Week 4

M.L.K. Day. I woke cold and uncomfortable on Chris' floor and was unable to fall back asleep thanks to Hank, Pat and Lee snoring. I was bored so I left. Mom, Dad and I went to Frisch's and got their buffet for breakfast. Mom asked, "What're your dreams for life?" I answered, "Live in a small home, have a steady job, live a simple life." Modest hopes for a modest man. Chris and Pat D. came over, and we watched Office Space again, burned incense and chilled. Bryon came over, but then left to go to Rooster's. Jeremy's dating a girl named Stephanie he met in Iraq. Pretty awesome. It was hot in my room so Chris and I stuck our legs out my window. It was snowing all day, but not sticking. Pat D. accidentally spilled soda all over Chris. I lost a dollar when I didn't beat Chris at NHL Hockey. We decided to go to the Williams', and we all loaded into the Jeep and Pat D. confessed, "You're one of my best friends. Always there for me, helping me out, caring, being there to talk to--thanks, Man." It would've been a precious moment were it not for Chris continually hitting me on the back of my head. Halfway to his place I pulled the car over and turned around in the seat and told him that for each time he hit me in the head from that point, I would stop the car for ten minutes on the side of the road. He knew I was serious, and he stopped. 

Tuesday. I had a huge headache all during school. I'm considering the Teacher Academy at the Warren County Career Center. Chemistry was excruciating, and Accounting was torture. Mike Box wrote on his blog that he committed each of the seven deadly sins at least once a day. He isn't alone. I spent the evening listening to music and praying. I'm a simple man, I like simple music, and it doesn't take much to make me smile. I'm madly in love with God.

Wednesday. Art was boring, and lunch was uneventful: spicy chicken fajitas. Study Hall was packed. In accounting class we did our W-2 and W-4 forms. I wonder if I'll get money back? I hope so. After work Pat D., Lee, and Bryon came over. Bryon almost did a U-turn out of the Farmer's Market intersection, and had he done it he would've killed us all. Pat D. got us pizza from Dominoe's, and I picked it up. Bryon learned I Can Only Imagine on guitar, and Dewenter's addicted to Battlefield 1942. I finished my English and Geometry homework before bed. I'm listening to Led Zeppelin and thinking about Rikki. Oh, how I want a girlfriend to spend time with, to be connected to--how I want to be wanted!

Thursday. Doug says I'm passionate, inquisitive, and recklessly daring. Last night I dreamt that Chris was smoking pot while we were hunting Jaws in a lake, and we got lost so we were asking a ghost for directions. I made a joke to Zach that he turned on his sister Kristen, and her face was one of shock, with wide eyes and a scared voice. My heart wept. I'm very sensitive to the feelings of others. She said "Bye" to me as we split up in the parking lot. She is very beautiful. I said "Bye" over my shoulder and rushed off to a Dentist appointment. I read some more of Heavier than Heaven in the waiting room, and after my appointment I went on a cold and lonesome walk through North Park. Before bed I hung out with Ams and we listened to A Perfect Circle, and I talked to Macey from "The Old Days" for a while. I don't like her anymore, but I like being carried back to a time before Kristen. Macey has a problem with cussing and drinking, as she says on her blog. ["Who the hell is Macey? I literally have NO recollection of her."]

Friday. Right after school I ran off to work 3-8:00 at I.G.A. I came home on my break, found out that Kristen's been spreading rumors about me being a "fake Christian" through 412. Mike's been giving me a hard time, too, just because I questioned whether or not baptism is needed for salvation. It's hard to get closer to God when everyone scrutinizes, condemns, and judges you. It's also hard when Christian friends betray you and turn you black as demon's blood before the church. I just wish I could start all over, make amends, break the trend, offend my friends and not back away from the truth. Maybe I should just abandon 412 and all those people there, except the ones I actually really like. But where else would I go? Mike seems to think I'm blowing things out of proportion.

Saturday. It was a funny, odd, whimsical day. I started out boring, with a 9-3:00 shift at I.G.A. (paradise compared to my former place of employment, Burger King). I went over to Chris & Lee's, and Bryon swung by later. Pat D. was there, too. When Bryon left we went to my place because Pat D. wanted to play BF1942. I went down to the basement to grab my WW2 memorabilia from Aunt Teri, and when I was in the crawlspace Chris shut the door on me. I turned off the lights and put a The Party's Here! sign by the closed entrance with two naked G.I. Joe dolls. I went and hid, and Chris opened the door and burst out laughing. He couldn't see me, and Amanda and Lee were there, prodding him inside (Pat D. was still playing on the computer up in my room). Chris reluctantly entered the crawlspace. Fearing I would attack, he grabbed an old man's cane and came towards me in the darkness, swinging the cane and fumbling for the light. The cane got too close for comfort, so I grabbed the cane's tip and yanked. Chris screamed and fell forward, and in the thin light coming from the crawlspace door where Ams and Lee were perched, I could see gouges of flesh hewn from Chris' fingers. It was bleeding pretty bad, and we crawled out laughing. Ams bandaged it up, but it wouldn't stop bleeding no matter the number of band-aids. We took him and Pat D. to church for church band setup. Lee and I went back home for an hour and a half, and at 9:00 Chris and Pat D. returned. Chris' wound was still bleeding, and he had to get stitches. His mom came to the house, and the three of us went to Sycamore Hospital. The lady at the desk asked Chris what happened, and he told her, and she asked him if there was a history of me abusing him. He looked at me and I grimaced and shook my head, and he whimpered, "No..." The lady was irritated, but it was hilarious. Some guy who'd been shot in the head was there, and in the room next to us some guy died of a heart attack while Chris was jokingly playing with the chest paddles. Chris finally got his stitches, and it was 1:30 AM by the time we got out of there. Debbie took us by Taco Bell, and I spent the night at the Williams', curled up on Lee's floor.

Sunday. I helped Brian out with the kids' J.A.M. Some kid named Craig kept bad-mouthing Christians and Christian worship. Blair yelled at him to stop. I sat down during worship and got lots of weird looks. I sat down because I was up super late and was tired, why in the world is that such an awful thing? Bryon, Corey and I talked some more about our frustrations with 412, and we want to get together with Jeff to talk to him about some of these things. Dad's truck is broken, and Pat D. broke off my Jeep's rear-view mirror. Snow fell all day in torrents, and Chris, Lee, Pat D. and I spent the day inside. Debbie didn't like the snow, so she came and picked up Chris and Lee. Dad told me that I need to keep my Jeep clean so that girls would want to ride in it. But I know girls don't want me, I'm just too distasteful. Almost eight inches of snow fell, and Doug & Edna came by and picked up Pat D., took him home. I got depressed and ate a lot. Franklin is off school tomorr,w and so is Ridgeville, Centerville, and Middletown. But Springboro still has to go? Nope! They just changed it: we have a snow day tomorrow!

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