Life Story: Chapter Fifty One

I haven't done one of these Life Story entries since September. That's a long time. Those of you who care enough may have forgotten where I left off. So let's recap a bit...

Previously, on Carp Dime... I was born. I was adorable. I went to preschool. I went to kindergarten. My family moved and I started 1st grade. I grew out of my adorability. I went to middle school. I was husky for a while. Then I was anorexic. Literally. Then I started high school. Then I spent seven weeks in a hospital dealing with my adolescent psychological issues. Then I went back to high school. By 10th grade I was more or less well adjusted. I had just gotten my driver's license and I was an average teenager.

So should I pick up with 11th grade? Sounds good enough, I guess.

Junior year was a lot like my other high school years. Meaning I just didn't care that much. Sure, I still applied myself just enough to get by, but that was all. I got by. I was still in the same old classes with the same old people. Something else that stayed the same, I was just as social as ever.

That may not be true though. This was the first year in school that I was invited to a real party. It wasn't one of those parties that you see in movies, where the parents have taken off and there's a beer bong floating around and it eventually gets broken up by the police. No, the parents were there and it was kind of subdued. Honestly, I always thought that the only reason I was invited was because I just happened to be in the right place at the right time.

I was sitting in class, minding my own business, hanging out at a table with several of my classmates. And these were some of the more popular kids. I've mentioned before, I was never popular. So, really, just about anyone, in my eyes, was more popular than me. They were talking about a party on the weekend. And the girl that was throwing it looked at me and said I should come. She didn't have to invite me. She was just one of those genuinely nice people, a rare find among the popular high school kids.

So I went. I drove alone. I arrived alone. And I left alone. But while I was there, I didn't feel entirely out of place. I wasn't exactly in my comfort zone either, though.

Otherwise, socially, there isn't much else to talk about. I took a girl to a Garth Brooks concert. One of those first and last dates. I think I asked her out again, but got the "we're just friends" line. Which was fine with me. I don't remember if I went to the Homecoming dance that year. I may have gone, just because I thought it was one of those things that I should do because I was in high school. However, I know I skipped the prom. I didn't ask anyone to go with me, so I wasn't turned down. I just didn't go. No big loss.