The Away Story

September 15, 2011

The next day was a Friday. Most of the students were either bummed about not going to the dance that night or they were excited because they would be going. No one knew what to expect. Would they have it in the gym? The lobby? Would the whole school be a part of this dance? Ravin couldn’t decide if she was happy about going to the dance. These last few weeks had worn down her façade. Not talking to anyone except your family will do that. Yet, she had people who tried. They must’ve see the circles under her eyes and the almost-agony expression in her expression. They knew that she was smart. The people who sat next to her in class usually got a quick peek at her grades when papers were passed out. If they weren’t A’s, they were high B’s. But no one could understand why she wanted to be alone. Two people decided to break her muteness. Cristal was in Ravin’s Algebra class and had talked to her the first day of school. While the children waited for the dance to start, they had to wait in the gym. She took that opportunity to sit next to Ravin and began a conversation with her. In five minutes, she got Ravin to talk, put her number in Ravin’s phone and made Ravin promise to dance at some point. Cristal felt accomplished and had a great time dancing the rest of the night. The second person was a boy named Jacob who was in Ravin’s gym, Spanish, Biotechnology and band class. He had talked to her for the first time a few days back when he was having an off day and was complaining about nobody knowing his name, not that he wasn’t used to that feeling. He knew it would be hard to make friends because of his slight lisp and his walk. But she heard him complaining and responded quietly.

            “Your name is Jacob, right?” He was astonished. No one from his old school knew his name. There were people in this school who he had known since elementary school and didn’t know his name. Because of that one line, he decided to befriend the girl. He tried to sit close enough to see her at lunch, but far enough so that she didn’t notice him. The dance gave him the opportunity to talk to her. She tried to cling to anyone she knew. While some songs made her sway with the beat slightly, most of the pop songs made her visibly disgusted. So he walked up to her.

            “Hi Ravin.” She looked startled.

            “Oh! Hi Jacob.” They went into the adjoining cafeteria where they could hear themselves better. She bought herself a soda and he sat down next to her while she sipped at it. He made the best conversation he could, usually choosing video games as the topic. But he could tell she had a very basic video game knowledge. So he switched to music, this made her eyes sparkle and a slight smile flitted across her face. She had a varied music taste, but her absolute favorites were My Chemical Romance and Muse. At that point, Train by Ozzy Osbourne had started playing and she practically flew out of the room. This was one song that he liked that she liked as well. While all she did was bob her head with the beat, you could tell that she was lost in the music. They would not talk again that night, but he would catch her eye when she nearly tripped herself to dance to the Cupid Shuffle, YMCA and Cha Cha Slide. It was that weekend that Jacob decided Ravin was going to be his friend, whether she wanted one or not.

            That week, Jacob sat with Ravin at lunch every day. He didn’t talk to her. She was going back into her shell. But he wasn’t going to have that after the smile at the dance. He wanted to see it again.

9/15/11

OK. I kinda broke my promise about making friends. Don’t look at me like that! I think I have a sign on my head that says “ANNOY ME”. Remember that dance I mentioned? Well I went and I talked to two people who are kind of acquaintances. Cristal and Jacob. Cristal is in my Algebra 1 class. She pretty much came up to me, talked a mile a minute and put her number in my phone. Jacob is an outcast because of his looks and his strange limp/walk. He is chubby and just not handsome like Gerard (Way. My future husband!)He told me that he is blind in his left eyes. He also told me that he rides a short bus. It’s not fair! Now I can’t use my “I’m the smartest kid on the short bus” line or it will make him upset. Anyway, I pretty much danced and talked to them for 2 hours. There is better music, but the principal, Dr. Kiel, tried way too hard to get involved. She tried to get people to dance by jumping on stage and showing some dance moves. Not a pretty sight. Oh well. She probably got a Ph D in education. Tired and bored.

Ravin B.