Living as a teenager was doing the stupidest and yet most fun things. I had become more mature than when I was a little kid. But not in my parents eyes. I still remember driving them up the wall when trying to wash dishes or doing laundry.
I was keeping up my guitar lessons and practicing almost every night when I was supposed to be doing homework. I was getting pretty good, and I remember trying to start a band, which proved to be unsuccessful. A little bit of keyboard and piano took up my time when I wasn't playing the guitar, but I always preferred the guitar.. I couldn't find another guitarist good enough, and no one would write songs. But I wrote songs in my sleep. Sometimes they would be short five word songs or long drawn out lyrics. I always wrote how I felt, and about lost friends, which no doubt, came from the loss of Hobbes. When he was put into the attic.
I was never into sports, but I could run fast. The track coaches wanted me to run the 100 meter race. I never did run, but organized sports always reminded me of Calvinball.
There were always flashbacks of my imaginative life. One day, I was in the supermarket with Mom, and we saw Roslyn. She had a husband, Charlie, who was her boyfriend in high school. She said hi, and was expecting a baby soon. I joked in my head how the child might grow to hate her, but that was because I had such bad memories as a child. When I started 6th grade, I learned that Ms. Wormwood was retiring, and I went to the retirement party. It was fun and brought back old memories of her 1st grade class. Right before I left, she told me I was actually one of her favorite students because of my spontaneous behavior which was funny when looked back on. Sometimes after these types of events, I would climb up in the tree house where Hobbes and I used to hold G.R.O.S.S. meetings to get rid of Susie. I would always fall asleep daydreaming in that tree house.
The funniest memories were the times Dad and I went out to drive in an abandoned parking lot. He kept recalling the time I wrecked the car by pushing it out of the driveway. At first it was scary to be behind the wheel of Dad's car, but I got better. He also always kept complaining how his insurance would be driven up when I was 16 and driving. Every time he started saying that, I was played a joke with him by accelerating fast. He would become mad, then start to laugh. Those were good times. And when my 16th birthday came, I was presented with my license and a dumpy two door car. But when I was 16, it wasn't dumpy, being in it was heaven. I soon realized, with money I made by working at the music store, I could fix the car up. I drove that car everywhere, even down the street and back if I was bored.
The best times I had in a car was one summer when I was bored, I drove to the beach. With no cash, or clothes. I got there, and I slept in the car, and came back the day. I recall telling the story to my friends, but they didn't find it interesting. But somehow, that trip gave me the feeling that I was more independent than I had ever been in my life.
I remember my high school life was filled with girls. I never got into any serious relationships. But I remember my first kiss was in the 9th grade hall, when school let out of snow. There were times when I would play hooky to go out with my friends and go to the movies or something. Susie was just a friend I still liked to pester every once in awhile. But, some friends got into drugs. I wasn't a genius, but I knew that drugs were bad, especially after one party filled with drinking and drugs. Some guy who was high and drunk almost killed me, twice. I was walking and he tripped in front of me. He got back up, and started hitting me. Luckily, I was saved by my girlfriend. The second time was when I was leaving in my car. Backing out of the driveway he almost ran over me. I never knew if it was intentional or just bad luck for me, but I steered clear of that guy.
My studies and grades weren't improving with the years. All the practice with the guitar would almost make me fail 7th grade. By my Sophomore year, I realized that I wanted to go to college and major in music and do that with a scholarship. The only classes I ever did well in were Band and Music Theory. I was taking some advanced math, and a lot of science, but I had to pull those up. I had to ration many things to get better grades; Guitar, and friends. But, I soon realized that if I put everything into it, I improved my grades to As and Bs. Things became easier, and I did have more time for guitar and my friends.
Being a Senior in high school was the best school year of my life. I had recently completed a CD with some recordings of my songs and music. The CDs went to all my closest friends to listen to, and they liked it. School work turned out to be easier. I they best in the school when it came to guitar. And one day in May, I received a letter from a small college in New England that I had been awarded a 2 year scholarship for Music and a small 500 dollar scholarship for academics. I immediately accepted, and took a tour of the college a few weeks later. It was the perfect college for me. My parents said they would manage the last two years of the four years, and graduate school if I decided to go that far.
That summer while I was packing, I was looking over the house to find stuff I had overlooked to bring to college. I went up to the attic and started looking through boxes and found Hobbes. For one second, I thought I saw him smile at me. I picked him up, and brought him along to college to live in my dorm. I went around and said goodbye to all of my friends that I had in high school, and I drove to college with only Hobbes on my mind.