Hey, everyone.
So, I think by writing these posts later in the evening is a definite mistake. By the time I get around to them, I'm distracted and tired, and sometimes groggy if I've had a nap (which is always a bad idea in the evening). So, from here on out, I'm going to try to keep these in the morning. Hopefully, I'll have a little more pep. But I won't lie, I didn't sleep well last night. Just couldn't fall asleep and woke up super early this morning for no reason. Anyway...
Wheel of Genres, turn, turn, turn! Tell me the genre I will discern!
Today's topic is... Young Adult! Now, I will be honest and tell you that I did spin the wheel twice. I know, I know; it's cheating, but it landed on comedy again and I'm trying to keep things varied. And, Young Adult goes so well with the amazing regret I felt last night while looking through my yearbook at all the opportunities I really missed out on. And I am cooking up ideas for a young adult series down the line, so...
Thirty minutes on the clock: 30:00. And... go!
Sarah and Tom walked through the hall at a less than enthusiastic pace to their public speaking class.
"Tom!" said Sarah sharply. "If we don't hurry, Mr. Smith is going to tan our hides."
"'Tan our hides'? What decade are you from?"
"I'm trying to cut back on swearing."
"Aw. Aren't you a good girl?"
"Fuck you. But seriously, Mr. Smith is having that guest speaker talk today."
"Oh, yeah. That is today. What was the topic again? 'Making the Most of Your High School Opportunities'? Are you really that interested?"
"Well... a little. Not to mention it's rude to just walk in and interrupt someone's speech."
"Why?"
"Because it makes them think you don't care about the effort they put into writing it."
"No! Why do you care about hearing the guest speaker?" demanded Tom.
"Well... I was looking though last year's yearbook, and our school has a lot of different clubs."
"So?"
"I didn't know half of them existed, and some of them sound like fun."
"Like what?"
"Like the swing dancing club."
"We have a swing dancing club?! You gotta be shittin' me."
"I shit you not. I went to join it this year, but there weren't enough people interested."
Tom turned on her. "You want to learn how to swing dance?! What with the bip-boppin', and the hip-hoppin', and the... and the... skip-skoppin'?"
"I don't think that's a thing."
"It could be, but you'll never know without the swingers club."
"Swing dancing."
"Whatever. But seriously, you really think you're missing out on something? What could you be missing out on?"
"I don't know, but I do know I don't want to go through life and miss out. When I showed my parents the yearbook, do you know what they said?"
"What?"
"They said they never did anything like that when they were in high school. At first, I didn't think anything of it, but then I started watching them over the summer and they're two of the most bland and boring people I've ever met. All they do is sit on their asses watching TV. I mean, how the hell did they even get together?"
"You think you'll become your parents?"
"I don't know if I will, but look at what we did all summer. We spent all our time sitting around in your dank basement watching TV and making dirty jokes and complaining about shit we don't know shit about! Meanwhile Kara Carpenter joined youth group and had a blast. Connie Springer took an art class at a community college and now she's the best artist in school. Your best friend, Tim Jones, went to band camp and became a rock star."
"Enh, only if you like the bass. I'm more of a guitar man, myself."
"That's funny coming from a guy who doesn't play."
Tom stared at Sarah for a minute. "You're that worried you'll turn into your parents?"
Sarah inhaled slowly and exhaled. "I don't want to take a chance on it. I just know I don't want to spend any more of my time sitting around and watching TV in a dank basement."
"It wasn't that bad. Well, I will admit that the summer did seem to favor me more than you. I got to second base," he said with a grin.
"Yeah," said Sarah unenthusiastically. "I know. I was there."
"'It still haunts my dreams every night'," Tom mocked.
"Well, not every night. But it wasn't my proudest moment."
"You were into it at the time."
"Yeah, but that was back before I could imagine something better."
"What's better than getting to second base?"
"Swing dancing, Tom! Swing dancing!"
"You're really hung up on this swing dancing thing."
Sarah sighed. "I just... just... I don't know," she said, defeated. She walked over to the lockers, put her back to them, and slid down to the floor. "I just want something more," she said, hugging her knees.
Tom watched her and couldn't help but feel like an ass. He couldn't imagine anything greater than what he had, but he and Sarah were friends, so it did pain him to see her this way, even if he couldn't understand where she was coming from. He sighed. "How many people would it take to get the swing dancing club up and running?"
"Huh?"
"How many people are you short?"
"Um, well. Not that many actually. We're actually just missing a couple of guys since the male teachers aren't allowed to dance with us."
"Just a couple of guys? What, there aren't any gay guys in this school?"
"Not as many as you would think."
"Alright," said Tom with as exasperated sigh. "I'll see who I can round up, and we'll join the swing dancing club."
"Do you really mean it?!" said Sarah, bounding up.
"Yes. Hmm, Tim might be interested."
"Oh, he'll definitely be interested. Erin Summer is a part of the club."
"Erin Summer? The Erin Summer?! Tim's crush since he was like seven?"
Sarah nodded. "Yep."
"Well, that'll make things easier."
"But you really mean it? You're really going to join the swing dancing club?"
"Yes."
"Can I ask why?"
"Because... you're my friend, and I... care about you."
Sarah wrapped her arms around Tom's neck and squeezed.
"Alright, alright" said Tom, stepping back. "If we get caught by Mrs. Steadfast, she'll put us both in the clink for PDA."
"'Clink'? What decade are you from?"
"Let's just get to class, smart ass. Let's see what wisdom this guest speaker has to impart on us youngsters," he said blandly.
Sarah smiled. "At the rate you're going, I might be interested in making this official."
"Don't get my hopes up," Tom joked.
***
Phew! That's it. I would say stop the clock, but I went past time. Not by much, but I did. There were some parts of this little story that I really got into so I wanted to develop them right. And in case you were wondering, yes, my high school did have a swing dancing club, and yes, that is one of the things I regret missing out on, although at the time I don't think I would've joined it. I had a carefully crafted image of a hardass to uphold, and hardasses don't swing. But it would've meant dancing with some of the quieter girls in my class and breaking the ice. That would've been nice.
But anyway, that's it for today. If you want to use the wheel I made, you should be able to access it here. And if you have the time, please check out my books for sale on Amazon which you can find through my author page. The link is below. Also, I reworked my Patreon page, so why not give it a look and consider becoming my patron. I would appreciate it.
See you tomorrow.
Keep writing, my friends.
More About Bryan C. Laesch:
Amazon: My Author Page, My Influencer Page
Facebook: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
Patreon: Bryan C. Laesch
Twitter: BryanofallTrade
Youtube: Bryan C. Laesch, Bawdy Scholar
No comments:
Post a Comment