Dealing with more #wattys2019

1. Sledding or Suicide?

^Alex Dorame as Angelina Lee

What is it like being 17?

Hmm... Without using a mouthful of colorful vocabulary, this English assignment seemed like a lot of magic out the ass. Where I would just glop a whole bunch of shit onto a piece of lined paper hoping that a masterpiece would somehow wow my English teacher. Boy was that was wishful thinking! Getting an A in English was like someone walking on water. Not impossible for a select few but impossible in other people's eyes. Where was I? I was swimming in the water because that's damn impossible for me.

"I expect you to have this finished and typed up by the next time you enter the doors of my class." His eyes scanned over the top of his bifocals as he gave the bad news that I expected from the old man.  Great. Now we had to find time to get on a computer to throw our hands around on the keyboard and hope our social life doesn't shut down halfway through winter break.

Sighing, I turned my head toward Brett who whispered, "Well, I already knew I was gonna fail English. "

"You know, it's not that hard to do the work." I retorted.

Brett and I had been friends since preschool when he offered me a piece of his breakfast bar after he had spilled all of his Kapri Sun on me. Since then, we had been through a bunch of stained shirts due to Kapri Suns, Paint from paintball, pumpkin guts, and a load of pranks. If my math were correct, we had been best friends for a total of 13 years. Even though he was one of the smartest people I knew he ,unfortunately, lacked the time and effort put into homework.

"You can go ahead and get a head start on it for the remainder of the class." Mr. Sanders said with a wave of his hand; that was the signal for everyone to pack up. My new muscles that had developed since I had started high school, reluctantly lifted my bag from the ground onto my desk where I deposited my much-unwanted homework.

"So? Do you need a ride tonight?" Brett questioned.

"A ride to anywhere but home."

"Mom troubles?" He asked knowingly. "I told you to just say yes to everything she says because the next day she'll have forgotten what the hell she had just been saying the night before." Yes, it was true but it was hard to deal with the fact that everyone had their perfect family and then their was mine. A Lunatic father who would appear for maybe 2 or three days a year asking for money leaving my mom working in the daytime as a cop and at night as a full-on drunk.

"More like life problems."

"Hey, Cheer up! It's winter break and you have my key. All you have to do is ask." Brett said slinging his bag over his shoulder.

Mimicking his movements, I replied, "Can I stay for like... Forever?"

" Ever is a long time." He smiled at me before walking with me toward the door.

"Any jokes today?" I asked. For as long as I could remember, every Friday it was a tradition for him to make a funny joke. They had transformed since highschool to huge complicated, dirty, or corny jokes. Nonetheless, they were the jokes that I looked forward to.

"Oh, Yesss."

"Better be better than last weeks."  Kristen butted in" Kristen was that guy who had connections meaning he hung with the unpopular, the popular, and the outsiders. Where did I stand in the social triangle? Well, I stood right in the center where it was like a mosh pit. Being thrown right in the center was where all the fun was.

"So are you going to keep me in suspense or..." Kristen started.

"Okay... So why was the guitar teacher fired?" After a second of pause, the dirtiest response slipped from his lips. " For fingering a minor."