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him again. I was trying to avoid feeling the way that he made me feel.
Unfortunately, I should ve known that Patrick expected us to sit with
Finn at lunch the next day, and I was starting to think that might be his plan for
the rest of the year as well. Somehow, Finn managed to eat with us without me
having the urge to punch him or& or& I don t know. Do something else to
him. Patrick hijacked the conversation, so we didn t have any leeway to talk
about things that I might find upsetting. Instead we talked about why people
didn t carry boom boxes on their shoulders anymore.
Even in the 80 s, they had Walkman s and stuff, Patrick pointed out.
So they weren t carrying boom boxes just to hear music. If they wanted to do
that, they could ve carried a small, portable Walkman. No, the boom box meant
that they wanted everyone else to hear their music too. Why did that stop?
When you consider how cumbersome a boom box was to carry
around, it makes even less sense, Finn agreed thoughtfully. And they took like
37 D batteries. Wasn t that the subplot of a Spike Lee movie? Somebody spent
the whole film trying to get batteries for his boom box. He had half of a
turkey sandwich in his hand, but I had yet to see him take a bite of it. He had
just been gesturing around with it since we had sat down at the table.
Yeah, yeah, Radio Raheem in Do The Right Thing, I answer quickly
swatting it away. I hate that movie. But you re right. They were huge and
expensive with the batteries. With iPods now, don t they have like smaller, light
weight iPod boom boxes?
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Yeah, but I think they all double as a charging base so you have to
plug them in, Patrick shook his head. But I mean, if there was a demand for
it, I m sure they would come up with some kind of thing like that.
Maybe the iPod killed everything. Finn shook his head and leaned
back in his seat, as if the idea depressed him. Since it s been around, nobody s
had the urge to harass their peers with their music anymore.
I should get a boom box, Patrick added thoughtfully.
You should, Finn agreed, then tossed his uneaten sandwich onto his
plate. Anyway, I should get out of here. I gotta check on something before
class. He nodded at both of us and stood up. I ll see you guys later.
After he left, Patrick smiled appreciatively at me. For lunch, I had
settled on a massive pear and I took a bite out of it, waiting for Patrick to
explain what he was so happy about it. He didn t, so I quickly chewed my bite
down and swallowed.
What? I demanded.
That wasn t so bad, was it? Patrick was practically beaming. I mean,
you talked to him. And it was good. Right?
What is your deal? I shook my head, refusing to admit that I had had
a decent time over lunch.
I m just trying to prove to you that he s not a creep. Patrick feigned
too much innocence, making me all the more suspicious. If you d just admit,
I ll stop.
Never. He is a creep. Just because he understands the complexities of
boom box use in the 21st century does not make him any less creepy. I took
another bite of my pear, and Patrick shook his head at me. I m starting to
think you might have a little crush on him.
Now you re just projecting, Patrick chuckled.
Maybe you are, I countered.
Patrick ate the rest of his meatloaf-esque meal, then suggested we leave.
I had already finished my pear, and the lunchroom smell upset my stomach, so
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I was happy to oblige. We still had plenty of time to kill before class started, so
we meandered slowly in the direction of our lockers.
Hey, hold up, I paused at the women s restroom, and Patrick halted
next to me. I m gonna run in real quick.
I ll be right here. Patrick leaned on the wall next to the bathroom.
Alright, I smiled and turned to head into the bathroom.
Stupidly, I had been looking at Patrick instead of paying attention to
where I was going. At the same time I went to enter the bathroom, Tegan
started to come out, and we ran into each other. I don t know if she was
running or what, but it wasn t a gentle bump. It was a total smack into each
other. I cracked my skull on hers and stumbled backwards. I saw white for a
minute, and when I regained my footing, Tegan was standing in front of me,
yelling.
Why don t you watch where you re going, you dirty bitch! Tegan
shouted at me. Between the hit and the confusion of actually getting screamed
at, I was too startled to say anything for a second. Are you like half-retarded or
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