Me Being Me Is Exactly as Insane as You Being You by Todd Hasak-Lowy Page A

at least for a long time, maybe even forever, unless he somehow has kids of his own someday. Still sits on his dresser back home.

10 Things Darren Does with a Particular Book After Putting Away the Legos Bin and Changing into His Outfit for the Concert but Before Showing Up at School
    1.  GRABS IT
    After leaving a note for his dad, Darren was planning to just walk right out the door, only something stops him near the shelf by the stereo. He scans the titles quickly and for some reason grabs When Things Fall Apart: Heart Advice for Difficult Times.
    2.  STICKS IT IN HIS BACKPACK
    He buries it pretty deep inside, below some papers and folders and a sweatshirt that’s been in there for about two weeks now. Then he’s out the door and waiting for the bus again.
    He gets on the bus and thinks about looking at the book but doesn’t. Though he does sort of realize that it might mean something that the book is even in his backpack at all.
    He gets off one stop before school and walks half a block to Super Burrito. Orders a vegetarian burrito and a Sprite. Sits down at a table near the back. Looks around to make sure no one is watching and
    3. TAKES IT OUT
    and
    4.  STARES AT THE FRONT COVER
    Which is just of a bunch of perfectly straight rows of slender trees with bright yellow leaves that have started to fall, so the ground is bright yellow too. It’s beautiful in a sort of impossible way.
    5.  STARES AT THE BACK COVER
    In particular, the picture of the author, who is a middle-aged woman but who looks more like an old boy, and whose expression is kind of friendly and sad and neutral all at the same time, and whose name is somehow Pema Chödrön, even though she’s American.
    6.  HIDES IT UNDER HIS BACKPACK
    When they call out that his burrito is ready. But then, when he gets back to his table, he
    7.  TAKES IT BACK OUT
    and
    8.  STARTS LEAFING THROUGH IT
    Darren is pretty determined not to actually read it. He’s just holding the edge of it with his right thumb (his left hand is busy with the burrito) and flipping through the pages. Maybe he’s hoping for a useful summary of his dad or his own situation or the whole entire world to appear to him highlighted in very simple language on page seventy-four or something.
    But despite his mostly purposeless flipping, he can’t help but read various phrases. Stuff like “we automatically hate them” and “to live fully” and “willing to die” and “save the world” and “a very vulnerable and tender place” and “as human beings” and even one entire sentence: “The student warrior stood on one side and fear stood on the other.”
    Darren chews and swallows and lets his eyes pass over fragments of whatever it is this Pema woman has to say. He’s not sure he really learns anything in particular by reading it this way, but this one thought comes to him very clearly when he finally
    9.  STOPS LEAFING THROUGH IT
    Which is that he’s fifteen and sitting all by himself in Super Burrito, having a burrito. With this book. This book that belongs to his gay dad. Which feels like a meaningful thought to him.
    10.  RETURNS IT TO HIS BACKPACK
    And throws out his can and the last third of his burrito, because his appetite isn’t all that great right now, and walks the rest of the way to school.

2 Lies in the Note Darren Left for His Dad
    1.  Mr. Keyes told them they had to come in a half hour early to rehearse a couple of songs some more.
    2.  Edie Ross is going to pick him up and take him back to school.

12 Members of the North High Jazz Ensemble
    1.  Daniel Waxman, drums
    2.  Edie Ross, piano
    3.  Darren Jacobs, bass
    4.  Chris McMaster, trombone
    5.  Timothy Marx, trombone
    6.  Maggie Block, trumpet
    7.  Kurt Phillips, trumpet
    8.  Asher Lipshitz, alto sax
    9.  Kelly Meyer, alto sax
    10.  Noam Levitsky, tenor sax
    11.  Ariel Berger,