Theme Week NIne

Lockers lined up like gray soldiers ran the length of the hall. Posters announcing a Friday afternoon pep rally, mixed on the wall with tattered remains of homeroom assignments. Students mingled in the hall early to arrive, school was yet to start for 45 minutes.

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She stood looking in the mirror, wishing she was a little taller, a little blonder, a little more anything to fit on the popular crowd. She was smart, but smart didn’t get you dates, pretty did. She was dreading leaving this bathroom for that meant she had to then leave the house and go to legal jail for the next seven or so hours.

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He nervously handed over the $2000.00; he had worked all summer for it. Lawns had been mowed on sweltering days; gardens had been weeded in humidity hot enough to kill; but he had the money to buy that truck he had been wishing for all summer. It was old and beat up, but he could picture it shiny red with chrome wheels pulling in the parking lot.

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The teacher called the class to order, noting the students were already in their little cliques, even though school had only been in session for two weeks. It was going to be a long year; this class was heavily weighted with jocks and cheerleaders. There were a couple of bright spots though; the short brunette in the back had already submitted two outstanding assignments.

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The football game started at 7:00 pm under the lights. The home team won handily and there was much celebrating going on. All he could think about was getting home to his garage to work on his new project. The victory parties held no interest for him, he had a long weekend of work ahead of him. As he drove home, he noted a light on in the upstairs window of a house a couple of streets over from his. “Wasn’t that where the new girl in his English class lived?” he wondered. He pondered on how to get her phone number.