Blue Face Disgusting taste Flush it Shush it Cold disgrace

It's disturbing how fast weeds take root in my garden of worthiness. They're so hard to pull. And grow back so easily.

Julie always tried to stand beside me, or talk to me, or in some other way mortify me.

As much as thinking this upsets me, I'm starting to see that I need the merry-go-round much more than it needs me, and in the end my choice is to hop back on or get left in the dust.

Okay that’s it. Now I’m torching this. I just need to score a match.

I fell asleep that night thinking about the kiss that might have been. What did a kiss feel like, anyway? Somehow I knew it wouldn’t be like the one I got from Mom or Dad at bedtime. The same species, maybe, but a radically different beast, to be sure. Like a wolf and a whippet – only science would put them on the same tree.

The room fell quiet. And as I read down the list of over one hundred and fifty eight-grade boys, I realized that to me, there had only ever been one boy.