A Chapter of my Memoir

Chemistry 

            Days went by and I always looked to the front of the science room to see if Ben was sitting there, but he never was. I felt like a part of me was lost and I needed to find it before I went crazy. I missed him, even though we were only friends – though I hoped someday to be more. I missed the careless attitude he always had and the twinkle in his eye that made it seam like he was getting into trouble. I wanted so badly to see him. But patience was all I had to keep control of myself; I knew he had to come back sometime.

            Ten school days later, he was there. Sitting right up front of our dingy science room, he reclined in the metal chair with crutches on the floor to his right and a gray cast on his left leg. He was talking to our teacher, Mrs. Wiltse, about making up all of his missed work.

            “You really missed a lot,” she told him.” I’m not sure you can make up everything and you’re going to be very behind so you won’t know what’s going on most of the time.”

            “Yea, I know, but I’ve gotta try. I just want to pass this class; I don’t need an A or anything. Could we work that out?” As he bargained with our teacher, people continued to file in. Soon Ben wasn’t asking questions any more, now he was the main event and people bombarded him with all the inquiries.

            “Does it hurt?”

            “Can you walk on it?”

            “How long were you at the hospital?”

            “Did they give you Vicodin? Can I have some?”

            “How was the food?”

            This continued until Mrs. Wiltse made everyone sit down so we could get the lesson going. We had to do a lab that day and no one wanted to stay after, so grudgingly, we all moved to our seats.

            Once released to begin the lab, I made my move. Ben was trapped, talking to all of our classmates, still at the front of the room. I quickly walked over and interrupted by asking if he wanted to be partners. He looked relieved and agreed. I flitted around him, grabbing materials and chemicals, while he crutched his way to our work bench at the back of the room.

            “So your finally back,” I said to him, not a question or a comment, but somewhere in between.

            “Well yea, I’m here aren’t I?” he replied.

            He sounded grumpy, as if he needed sleep and was sick of talking, or maybe just sick. I tried to be more gentle.

            “Well it’s nice to see you. I felt like you were gone forever.”

            “Why didn’t you come visit me?” he asked me, a wrinkle of concern darkened his brow.

            To this, I didn’t know what to say. Had he expected to see me? Was I supposed to have gone to see him? I didn’t know our friendship was that strong.

            “Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t know which hospital you were in,” I lied. “Plus I’m sure you had tons of people in there. You wouldn’t have wanted me there anyways.”

            He became quiet. I bit my lip; maybe I had said the wrong thing. That must not have been what he wanted to hear.

            “You could have at least called.” He said as he stared right at me. His eyes locked with mine and I felt a flutter in my stomach. He had wanted me to come see him and I had let him down. I could have kicked myself for not calling him. Bashfully, I told him I was sorry again and we began to do the lab.

More Work Towards My Memoir

Writing Prompt:

State the Situation: Geometry class, sophomore year

Adults: Mrs. Acker, the teacher, desperately trying to teach a class of fifteen and sixteen year-olds how to measure triangles and rhombuses. Passing out tickets for those of us who completed our homework.

Describing the setting: New, classroom, cold desks, cold room, buzzing with teen spirit, in the new basement, bright sun outside, spring

Who is there: Me, working on classwork but desperately needing help. Ben, sleeping through class till I ask him for help. Mike, the class flirt, boys hate him, girls love him, the smart kid. Merrin, the other women, always a diligent worker.

A close up of myself: I am Fifteen, trying to attract as much attention as possible. Usually had boyfriends. lots of friends.

Sate a law, rule, or expectation: Ben slept through class and had no interest in me, math or anyone in that class. (or so i thought)

What happened:

Day after day, we came to class with our homework mostly done. Mrs. Acker would put the answers up on the overhead project and we would all right down the ones we had skipped from the night before. My main focus was always talking to people, I was a social butterfly. I cant remember who I sat by so it must not have been a boy; you know how it is to be sixteen.

Many of my friends were in that class. In front of me sat Mike, a tall dark boy who hung with the girls. We liked him because he was hot, he liked us because we would flirt with him. Secretly we all wondered if her was gay, but only the boys said that out loud. At the table to my left was a blond boy. I had seen him around our small high school but we had never spoken before. He was tall and thin with bright blue eyes that we rarely saw because he was always passed out on his desk. I became jealous of him. How could he sit there and doze off while I worked hard to get good grades? It wasnt fair. 

During work time we sat in groups where gossip always trumped geometry. How we got anything done is beyond me...

Writing Prompt(s)

Moments Interrogation: pick three

Ben

Where did this take place? High school, sophomore year

Who was there? Wiltse's intro class, Kelsey, Merrin (Ben's original set up) All the other couples (beth and mike, kelsey and mike)

What are the significant objects? Ben's broken leg, rube gold-burg project, desks in the back of the room

What colors are present? Black Science Table Tops, Gray Cast, Green Grass

What textures are present? Velcro on the boot, smooth table tops,

What smells and tastes? Stiff/stale air (from lack of use) in math classroom, Science room: smell of chemicals, Bunsen burners.

What metaphors cant I make? When Ben came back: someone (god?) flipped a switch and i was in love.

What is the light or darkness? thank goodness Merrin said no to Ben and vise versa. he broke his leg=bad, but in turn, it brought us together.

Choose two characters to describe: Ben and Myself

Names of characters: Ben and Rachael

assign them an object: Ben = broken leg (crutches, titanium rod in his leg, cast/boot, screws, ibuprofen with codeine)

Rachael = Brains (helped Ben to catch up, recover, fall in love)

List physical ticks, defects, flaws: Ben = broken leg, always tired (from meds), saying things he cant remember now (marriage) 

Rachael = Falling easily for him, not a "go getter"

Write some lines of non-generic dialogue:

"why are you all dressed up?" he asked me, but he slurred the words a bit because of his heavy medications.

I had a soccer game that day and it was a team tradition to get gussied up for home games. While I explained this to him, he began to play with the ring on my right hand. After spinning it around my chubby finger a couple of times, he pulled it off and looked up at me. With his head resting on his arms, crossed on the black table top, he said "You should wear it on this finger." He then slid the tiny silver ring onto my left hand, surprising me by choosing the ring finger. "Rachael, we should get married," he suggested. I laughed out of nervousness - he had to be joking right? - but then said "Sure Ben, that sounds nice."

 

This is a writing exercise prompting by English teacher. Maybe some time you guys will see the completed work...

Fake Psychic, Real Detectives

Have you ever had a TV show that you started watching, sometimes by accident, and then couldn't change the channel? You become so interested that it suddenly takes over your life. Well I have: Psych. A witty show about two friends that repeatedly pull of the facade of being psychic in the detective world. Though they posses no super powers, the team of Shawn and Gus constantly solve crimes that others simply cannot. Somewhere between Shawn's sassy come backs and Gus's "super smell-er", I became hooked on this show. I love watching the lives of the detectives be flipped up-side-down by the protagonists.

So over Christmas break, a friend of mine let me borrow the first three seasons of Psych. As my family and I sat down to watch the show together, we were instantly hooked. In three weeks, we watched 48 episodes. Ridiculous right? We thought so too. But the show was so good that we didn't care. Needless to say, I am counting down the days until Psych Season 5 becomes available on Netflix so I can indulge again.

Laryngitis/Bronchitis

This past weekend, I went on my first ski trip with the Western Alpine Ski and Snowboard team. We left at three on Friday night and four hours later, we arrived in Gaylord, MI. Our destination was Otsego Ski Resort, a private ski place up north. After a long weekend of snowboarding, falling on my butt, and hanging out with the coolest people ever, I realized that my voice was sounding a bit hoarse. I immediately panicked because I am a singer. This coming weekend, I have to sing a requiem with the University Choirs and the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra; losing my voice was not an option. I then grabbed my water bottle and began chugging it to try and kickstart my vocal cords. It only helped a little. Over the next couple days, my voice got worse but I never quit talking and drinking water. Finally today, Thursday, I have 90% of my voice back and I will be able to sing on saturday. I can stop freaking out and focus on a good performance for Saturday.