2006 was supposed to be the year for me, the year I graduate from high school, the year I find that perfect guy and the year where I learn more about myself and my needs. As the year progressed, I learned that only one of my goals was going to be fulfilled.

I should start by introducing myself. I am Chris and I live in a small city in Massachusetts. By small city, I mean a city with no means of public transportation. When you’re a person that doesn’t have a car or parents who will let you borrow theirs, it becomes rather boring and consistent here. I am 5’11, 165 lbs, brown hair, dark brown eyes, African American and Italian and I wear both contacts and glasses. I switch off, depending on my mood or how much pain my eyes may already be in. I suppose I will start you off right where it all began.

“Chris, Chris, wake up, you’re going to be late for school!” “Uh, I don’t feel like going today.” “You’re going today boy, you’re going to graduate.”

Even though my alarm goes off every morning, my mom still calls my cell phone to wake me up or just piss me off. Usually, she succeeds at doing both of the two. Lately, I’ve been feeling very depressed and I don’t know what the cause of my extended period of sadness was. After lying in bed for another 15 minutes, I looked at the clock and noticed that it was 6:15 and that I needed to get dressed so that I could be on time for the bus. Most of the senior class drives, but I was one of the few unfortunate kids who had to take the bus with the rest of the underclassmen.

“Mom, why do you always insist on calling my phone in the morning, when you know that I set my alarm every night?” “Chris, stop wasting time and get dressed and get your ass to that damn bus stop.”

I sighed knowing that today, was not going to be a good day. “Can you keep up? Baby boy make me lose my breath.” I listen to my iPod every day before school, so I can at least be a bit energized for my classes.

As I arrived to my first period class, Honors College Writing, I realized that my best friend Carrie wasn’t in school again today. She had been absent for quite a while. Usually she would be out for a few days and then come back towards the end of the week. This time was different though, it seemed like she wasn’t going to come back at all.

“Have you seen Carrie?” “No Chris, I haven’t seen her in a while,” my friend Kelley said. “Well if you see her in sociology, can you tell her that I am here today and will see her in Spanish IV?” “Sure thing Chris. Did you do the paper for English?” “Yeah I did, but I don’t think it’s as good as I want it to be.” “Well you know how Mrs. Smith is; she wants the best all the time.”

I don’t know why Kelley was talking to me as if she were the smartest kid in the class; in fact she hadn’t done a lot of assignments and was currently failing Mrs. Smith’s class.

“Yeah, yeah we know Mrs. Smith is a tough grader, but I am one of her favorite students, as well as Carrie.” Kelley rolled her eyes and continued talking to her friend Katie. As class went on, I realized that Carrie probably wasn’t going to be coming in to school that day.

During lunch period, I went to go find Mrs. Smith. She and I had become very good friends and she’s great when it comes to giving advice and at that point, I needed some, so I decided to go talk to her.

“Hey Mama Smith!” Carrie and I came up with that nickname for her, because she was like our mom at school. “Chris, it’s nice to see you. Come on in.” “Mama Smith, I am really worried about Carrie. She’s been very distant lately and her phone number has changed. I am not sure if I want to go to her house, because I know how she is about her privacy.” “Her number has changed? I didn’t know that. I think as her best friend, you have the authority to go to her house and ask how she’s been and where she’s been. You aren’t the only one worried about her. A lot of other colleagues and I have been wondering the same thing.” “So you think I should go to her house?” “Yeah I think you should. If you need a ride or anything, you know you could always ask me for one.” “Thanks Mrs. Smith, you always know how to make me feel better.” “No problem Chris. Not to cut this conversation short, but I have to get these tests corrected for my freshman English classes.” “Not a problem. I have to go find my guidance counselor anyways.” “I will see you tomorrow Chris and if you go see Carrie, let her know that I am thinking about her.” “I will. Bye.”

Tick tock, tick tock. It was 1:54 and I was very anxious to get out of school so I could go and see if Carrie was okay. I got home, dropped my bag on the floor and put some comfortable sneakers on. I had decided on walking, even though Mrs. Smith offered me a ride, I thought that me, my feet and my iPod would have a better time walking. As I got to her door, I began to get very nervous, because I know how Carrie is about her privacy. I let out a few breaths and knocked on her door. A few moments later, her brother arrived at the door with nothing put track pants and a white wife beater on. It was then when I began to notice exactly how good looking her brother is. He is probably a bit shorter than me 5’9 or so. He has a very nice athletic tone to his body. The family is Puerto Rican, so they all have a nice tan, including Jared. I think the best feature he has is his ass. His ass is so round and perky; you just want to squeeze it.

“Damn,” I said to myself. “What I would do to have sex with Jared.” I started laughing to myself and I think Jared started to get annoyed because I didn’t state why I was there.

“Oh, hey Jared. Is Carrie there?” “No Chris, she’s not here right now.” “Do you know when she will be back?” I asked, waiting impatiently for an answer. “To be honest with you Chris, no. She’s in the hospital right now.” “Oh my god, is she okay? Can she have any visitors that aren’t related to her?” “She is doing alright, but she can’t have any visitors.” “Oh okay, well let her know that I am thinking about her, okay?” “Yeah, I will let her know that.”

I began to walk away when Jared asked if I knew how to solve systems of equations. I told him that I knew how to do it, being that I was in Advanced Placement Calculus, so I had to know how to do that stuff anyways.

“Would you mind helping me understand how to do them?” “Sure Jared, not a problem.” He invited me into his house. Carrie’s mom, sister and step dad were no where to be found. “Come in here. It’s more comfortable in my room and besides my parents are going to be gone for a while. Do you want anything to drink?” “Umm, no thanks, I am all set.” “Okay cool, lets begin,” I said admiring his body in that wife beater he was wearing.

A few hours went by and it seemed that Jared was finally getting the hang of his algebra. By the time we were done, I noticed how it was dark outside and that I probably should be heading home, before my mom insisted on calling me.

“Well Chris, thanks for your help. I really appreciate it.” “No problem Jared, anytime.” “Do you want to hang around and watch a movie or something?” “No, I should probably be heading back. My mom has been on my case lately about waking up late for school and stuff. So I should get home and do my homework and call it a night.” “Oh okay, well again, thanks for your help.”

Jared walked in front of me, leading me to the front door. On the way, I couldn’t help but notice that round tight ass of his. I was just staring at him and then it finally clicked that he turned around and was waiting for me to leave.

“Oh, sorry about that. I think I was day dreaming or something.” “Uh, no problem. Have a good night Chris, thanks a lot for your help.”

I thanked him and turned to leave and then something strange happened. Jared came to give me a hug. Not one of those “guy hugs,” this was a different, friendly kind of hug. We hugged for what seemed like forever, but in all reality I knew it was nothing more than like 10 seconds. I said my bye as I began to walk off. It was then I realized that things were going to be very different from now on.