Clipped

A Day in the Life

“Ugh. Another day of school.” Brian Jackson rolled out of bed with his usual enthusiasm. With school having fallen into routine a couple of weeks ago, the drive that renewed him every year had worn off. Every day was the same; what was the point? It had become more social than educational by now.

He lumbered into the bathroom and Brian wondered what he could do to mix things up a little. Cut? Nah, he was a good kid. Not perfect, but he tried not to do anything outrageous. When a sub was in he’d bounce, and he’d take advantage of teachers that would let him. But nothing crazy like skipping a day. Ask out Perry?

Ah, Perry Taylor. The name rolls off the tongue oh so nicely. She was DDG (drop dead gorgeous) with blond hair, green eyes, and a shapely figure. Brian had been fiendin’ for her since sophomore year when his best friend pointed her out in the hall. Problem was he couldn’t talk to her. Anyone else, he would be completely chill. Approach, mack and boom! Wrapped around the little finger. His friend Greg razzed him 24/7 cuz he’d blown it twice. Once she came up to him, introduced herself and asked for a piece of gum. All he managed to say was, “Sure. Here ya go.” It was only later he realized he had forgotten to drop his name. Damn! The chance had been there.

Brian got out of the shower, got dressed, ate and left for the train. Gotta catch up on English. To the Lighthouse by Virginia Woolf. An interesting book-it was written 3rd person, but managed to get inside all the character’s heads. Oftentimes it was slow going as sentences and paragraphs were often indistinguishable. Kinda like school. The minutes took forever, but you’d look up at a bell and it’d be the end of 8th period. Speaking of which, it was his stop.

Ah, school. Stuyvesant. It has a very interesting and very segregated bunch of kids. Asians, white kids, the Wall people, and the 50 or so black kids that made it and came. Brutal maybe, but it’s the truth. You might know people from the other groups, but chances are you don’t chill with them. Brian mixed things up a little more than most people because he played football, grew up in a mixed neighborhood and had a solid average, but he didn’t really hang with anyone outside his 10 best friends.

Down to 1st period Band. Always a bright spot. Cue angelic spotlight and hallelujah chorus. Perry Taylor played flute and sat across from Brian and the other clarinets. No matter how bad the morning had been, this always made it better. Kinda hard to focus on playing clarinet, when there’s that kind of distraction. Whatever. He’d get through the period without any noticeable mistakes. Thank God for natural talent!

Economics. (Chills run up and down the back, and a cold hiver results.) Brian feared eco more than any of his other classes. It wasn’t too hard but it was so boring it was unbelievable. The only things that saved the class from being naptime were the funny jokes the teacher made once in a while and the flirty relationship he had with a friend’s hot girlfriend.

Physics. The land of the damned. According to the teacher, the most useful and important of the sciences one can learn in high school. Formulas that explained everything in life, but only when everything was ignored except for the one or two variables you’re working with.

The class wasn’t terrible overall, and as with most of his classes, Brian tried to keep himself focused by participating more than everyone else did. It occasionally lead to one-on-one discussions between him and the teacher, but he was okay with it. It kept the information fresh in his head. And when he got bored there was always Perry to think of… The bell! Time for gym.

Gym was a welcome break. He got to take basketball, which was pretty cool. It was a nice break where he could take his mind off of school and the sheer monotony of his day. After gym, he was starving.

Which makes fifth period lunch very convenient. Lunch is time to relax, hang with friends and replenish the energy that you’ve been working off of since 6am. In one of its brighter moves, Stuy gives students the chance to leave the building and eat out. Brian did go once in a while, but not too often, as this could be a major drain on his wallet.

The mid-day oasis continued with English. Always a lively class, and Brian’s best subject to boot. The books he read were very dense and led to interesting class discussions. Brian felt relieved of the pressure of not being the only one to speak aloud. The rapport between the students was great and comments were articulate and insightful.

Math began to kill the lunch/English boost. Brian paid enough attention, because the teacher kept them working the whole period, but the material wasn’t the greatest, so it would begin to wear on him. It wasn’t boring, it just washed away the recovery wave of the last couple of periods.

This deeply affected Brian’s French class. By now he was bored with school and ready to go home. It would’ve been a better class if it was earlier in the day. He’d be on the train in a mere 40 minutes. Staring at the clock doesn’t help too much there. It just makes things go slower. Hurry up! Why was he sitting here reading some poem with French too complicated to be understood without a dictionary? It’s too much work for this late in the day. It made his brain hurt.

Finally! Released from the shackles of the New York education system. Freedom at last. What to do with today… How much homework did he have? Nothing that couldn’t be easily handled. Maybe today’ll be a chill day. Brian found Greg and they waited around to see who else was free. Watching the people go by, something clicked. “I’m doing it.” Before Greg could say, “huh?” Brian was up.

He found Perry talking with a couple of friends and waited for a break in the conversation. What was he doing? Was he gonna go through with this? What if she says no? Are her friends gonna stay to watch? Oh man. Now or never. “Excuse me.” “Yes?” She responded!! No way! Did you hear that?! Her voice is perfect. Say something. “Umm… hey do you want to get a… coffee or something?” “Now?” “Yeah… I guess.” “I’ve got volleyball practice but I’m free tomorrow.” A positive? Is it gonna be yes? “Would that be okay?” Ding-ding-ding… We’ve got a winner. Now that you’ve hit the jackpot what’re you gonna do next? “Brian?” A response might be in order. “Yeah. That’d be great.”

Walking away all smiles, Brian gave Greg a pound and they started to leave. Once they were down the escalator and out of earshot, Greg looked over and started cracking up. “You finally did it, huh?” Damn straight. “Yeah. Took me long enough, right?” “Sure did. Good luck man. And wipe that grin off your face before I clock you. Later.” “Later.” He did it. He actually did it. A year and a half of drooling and he finally did it. Perry Taylor. Perry freakin’ Taylor. It was nuts. He barely even noticed the train ride home.

Homework was a breeze, his favortie Simpsons episode was on; hell, even the canned spinach at dinner tasted good. Lying in bed that night, he sighed. Perry Taylor. Perry Jackson. It didn’t matter. They both sounded great. Today had been a good day. And from the looks of things, tomorrow was gonna be a lot better.