Before the bell rang to begin first period of my junior year of high school, I had to make it all the way from parking lot B to building H. It was a long walk. But this was the norm for students at my high school. It was the largest high school in the entire state with over one thousand students per grade and a campus that resembled more of a college than a high school.
The thing is, though, I could have parked closer to my first class, but I never did. Why? Because Joey always parked in parking lot B. For the first time since junior high, Joey and I were at the same school again. We’d been in the same district all these years, but the district was so large that the schools don’t merge into one until eleventh grade.
When you attend a high school as large as ours, it’s rare to have many classes with your friends, let alone people you recognize. So we made the best of it and always tried to park next to each other in parking lot B. That way, we at least had the chance to see each other a couple of times during the day.
Thankfully, we did end up having a couple classes together over the years. One class was Honors English Literature. Our teacher that year was a kind woman who taught us more than lit. Mrs. Scott genuinely took an interest in our lives an she made class enjoyable. I remember she made us memorize and recite the entire “To be or not to be” speech from Hamlet. I think she was also the teacher who had us diagram the Jabberwocky which was pretty much nearly almost impossible with all those nonsense words. Joey went on to memorize that one as well. I think he can still quote it to this day.
Mrs. Scott was a believer and often spoke of her church and asked about our faith. I realize now what a brave move that was in a public school. She wasn’t perfect. None of us are, of course. One day she got frustrated and said “Oh crap a duck!” We rolled. It was pretty much the funniest slip-up we had ever heard from a teacher. Joey and I still jokingly say it when we get frustrated and want to make the other one laugh.
We didn’t have the same lunch hour. We weren’t involved in the same after school activities. We didn’t often run into each other between classes. But we had that lit class and parking lot B. Even when we left at different times after school, we’d leave notes on each other’s cars. This is one I saved:
Well, here’s another note. I hope you found this one. I guess this won’t be as funny as the one yesterday, but I’ll try. My car was feeling guilty since he had someone to drive him and your car was just sitting there all by herself and feeling lonely. So he decided to write her a note. I already gave it to her an she already read it and hid it so that nobody else would. (She blushed a little bit.) Anyway, the note was short and he only let me read a little of it but he closed by telling her that he really liked her and that he hoped to see her tomorrow. As do I.
Love,
Joey
P.S. You left your keys in the ignition!
(I was notorious for leaving my keys in the ignition.)
