If you think about it Smelly Nelly's is not the greatest name for a restaurant. You'd think it would drive people away because, who wants to eat somewhere, where it smells? But apparently that didn't matter to the people of London Ontario because the place seemed as packed as ever, so I figured it'd be as god as anyplace to go eat lunch alone.

There was a sign hung by the door that announced "please seat yourself" so I did as it said and found myself a both with a good view of the door. So as to be able to see whoever walked in or out of the restaurant. Little did I know I was about to be met with a surprise, because in walks Casey Mcdonald. I fixed any stray pieces of hair and wiped nonexistent dirt off my shirt in preparation for when she would walk by me, but to my dismay she never did, instead she went up to the front counter and started chatting with a pretty blond waitress, they seemed to know each other. I watched them curiously, a thought that had been banging around in my head for awhile resurfaced; it seems as if my rigging of the rating system hadn't been quite enough to catch her attention, perhaps I could possibly make her jealous by dating her friends. It had worked for me before, so I might as well try it again.

A few minutes later Casey had left with some chocolate cookies from up front and the pretty blond waitress was walking over to my table. Could she make this any easier? I put on my most flirtatious smile and prepared myself.

"Hello," she said brightly, "and what can I get you?" I looked on her shirt and saw that her name was Sally, pretty name, but not as pretty as Casey.

"Ahh, let's see," I said teasingly, "how about your phone number?"

Her face suddenly went blank and she looked at me suspiciously, "That's not on the menu!" she said quickly.

"It's the only thing in here that interests me." I replied.

"Well then perhaps you should try another restaurant," she said still attempting to keep her voice cheery.

"Isn't the customer always right?" I asked.

"Yes," she replied, "but you are not a customer because you are not ordering anything on the menu."

"Good point," I affirmed, "I'll have an iced tea."

"You got it," she replied sounding relived.

"and your phone number," I continued. She looked at me again, as if I were crazy, and I said, "fine forget the phone number then, e-mail is fine too." but she just rolled her eyes and walked away.

Doesn't matter, I said to myself, she will have to come back again and then I will put the real charm on, no more of this stupid flirting. So when she stupidly decided to walk by my table about five minutes later I called after her, but I was ignored, at least I was ignored by her. In her place a cocky voice answered, "waiter, actually."

I looked over to see a boy with chocolate brown hair and eyes that were like starring into a tunnel. I recognized him as the boy who had fallen asleep in class a few days ago. "So you're the new kid at SJS?" he asked, "Newman right?"

"It's Truman actually," I replied, feeling rather sour towards this guy, "so what happened to the waitress?"

"Oh?" he said, "you mean my girlfriend?"

"Girlfriend? aah that's too bad, she was a total 9."

"10," he replied, "tough, you get me."

Having dinner at Smelly Nelly's was definitely not as productive as it could have been. All night I tried to catch Sally's attention, but the stupid boy, Derek , wouldn't let me get anywhere near her. Mental Note: Derek is the jealous type.

It was cold out and I was only wearing a thin jacket, I could feel the wind nipping at my arms and face. I turned the corner on to my street and found that the porch lights were still on at the house. I checked my watch, 10:30 pm, usually my uncle turns the lights off at 9:00. He says it's because he is conserving electricity, but I honestly think he's hoping one night I won't be able to find my way home, too bad for him I spend a lot of time in the dark. I walked up the porch steps and sat myself down on the porch swing. I looked out on the quiet suburban street, this place was definitely nothing like Toronto. At night London Ontario dies, at night Toronto wakes up.

I sat reminisced on wild nights with my friends, at first they were innocent enough, but then James got those fake I.D., which I still don't know how he did. That's when we started getting into all the clubs and parties, that we weren't supposed to be in. Believe it or not, I was the innocent one, I was the one that wouldn't go back to the hotel with those 21 year old models, or the one that wouldn't try out their latest drug of choice. Slowly they were all caught and separated. That's how parents do it at Riveredge Private School, they just ship us out to our aunts and uncles or our grandparents or godparents, or any relative that lives out in some godforsaken small town. So it was only a matter of time before I ended up in London Ontario. I had known this for a long time.

"What the hell are you doing out here boy?" Uncle Mikes whispered harshly.

"Lighting myself smoke, want one?" I said sarcastically. I knew the reaction I was going to get and I also knew I was going to regret saying that but I said it anyways. He grabbed me by my collar roughly and dragged me inside.

"Don't you ever, "he said waggling a finger in face, "ever say anything like that again."

"What?" I asked, " something like oh I'm going up to my room to get high, don't mind me." I was just fishing for a reaction. And I got one.

I didn't even see it coming, his hand balled up into a fist and he threw it at me hard. It made contact with my lip, I tasted blood instantaneously. I tensed up, waiting for the next blow but it never came.

"I'm sorry," he said. His voice seemed further away, which surprised me. I looked up to see that he had retreated to the couch and was sitting with his head in his hands.

I sat on the floor starring at him with my hand lightly covering my bloody mouth. "I didn't hurt you too badly, did I?" he asked. I just shook my head slowly in reply. "Please don't tell Dorothy, alright?" I realized now, that he didn't even care that he had burt me. He just knew that Aunt Dorothy would be mad at him if she knew what he'd done to me. So I just stood up and without a reply I walked up to my bedroom.