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Temptations |
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1 Almost Perfect Before I was in high school, people always told me that this would be the best time of my life. Now that I’m here, and a senior, they say it’s the most confusing. And actually, I’d have to agree with both opinions. I’ve definitely dealt with the confusion over the past four years and now I’m finally seeing some of the good parts. The benefits—like meeting my boyfriend Mark and having Katy as a best friend—were what I was thinking of when I told Katy on the phone last night that my life was perfect. Katy is more skeptical than me, so she argued, "Your life can never be perfect." "Well, almost perfect then or as close to perfect as it’ll ever be for me." Meeting my boyfriend Mark was a major reason for that "perfect." See, I’ve been a little bit boy-crazy since all the way back in junior high, when I used to cover my walls with pictures of |
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models from Teen Beat magazine. Of course I never dated one of those models, and until the first day of my senior year of high school, the timing never worked with any guy. I liked them when they weren’t interested in me and by the time they were asking about me, I’d moved on. I met Mark a couple months ago, and not only has the timing finally worked, but everything else in my life has fallen into place too. My senior year was turning out to be one I’d never forget. Friday nights Katy, Mark, Katy’s boyfriend, Phil, and I watched movies together. This Friday, I fumbled the key in my door as Katy peered over my shoulder, pushing her white-blonde hair behind her ear and sighing. "It takes you longer to open that door every time. I think your parents are trying to lock you out." She giggled and shifted the brown paper grocery bag from one arm to the other. "These snacks are heavy, you know." I smiled as I continued to struggle with the stubborn lock. "You could’ve gotten the plastic bag that had handles." Phil laughed at my sarcasm and joined in on our favorite joke of teasing Katy about her obsession with saving the environment. "And waste a tree for our convenience? How selfish of you, Caroline!" Finally the key released the door and I led |
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Katy, Phil, and Mark into my family’s tiny brown-paneled living room. My cocker spaniel, Colonel, greeted us by barking from the worn, brown vinyl couch, until she recognized the other three as frequent visitors. We always watched movies at my house because we had the house to ourselves. My parents watched television in their room and I don’t have any brothers or sisters. Katy’s also an only child, but her parents insisted on sitting in the living room with us, making conversation. Our foursome had mastered our Friday night routine. Katy and Phil always got the movies started while Mark and I made the snacks. The guys and I usually ate frozen egg rolls. Katy, a vegetarian, had chips and queso. Cramped in our tiny kitchen with Mark, I sliced the Velveeta slowly, resisting the urge to eat more of the cheese than I tossed into the glass bowl. Out of the corner of my eye I watched him as he cooked the Chinese food. Would he remember I liked egg rolls with ketchup instead of soy sauce? Goose bumps prickled my legs when he reached into the refrigerator for the Heinz. He scooted behind me, humming Aerosmith, which was still playing in my mind from Phil’s car radio. "What are you looking at?" he teased. Then he pressed the cold bottle to my neck as he strolled into the living room, looking back only to wink at my yelp. Copyright 2003 Christina Buehring Hergenrader. Published by Concordia Publishing House. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of Concordia Publishing House. |