the way of my social life. I avoid her during breaks.
Becca gets her ged and moves back to Oregon.
2004
I graduate high school and move to Oakland.
Becca and I both begin college. We halfheartedly try to convince each other to transfer to schools near our own. We talk on the phone less consistently.
2005
I see Jaime at a baby shower. I say ‘Hi,’ but nothing else. She doesn’t introduce me to her boyfriend.
Joe stays with Nana and Papa for a while. I see him sometimes, and we get along really well. I ask him about his relationship history. I tell him I’ve always thought he was gay.
2006
Joe visits me in Oakland. He makes racist jokes and tells me he wants to fight the black guys who hang out around my apartment building.
I see Erin at Christmas and try to talk to him. He can’t hold a conversation, stares blankly, eats with his fingers, and laughs to himself the whole time. I pretend I don’t know he just got out of the mental hospital and ask him what he’s been up to. He says ‘not much.’ He gives me a really good hug right before I leave.
Becca calls me crying one day. She says she’s sorry for not calling me or answering my calls. She says she has a boyfriend and he is chronically depressed and has dropped out of school. She asks if I can come visit her. I can’t.
I drop significantly on Becca’s Myspace top friends.
2007
I visit Joe in Oregon and stay with him and his girlfriend at their apartment. They have a baby boy. Becca and her boyfriend come down with their baby and stay at Joe’s apartment, too.
I see Jaime one day when I’m in town and we talk about childhood and I notice how different our vocabularies are.
I go to Oregon again, but no one answers the phone when I call.
Wait, Why are You in Denial?
There are two kinds of people in this world, I know I’m making a lot of generalizations. I think the only way to ever say anything real about the world is to make generalizations. But maybe that’s a generalization. I should look up the word. Sometimes I meet someone who doesn’t fit into any of my generalizations and I feel tongue-tied or something. I feel like I’m just standing there. Once I woke up with my mouth open and my cell phone in my hand ready to make a text message. It was scary. There are two types of people. There is the type of person who gets really afraid of the world when they think about their own anatomy, and there is the type of person who gets really afraid of the world when they think about outer space. I forget where I was going with that.
Insecurities in Cuties
It is Halloween and you and him are making candy apples. You say you can’t eat any because you have some fake teeth, and that they might break on sticky candy. You show him the teeth by taking them out and laying them on the kitchen counter. He then shows you that each of his arm hairs is detachable.
If You Were Wondering if You’re a Selfish Asshole
– Can I use that pen really quick?
– I’m using it.
– Sorry. I’ll give it right back. I’m sorry.
– If you were wondering if you’re a selfish asshole, then no, you’re not. If anything, you’re really nice. And not in a manipulative way. That’s not what I’m saying.
– I’m not sure what you’re saying. Here’s the pen.
– I like that drawing. You’re talented. And not in the pretentious way. I believe in you. I believe in Love and Positive Thinking and Global Warming and I believe in you.
– Thank you. I believe in you too.
– Have you ever fought a battle you knew you were going to lose?
– I fought a bakery once because they charged me fifty cents more for a loaf of bread than they usually did. I had been their customer for many years and was pretty disheartened by the price increase. But it turns out that the owner of the bakery had been giving me a discount all those years and had just forgotten to on that particular day.
– Do you still go to that bakery?
– No, but I want
Becca gets her ged and moves back to Oregon.
2004
I graduate high school and move to Oakland.
Becca and I both begin college. We halfheartedly try to convince each other to transfer to schools near our own. We talk on the phone less consistently.
2005
I see Jaime at a baby shower. I say ‘Hi,’ but nothing else. She doesn’t introduce me to her boyfriend.
Joe stays with Nana and Papa for a while. I see him sometimes, and we get along really well. I ask him about his relationship history. I tell him I’ve always thought he was gay.
2006
Joe visits me in Oakland. He makes racist jokes and tells me he wants to fight the black guys who hang out around my apartment building.
I see Erin at Christmas and try to talk to him. He can’t hold a conversation, stares blankly, eats with his fingers, and laughs to himself the whole time. I pretend I don’t know he just got out of the mental hospital and ask him what he’s been up to. He says ‘not much.’ He gives me a really good hug right before I leave.
Becca calls me crying one day. She says she’s sorry for not calling me or answering my calls. She says she has a boyfriend and he is chronically depressed and has dropped out of school. She asks if I can come visit her. I can’t.
I drop significantly on Becca’s Myspace top friends.
2007
I visit Joe in Oregon and stay with him and his girlfriend at their apartment. They have a baby boy. Becca and her boyfriend come down with their baby and stay at Joe’s apartment, too.
I see Jaime one day when I’m in town and we talk about childhood and I notice how different our vocabularies are.
I go to Oregon again, but no one answers the phone when I call.
Wait, Why are You in Denial?
There are two kinds of people in this world, I know I’m making a lot of generalizations. I think the only way to ever say anything real about the world is to make generalizations. But maybe that’s a generalization. I should look up the word. Sometimes I meet someone who doesn’t fit into any of my generalizations and I feel tongue-tied or something. I feel like I’m just standing there. Once I woke up with my mouth open and my cell phone in my hand ready to make a text message. It was scary. There are two types of people. There is the type of person who gets really afraid of the world when they think about their own anatomy, and there is the type of person who gets really afraid of the world when they think about outer space. I forget where I was going with that.
Insecurities in Cuties
It is Halloween and you and him are making candy apples. You say you can’t eat any because you have some fake teeth, and that they might break on sticky candy. You show him the teeth by taking them out and laying them on the kitchen counter. He then shows you that each of his arm hairs is detachable.
If You Were Wondering if You’re a Selfish Asshole
– Can I use that pen really quick?
– I’m using it.
– Sorry. I’ll give it right back. I’m sorry.
– If you were wondering if you’re a selfish asshole, then no, you’re not. If anything, you’re really nice. And not in a manipulative way. That’s not what I’m saying.
– I’m not sure what you’re saying. Here’s the pen.
– I like that drawing. You’re talented. And not in the pretentious way. I believe in you. I believe in Love and Positive Thinking and Global Warming and I believe in you.
– Thank you. I believe in you too.
– Have you ever fought a battle you knew you were going to lose?
– I fought a bakery once because they charged me fifty cents more for a loaf of bread than they usually did. I had been their customer for many years and was pretty disheartened by the price increase. But it turns out that the owner of the bakery had been giving me a discount all those years and had just forgotten to on that particular day.
– Do you still go to that bakery?
– No, but I want
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