Just as I'd expected, going to school with Bloo was a very uncomfortable experience. As I moved through the hallways, keeping my eyes straight ahead, he kept close to me, looking around and talking nonstop.
"What math were you going to be in, again? I'm trying to think if we'll know anyone there. Shaun was in your class last year but he's an idiot, so he'll probably have to retake it. You should ask him about it, but be subtle about it. Everyone's _texting._ Why do they do that while they're walking? They're gonna bump into each other—yup, right there, I called it. What time is it? Are we gonna be on time? Hey, I haven't seen _her _around. I think she's new. Cute, too. You should ask her out. You're taking honors classes, right? Or am I thinking of something else?"
As I took my seat in history class, Bloo hopped up onto the table to my right. The Asian girl seated there seemed to look right through him.
A dumpy, grey-haired man made himself noticeable at the front of the room as he began to write on the whiteboard.
"Oh, cool, it's Mr. Lafler. You had him last year. He was really easy, remember?" I chanced a glance towards Bloo. Was he trying to make this difficult?
"Good morning, everyone," wheezed Mr. Lafler. I could practically hear the phlegm in his throat. "Some of you had me last year, but in case you didn't or just can't remember, I'll write my name up here…"
He rambled his way through his introduction, syllabi were passed around, and I started doodling in my notebook. The pencil curved absently, forming a half-circle. What was that going to be? I added straight lines on either side, closed it off…
I stopped, realizing I was drawing Bloo. I erased what I'd done. _A dragon,_ I thought. _I haven't done a dragon in a while._ I made the neck nice and long, the teeth wickedly curved. The catlike eye turned out great on the first try, but I couldn't quite close off the head until I thought to give him webbed ears. He looked a little bare, so I started adding scales. _One, two, three, four…_
"Mac!" Bloo stage-whispered, stretching out the vowel in my name. "Maaaaaaaac!" I noticed he was leaning over, examining my drawing, so I wrote "not now".
He frowned. "Mac, shouldn't we take notes?"
For some reason, that made me feel a little guilty, but I wrote "I can just read the book later." He shrugged. After a few seconds, he said "Hey, that girl over there is pretty hot, huh?"
"I don't know."
"Well, of course you don't! You didn't even look!"
Cautiously, I looked at Bloo out of the corner of my eye to see where he was pointing. Following the direction of the blunt nub he had for a hand, I beheld a breathtakingly gorgeous redhead sitting near the corner, chewing gum. I thought to myself that Bloo's taste had been spot-on.
"She's ok."
As the lecture wore on and I continued to flesh out my dragon, I was continually distracted by the words I'd written next to it. "Not now." "I can just read the book later." "I don't know." She's ok." How meaningless it was without Bloo's context, what a random jumble of disconnected thoughts.
I ate lunch alone. If Bloo thought it was odd, he kept it to himself. At the end of the day, I returned home, started on my homework, and finished my dragon.