and there was the little red singe mark, and I waved it in the cold air and swore a couple more of times.
And then I was really embarrassed, I guess, because I made myself look like a total goof in front of all the older cool kids, so I just kept walking along the street, replaying the whole thing in my head, over and over and over, and then I suddenly realized that I must have dropped my lunch bag somewhere, because it wasn’t in my hand anymore, and there was no way I was goingto go back to the front of the school and search around for it like an idiot. So I looked around and realized I was just a couple of blocks from the Donut Hole, and I figured I could at least just sit in there for a while and get warm and get unembarrassed, and that maybe, just maybe, the nice girl behind the counter would let me sit there without paying for anything.
Lithium
When I stepped inside the Donut Hole, I was surprised because Byron was there, too. He wasn’t playing Ms. Pac-Man. He was sitting on one of those swivel stools at the front, leaning across the counter. And as soon as I took a step toward Byron, the cute counter girl with pink lipstick and the hoop earrings suddenly stood up from behind the counter, with a box of napkins or something, and she was listening to Byron tell a story.
And neither of them noticed me, like I didn’t exist, so I just watched them, and suddenly she was blushing, and she said something like, “Be quiet, you goofball!” and I couldn’t hear what Byron was saying, because he was whispering, but I could tell that he was whispering a mile a minute again, and the girl finally looked over and saw me, and she blushed even more, and said, “Can I help you?” like she didn’t remember me, and then Byron turned around, almost kind of like he wanted to kill me or something, but then he saw who I was and said, “Why aren’t you in school?” in a blaming kind of way, and I stammered, “Because … because it’s lunch,” and he turned away and he said, “Right, right … Time flies when you’re having a fling.”
The girl just ignored him and smiled nicely at me. “It’s Mr. Twenty-One Cents, right?” and I just shrugged because I wasn’t so into that name, and Byron turned back around and stared at me for a second, like he was trying to make me disappear, and I suddenly felt like disappearing, but then his face changed, and he raised his finger and turned to her and said, “Now that I think of it, kid … It’s good that you’re here because Karen was having trouble handling my super-studly aura and my general brilliance … and my ingenious insights,” and he kept on looking at her and she kept on ignoring him.
“So,” he said, turning back to me, “how about we have another Ms. Pac-Man lesson? You can learn a lot from a guy like me, you know. More than from regular school, anyway. Yeah,” he almost shouted, “the School of Byron is where it’s at.” And the girl finally glared at him and her face went red. “That’s not true, Byron, and quiet down,” and then she smiled at me like she was sorry.
“He’s always making things up,” she said. “Don’t listen to him,” and then she pointed at Byron like she meant it. “Not everyone can afford to skip school and then hang out at a doughnut shop every single day for hours and hours. And any-ways, I loved school and well … that’s exactly why you are wasting your breath on me.”
But Byron was already walking toward the tabletop Ms. Pac-Man and he waved me over. “Come on, kid. Byron’s School of Higher Learning is starting over here,” and I didn’t want to argue because I didn’t have any money for a doughnut and I wanted to stay for a bit to get my head straight, and even though Byron was kind of arrogant or something, he just sort of madeyou want to be with him. And so I shrugged at the girl and followed Byron to the tabletop, and I took off my jacket and said, “I don’t have a quarter,” and he said, “It’s
And then I was really embarrassed, I guess, because I made myself look like a total goof in front of all the older cool kids, so I just kept walking along the street, replaying the whole thing in my head, over and over and over, and then I suddenly realized that I must have dropped my lunch bag somewhere, because it wasn’t in my hand anymore, and there was no way I was goingto go back to the front of the school and search around for it like an idiot. So I looked around and realized I was just a couple of blocks from the Donut Hole, and I figured I could at least just sit in there for a while and get warm and get unembarrassed, and that maybe, just maybe, the nice girl behind the counter would let me sit there without paying for anything.
Lithium
When I stepped inside the Donut Hole, I was surprised because Byron was there, too. He wasn’t playing Ms. Pac-Man. He was sitting on one of those swivel stools at the front, leaning across the counter. And as soon as I took a step toward Byron, the cute counter girl with pink lipstick and the hoop earrings suddenly stood up from behind the counter, with a box of napkins or something, and she was listening to Byron tell a story.
And neither of them noticed me, like I didn’t exist, so I just watched them, and suddenly she was blushing, and she said something like, “Be quiet, you goofball!” and I couldn’t hear what Byron was saying, because he was whispering, but I could tell that he was whispering a mile a minute again, and the girl finally looked over and saw me, and she blushed even more, and said, “Can I help you?” like she didn’t remember me, and then Byron turned around, almost kind of like he wanted to kill me or something, but then he saw who I was and said, “Why aren’t you in school?” in a blaming kind of way, and I stammered, “Because … because it’s lunch,” and he turned away and he said, “Right, right … Time flies when you’re having a fling.”
The girl just ignored him and smiled nicely at me. “It’s Mr. Twenty-One Cents, right?” and I just shrugged because I wasn’t so into that name, and Byron turned back around and stared at me for a second, like he was trying to make me disappear, and I suddenly felt like disappearing, but then his face changed, and he raised his finger and turned to her and said, “Now that I think of it, kid … It’s good that you’re here because Karen was having trouble handling my super-studly aura and my general brilliance … and my ingenious insights,” and he kept on looking at her and she kept on ignoring him.
“So,” he said, turning back to me, “how about we have another Ms. Pac-Man lesson? You can learn a lot from a guy like me, you know. More than from regular school, anyway. Yeah,” he almost shouted, “the School of Byron is where it’s at.” And the girl finally glared at him and her face went red. “That’s not true, Byron, and quiet down,” and then she smiled at me like she was sorry.
“He’s always making things up,” she said. “Don’t listen to him,” and then she pointed at Byron like she meant it. “Not everyone can afford to skip school and then hang out at a doughnut shop every single day for hours and hours. And any-ways, I loved school and well … that’s exactly why you are wasting your breath on me.”
But Byron was already walking toward the tabletop Ms. Pac-Man and he waved me over. “Come on, kid. Byron’s School of Higher Learning is starting over here,” and I didn’t want to argue because I didn’t have any money for a doughnut and I wanted to stay for a bit to get my head straight, and even though Byron was kind of arrogant or something, he just sort of madeyou want to be with him. And so I shrugged at the girl and followed Byron to the tabletop, and I took off my jacket and said, “I don’t have a quarter,” and he said, “It’s
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