After summer school, I was really looking forward to what my Sophomore year had in store. What New challenges and new experiences were just waiting for me? I could feel it deep within my bones that these were going to be great.
Usual mornings in my household during school days have always been chaotic.
Mom would run around like a headless chicken, yelling and nagging to get us up and get ready. With my little brother 'Mando' (short for Armando) having ADHD and me being ADD, you can see why. He would be running around while I would become easily distracted and space out.
This semester was going to be different. I wanted to make a change.
I never saw myself as attractive. My hair was thick and did whatever it wanted, I was chubby with a hanging belly, and I had no sense of style. This made me decide to get in better shape and joined the school swim team as my first-period course.
Maybe that would help my self-confidence.
The only drawback was I wasn't anticipating practice starting at 6am and needing to be on the bus by 5:30am.
That morning I woke up at 4 am feeling like a zombie. Not even the cold water splashing on my face was effectively waking me up. I got my new JNCOs on, a Darth Maul T-shirt, ate my cereal, grabbed my backpack, and slipped on my Vans sneakers.
Walking out into the early hours before daybreak gave El Paso a very tranquil yet eerie feeling. The street lights were still on, all the porch lights in the neighborhood were off and everything seemed vacant. No traffic. El Paso is normally a very busy city, so seeing it like this was not normal for me.
The walk to school at such an hour made it feel like I must have been sleepwalking. Everything looked familiar, just dimly lit. Not even enough for a shadow.
Of course, the whole time I was walking, I had my eyes peeled for stray dogs, especially when passing alleys. After being chased a few times, you really pay extra attention.
Finally making it to the school, the bus was waiting, and many of my new teammates were already in the bus looking half asleep or fully napping and using their backpacks as a pillow.
When 5:30 rolled around, we were off to practice. Our school didn't have a pool, so we used the pool at one of the private academies nearby.
Remembering my freshmen year, there was a local prank done by the upperclassmen, and that was convincing the new kids about the pool that was on top of the library.
If they ever offer you a ticket to get there, just say no. That was a hard lesson learned.
Entering the Academy was a shock. The difference between the public school and this private academy was like night and day. Everything there looked well-kept. No signs of graffiti or vandalism. Even the smell was pleasant and not musky and old.
Being there also made me realize that I didn't get to see any of my friends from the Island of Misfits before school like I did my freshman year.
*Sigh*
Practice was tough. I thought I was ok at swimming, but after that, I had lots of doubts.
Now that I was finally walking into the campus with a sore body and feeling even more restless, my next class was public speaking. So far, none of my misfit friends were there, but there was a familiar face.
Her name was Lilly.
Lilly was a girl I've known since 6th grade who had become a friend. She had that very sweet presence with a very witty edge. Her hair is naturally a mousey brown when not dyed. Her eyes were as glimmering as emeralds, which were very noticeable whenever she actually wore her glasses. The best part of all, she was a bit of a rocker girl.
Lilly was the crush I had back then, but as usual, I was afraid to express those feelings and kept them to myself. I always felt like I wasn't quite her type, I was just too nice and shy.
Not to mention being a chubby nerd.
Thinking about it now, I must have had a thing for those cool rocker and alternative-type girls.
After that class, I did not see any of my group until lunchtime when we had a usual spot — The Island. It was the last of the concrete picnic tables in the courtyard that sat under a pine tree near the library.
It was full of character and had lots of graffiti left as markers from the past misfits before us. The rest of the tables have been replaced by these plastic-coated wire tables. They did not feel the same.
The moment I spotted Boss waiting in the lunch line, we greeted each other with this ridiculous way we developed during freshman year.
The best I could describe it is that it looked like a couple of toddlers who were drunk and running into each other for a flying chest bump.
Boss was someone you definitely couldn't miss. He towered over everyone when it came to height. Only being a sophomore himself, he stood at 6'3 with possibly another growth spurt to go. His dark chocolate complexion really brought out his muscle tone from playing football and just being very athletic.
"Hey! There's my testicles! The one that's a little dark and the other that's a little thicker"
Boss and I laughed as we recognized that voice. We both turned around to see Victor approaching us in his cool but cocky manner.
Victor was Hispanic just like me. The only difference was he may have been even more light-skinned than I was. As for height, which he lacked, he made up with personality. He was the shortest guy in the group standing about 5'6.
Just like Boss, this guy also had an athletic build which made me the fat one of the group. He also liked to keep his dark hair long and tied back to give himself that cool artistic aesthetic.
"Pinchi wey! (fucking idiot) How the hell have you been?" I greeted Victor. Boss, Victor, and I bumped fists as our usual handshake.
"Sup playaz," Nate called out as he joined us. Nate was definitely a character. A troublemaker who embraced this gangster persona, heavily influenced by hip hop and Eminem in terms of style. Bleached hair, sagging baggy jeans showing his boxers, big jewelry, sports caps...but was secretly a huge nerd like the rest of us.
Definitely not 'the real Slim Shady', but he was 'Pretty Fly for a white guy.'
When we were together, we did what we did best— Completely geek out. From playing Magic the Gathering, doing a Dungeons and Dragons campaign in the library, battling and trading Pokemon on Gameboy, talking and drawing anything anime (yes. Even the dirty ones), and we even went all out and did lots of play fighting using all kinds of martial arts moves we've seen in old kung fu movies and video games.
CC and Kenny had joined us that day, and I got to see first hand how blossomed their relationship had become. The way they held hands and embraced each other's presence made me see the passion they had for each other.
We chatted and shared stories about each other. They would tell me about their relationship, Kenny and I would tell CC about our goofy antics in middle school, and CC and I would tell Kenny about ours from summer school.
Truly, I was happy seeing them like that, but I secretly ached too. No matter how hard I tried, there were feelings for CC that I couldn't get rid of. I needed to keep distracted from her.
Maybe one day I will experience that same kind of passion they had.
The Island of Misfits has definitely changed since my freshman year. Some Old faces returned, and some have gone because they graduated or relocated, and many new faces even appeared in our little community of social outcasts, misfits, punks, goths, nerds, and jocks.
We were a cliqueless clique. There was just something about the group that would draw people to the Island.
As the song by Nirvana says— "Come as you are."
Since we were in a High school with lots of kids from military families, many of them were only there for a limited time.
They were just like wildflowers, they would come and go unexpectedly. I always cherished the ones I got to be friends with, as someday I may never see them again.
One of the freshmen new to the Island instantly clicked with me. We had similar personalities and even looked similar to the point we really could pass as brothers.
Plus, he was another chubby guy. The only difference was he was white, had reddish-brown hair, and had large-frame glasses. His name was Ron but we got to know him as "Bear".
A few more girls started hanging around as well, mostly because of Victor and Boss who were always charismatic. They were Sade, Cherise, and Lexus. They were big flirts and attention seekers.
I envied that confidence they all had, but at the same time—I didn't.
At last, The misfits had returned to the island we called home. I was finally at ease and back in my place.
Let the adventures begin!