After a long, and torturous weekend, I was prepared to go to school. I wore a pair of cleancut jeans and a tee-shirt underneath a gray pullover. I was going to act normal and calm.
I got a ride from my dad once again. I needed to visit my locker first of all to get my art sketchbook. The halls were thin at the time, so I had no danger of running into someone I knew. It was still fairly early in the morning. While I was there, I went ahead and grabbed my Pre-cal books as well. There was really no since in making another trip to my locker in between classes, and there were only three books in all, including the notebooks.
I was beginning to get tired of art class. Ms. Stephen could be very boring at times. I also felt that I wasn't getting anything out of art. I was no artist. Sure, I could draw simple shapes, and shade them, but I wasn't GOOD at it, like Finny.
Speaking of Finny, he was there, his beaming smile waiting for me. I was forced to slap on a small grin.
"Hi, Gene!" he greeted me. "Are you feeling any better? You're not contagious, right?"
I gave a stiff laugh. "Nope, not anymore." I looked around to make sure that no one else was in the room. "But, I think I may still have a few virus germs to spread on to you."
He plastered on a look of fake terror. "Oh no! Help me!" he wailed, as I tackled him onto the floor. We rolled back and forth on the chalky floor for a few minutes. He pinned me more than I did him. Once or twice, he accidentally banged his head on a table leg.
Finally, when two girls came in, Finny stretched and got up. I wasn't about to let him get off that easily. I tackled him with a surprise attack, and he hit the ground face-first. He took this as a challenge and shoved me under a table. He straddled my sides and gave a victorious cry.
"Gentlemen," Ms. Stephen's voice broke through.
Turning bright red, I pushed Finny off and sat up. I brushed myself off and faced my irate teacher. "I'm sorry, Ms. Stephen."
Phineas merely gave a sheepish grin to her and stretched out his hand. I grabbed it and pulled him off of the floor. He was always doing something to get me into trouble.
I sat down at our table and began to set up my supplies for the day.
He sat next to me. "What's the matter?" he wondered, quietly.
"Nothing," I murmured.
"You wanted me to catch your virus, didn't you?" he said, jokingly.
I went along with it. "It was the only thing I ever wanted out of life."
This got a rise out of him. He laughed and said, "It would have made your life complete."
I smiled. Then, I caught sight of what he was wearing. It was a pink shirt. But, not a normal pink shirt that boys are allowed to wear. It was a feminine-cut Tommy Girl pink shirt, with red sleeves.
Finny noticed me looking at it.
"Why?" I asked.
"Because I'm an individual," he stated.
"You're going to get expelled," I argued.
"Yeah, so what?"