Something Peculiar

4

Following the eventful lunch on Wednesday with Lalisa, she avoided me the rest of the day. And by avoided me, I mean "treated me pretty much like she usually did." I could feel her staring at me, but only when I wasn't looking, and there wasn't much I could do about that. Besides, I wasn't in a hurry to talk to her again. I was trying to avoid feeling the way that she made me feel.

Unfortunately, I should've known that Kai expected us to sit with Lalisa at lunch the next day, and I was starting to think that might be his plan for the rest of the year as well. Somehow, Lalisa managed to eat with us without me having the urge to punch her or... or... I don't know. Do something else to her. Kai hijacked the conversation, so we didn't have any leeway to talk about things that I might find upsetting. Instead we talked about why people didn't carry boom boxes on their shoulders anymore.

"Even in the 80's, they had Walkman's and stuff," Kai pointed out.

"So they weren't carrying boom boxes just to hear music. If they wanted to do that they could've carried a small, portable Walkman. No, the boom box meant that they wanted everyone else to hear their music too. Why did that stop?"

"When you consider how cumbersome a boom box was to carry around it makes even less sense," Lalisa agreed thoughtfully. "And they took like 37 D batteries. Wasn't that the subplot of a Spike Lee movie? Somebody spent the whole film trying to get batteries for his boom box," She had half of a turkey sandwich in her hand, but I had yet to see her take a bite of it. she had just been gesturing around with it since we sat down at the table.

"Yeah, yeah. Radio Raheem in Do The Right Thing," I answer swatting it away. "I hate that movie. But your right. They were huge and expensive with the batteries. With iPods now, don't they have like smaller, light weight iPod boom boxes?"

"Yeah, but I think they all double as a charging base so you have to plug them in," Kai shook his head. "But I mean, if there was a demand for it, I'm sure they would come up with some kind of thing like that."

"Maybe the iPod killed everything." Lalisa shook her head and leaned back her seat, as if the idea depressed her. "Since it's been around, nobody's had the urge to harass their peers with their music anymore."

"I should get a boom box," Kai added thoughtfully.

"You should," Lalisa agreed, then tossed her uneaten sandwich onto her plate. "Anyway, I should get out of her. I gotta check on something before class." She nodded at both of us and stood up. "I'll see you guys later."

After she left, Kai smiled appreciatively at me. For lunch, I had settled on a massive pear and I took a bite out of it, waiting for Kai to explain what he was so happy about it. He didn't, so I quickly chewed my bite down and swallowed

:What?" I demanded.

"That wasn't so bad, was it?" Kai was practically beaming. "I mean, you talked to her. And it was good. Right?"

?What is you deal?" I shook my head refusing to admit that I had had a decent time over lunch.

"I'm just trying to prove to you that she's not a creep." Kai feigned too much innocence, making me all the more suspicious. "If you'd just admit, I'll stop."

"Never. She is a creep. Just because she understands the complexities of boom box use in the 21st century does not make her any less creepy." I took another bite of my pear, and Kai shook his head at me. "I'm starting to think you might have a little crush on her."

"Now you're just projecting," Kai chuckled.

"Maybe you are." I countered.

Kai ate the rest of his meatloaf-esque meal, then suggested we leave. I had finished my pear, and the lunchroom smell upset my stomach, so I was happy to oblige. We still had plenty of time to kill before class started, so we meandered slowly in the direction of our lockers.