At the End of Third Period

The school year is over. Yearbook day tomorrow, but, honestly. There are things that I am glad to be over with (AP Calc, physics labs, the icky smell of the cafeteria, etc.). But there are a lot of things that I am going to miss dearly (blocking off the stairs with the rest of the ballroom mafia, the sunrise I've seen walking to the bus the past few weeks, etc.). Because there is never again going to be a year like this one. I am never going to walk up to someone and say "Yo, wassup ma homie g?" quite the same way again.

I have this thought that any memory can be beautiful, depending on how you let yourself remember it and how you tell it others. I've got a memory for you now.

We are all waiting, our stomachs are gnawing on themselves. For me, I was either just frightened out of my mind by calculus or had the varying experience of ballroom. Most days lunch is an escape, but it can also be an obligation. Sometime I leave my class on the top of the world. Sometime I leave cold inside and wondering how the rest of the day will hurt me.

I always walk fast because there is a good bubble of time before the lines get insane. I usually have three options: pizza, (boring) salad, (even more boring and the queue is never a short wait) or the A la Carte line.

This year, after I conquered my fear of the A la Carte line, I had almost the same thing every day. Trix yogurt, nachos, and a red apple.

I eat these things very particularly. Their order in my life is almost as important as brushing my hair each morning.

This is how it works.

Sit down. Place nachos in front of me, but away (we don't want to risk an elbow in that cheese) the apple goes to the left of it. Yogurt goes directly in front of me. Peel foil halfway from the top, insert spoon. There are always two colors. I have to eat one color at a time. Usually the color that is not pink first. It is okay if the colors are mixed for the last two bites. Set yogurt beyond the nachos, scoot them forward.

Nachos. Some days I crave them, some days they almost disgust me. Each chip is carefully selected. One with cheese on it, but not huge globs. There has to be at least of quarter of the chip untouched by cheese. How else am I supposed to hold it between my thumb and my first finger and not make a mess? Sometimes they are too salty. Sometimes the cheese is cold. Then it is really gross. Sometimes I let the guys that I sit with steal chips. Sometimes I guard them enviously. Depends on my mood and level of generosity that day.

Then comes the most interesting part of my lunch-- my sweet red apple. There are actually three parts to every apple. The sticker, the stem, and then the actual apple.

Start with the sticker first. Peel it off and put it on the shoulder of whoever has won you affections that day. It symbolizes your friendship, don't let them EVER remove it.

Then the stem. Twist twist twist while you say the alphabet in your head. Whatever letter you land on is the first letter of your future spouse. Feel free to cheat as much as you desire.

The apple. Red, always. Red so that you can be Snow White and die on the first bite. The contrast of red skin and pale flesh is beautiful. Skin is tasteless, but under the skin is simple sweetness. The stickiness is lovely and the crunch is always perfect. I always take forever to eat my apple (but I am a slow eater as a general rule) and the apple always starts turning brown before I am even close to being done with it. I get teased for it sometimes. But I enjoy the attention that my apple always brings me.

Speaking of apples and attention. Apples are really great for entertaining people. I've already mentioned pulling a Snow White, but the best thing to do with an apple is to attack it viciously.

Step One: Select a victim. Stare at them. Don't blink. When they take notice of you, proceed to

Step Two: Emit a low growl and pounce on your apple. Don't bite in too far, you want your attack to look effortless and spontaneous. And you don't want to have a huge mouthful when you move on to

Step Three: Respond appropriately to your victim's reaction. They are going to be shocked. They may burst into laughter. Or they may stare at you in horror.

Good luck with your apple endeavors.

So, yes. This was my lunch. Over and over, day after day. Sometimes I hated it all. Other days this was exactly what I needed.

I'm going to miss it. The entire thing, overall. It made me happy. Thinking of it makes me happy. I hope that somewhere in there it brought you a moment of joy.

This post is losing my attention quickly so I'll wrap this up. :)

Thank you for reading. Even though none of my posts say very much. I really appreciate it.

Smile and be at peace.