or anyone much information to ever go 
on, I was outside of her standard realm of friends. Also, Sharon told me she 
didn't feel the need to put up a front and 'airs' around me, which made me 
feel good...or was that an insult? To this day I never figured it out.  I simply 
remained quiet during our short walk to the car, I am one of those people that 
does most of my talking in my head and for years teachers used to send me home 
with notes indicating that I was way too shy and needed encouragement to break 
out of my shell. So my parents, like so many other parents in a similar 
situation, began dumping me into sports which I took too instantly, but it 
didn't bridge the social gaps for me. Only the most understanding guys and girls 
ever took the time to get to know me, but I admit, my looks and athletic 
excellence compensated for the inability to connect and make friends, otherwise 
I would be forced to utilize my klutzy social skills. To some degree on a very 
private, almost secret level, I lacked the desire to pursue friendships with 
other people my own age simply finding them too superficial. 'And yet...' It 
occurred to me that '...Sharon seems to embody all that I have tried to always 
avoid, but maybe it's superficial of ME to assume that there is not much at all 
to this girl now walking next to me?'
 
Again, Sharon stole a glance around to see if anyone was watching us, but the 
few smattering of students still on the school grounds were of no importance. I 
suspected Sharon was in a bit of turmoil at the moment, you see the sad truth 
was that Sharon knew the consequences of her actions over the years. As an 
outside observer I could also see what treating others as social 'outcasts' 
often meant, it meant that Sharon's circle of reliable trustworthy friends had 
narrowed to a dangerous limited number. Making friends with me was not in the 
scope of Sharon's world, although I had 'The Looks', Academic and Athletic 
rankings of respect, I think maybe it was my family not being rich and 
influential enough. Oh yeah, as I indicated before, I am total fashion wreck, 
and even if I wanted to be up on the latest trends my parents couldn't afford to 
keep up with the styles (And it didn't make much sense to take money from my 
part time job, only to turn around and dump it into clothes). It took everything 
they had just to get me into this school. (Why does fashion matter? Well it does 
to some...so I'll just end with that).
 
I had started to withdrawn into my shell, you see Sharon was one of the 
'untouchables' in our school, someone that no guy or girl could approach unless 
you were given some non-verbal, un-written approval. 'Like some stupid secret 
society' I smiled to myself in mock humor, 'I suppose all schools have these 
niches by which social dynamics make or break teenagers'. And yet, in only a few 
short minutes the two of us had been thrust together, in a very personal 
situation. Glancing over to the brunette, I let some of my defenses down as I 
once again considered Sharon; 'She doesn't seem so bad, not nasty or bitchy at 
all and she is very beautiful' I admitted. I admit, on a superficial level, 
there was a thrill out of being included in Sharon's exclusive niche of people, 
'Shit, cut that out' I quickly scolded myself, 'All you've done is chat with 
the girl for a few seconds this afternoon, that doesn't mean anything in the 
overall scheme of things'.
 
Stopping at her car Sharon looked over; "Thank you, you really didn't have to 
do any of that...back there." Sharon could only bring herself to roll her eyes 
back towards the gym.
 
I snapped out of my daze and squared my shoulders to face this girl, that 
feeling of formality was back again as if nothing extraordinary had happened. 
"Oh, its okay, I wanted to. You really should be careful you know, allot of 
these girls have real vendettas to carry out." I averted her eyes, I didn't want 
any problems and Sharon had a reputation for being such a gossip monger.
 
"I don't understand why they would do that!?" Sharon whined and started to get 
emotional as she leaned against her car door. "What did I ever do to them?" 

I had to roll my eyes a bit at how Sharon was being so dramatic; 'She can't be 
that blind?' I wondered. In any case, I reached over and gently rubbed Sharon's 
neck until the girl seemed the calm down, 'Gheesh, that seems a bit forward just 
to reach over and touch her like that, although she seems okay with it'.
"Sharon look, the best way I know to describe it....well...it's what you 
represent to them. To allot of these girls you're beautiful, rich and have 
everything...AND...you do tend to flaunt it." I smiled slightly, thinking that 
summed it up pretty well.
 
"What? Do YOU think I'm really like that!" Sharon leaned back and shot me a 
hurtful look. I quickly retracted my arm and glanced away for a second at such a 
direct question, 'Oops, maybe the wrong choice of words, as usual.' Taking a 
deep breath I decided to just be honest and looked straight into Sharon's 
glistening eyes.
 
"All I know is just what I see." I looked away again and shrugged my shoulders 
innocently, I didn't know what else to say and avoided looking Sharon in the 
eyes for a few seconds, I detected my mouth was doing that quirky tightening 
thing when I get nervous, where I kind of pucker my lips off to one side. I 
can't help it, my body has to have some form of anxiety release, if I relax my 
facial muscles the stress will just transfer into my bouncing one of my legs or 
my hands begin to fidget uncontrollably. Sharon was studying me again as I 
nervously clutched my gym bag, my anxiety level was really bad now.
 
"Well..." Sharon said with a sly knowing smile, "...I guess, just maybe I am a 
little like that." Her head lowered again as if contemplating everything that 
lead up to what happened.
 
"A little?" I gave her a questioning look.
 
"Okay, maybe allot." Sharon smirked with what was the first lighthearted 
exchange we had ever had. Suddenly I watched her head come back up with a look 
of concern - "Do you realize the hassles your in for, you know, once those two 
bitches spread around the school that you claimed to be my friend!" Sharon 
almost had a smile on her face as she dug in her purse for her keys.
 
"All I did is help you out" I tried to down play the whole episode, a little 
weary of Sharon's sincerity with the use of the word 'friendship'.
 
"Yeah...I guess that's all it was." Sharon hesitated and I could tell she was 
disappointed, I actually caught that look of hers at the last possible second as 
she lifted her purse and rooted around for her keys. 

I stood there for a long moment and then peered up very cautiously,
"I don't know Sharon, do you want to be friends...with me?" I swallowed hard 
and watched Sharon pause at the question, finally she looked back up at me, like 
that was exactly what she wanted me to say. And now she was beaming her big 
smile, "You're adorable" Sharon gushed, making fun of my shyness and the fact 
I could now barely look her in the eyes. 'Gheesh I feel like some awkward 
little kid, not some Senior in High School' as I stood there kicking the loose 
gravel with my shoes. Not saying another word, Sharon rifled thru her purse some 
more and pulled out a pen and scrap piece of paper to scribble down some 
information.
 
"Here!" Sharon urgently said, pressing the crumpled up piece of paper into my 
hand, "Call me tonight!"

I opened my fingers and took the paper as I slowly pushed off from her car, just 
a little stunned at what was happening. Nervously I turned away, but froze 
suddenly only to then spin around; "I feel so stupid, I never even 
properly introduced myself, I'm Corbin." my face blushed red...yet again...as I 
leaned in with my right hand to shake hers.
 
"Yeah, let's get all the proper introduction stuff out of the way." Sharon 
laughed and we shook hands, "I'm Sharon."
 
I stepped back, "Well, I've seen you around school and of course I know you 
from the cheering team, that's a really hard squad to get on." I made small talk 
and again kicked at some of the loose rocks on the pavement some more.
 
"Oh god tell me about it, what a mess it is too. But you know, we really work 
hard at it, have you ever tried out for the team, you seem really athletic! How 
come I don't see you around more?" Sharon suddenly caught herself, she was 
doing it again, dominating the conversation as she always did and I just looked 
like a deer in headlights. "Sorry" Sharon smiled awkwardly, "I tend to talk 
allot."
 
I just smiled at the way Sharon could make fun of herself, "What question do 
you want me to answer first?"
 
Sharon rolled her eyes and giggled, "Oh, uhm...well...I don't recall you ever 
trying for the team?"
 
"No biggie, just not interested I guess." I shrugged, I had never really 
thought about it before. "But look, I'll give you a call, I have to run home 
or my parents are going to freak out" I started walking backwards.
 
"Okay...yeah...please do...and thanks again." Sharon pulled on the handle to her 
car door and just stood watching me walk away, waiving spastically.
 
"God I hope I'm not making a big mistake" I mumbled to myself. 


  
My_High_School_Years_2