In My Write Mind

Thirteen… in the ninth grade. A year younger than everybody else. Barely 5 foot 2. A year shorter, too. First time taking the train alone. It may have been the other side of Queens, but it felt like a world away. First time outside of the circle of friends that followed one another through elementary and middle school. First time out of the comfort zone that was the neighborhood.

There were a lot of firsts that fall… my first semester in high school. A lot of changes, a lot of adjustments, a lot of experiences that have made my book worth writing. A new slew of teachers and characters that would be a part of my world for the next four years.

It was the “Wonder Years” before the sitcom. It was Doogie Howser-like in that I was the youngest, the most out of place, considered pretty smart since I was a year ahead… but not really sure if I’d fit in. If I’d be accepted. Just an awkward teenager in every sense of the word.

So, to be sure, there were changes that would occur. There were adjustments to be made. To say I’d be experiencing a host of firsts would be an understatement.

And then… there was that first. (more…)