Yokeman Monologue

even witty. Smelled like cigarettes, probably since he also took up smoking since 14 years old, the stress of living in Yokeman can do that to you. At first he hung with out with us, and over time... he started keeping his distance. Then, half a year before graduation he just disappeared. Ryan dropped out of school, not even keeping contact with anyone. It was rumored that his family moved out of state, but at that point I thought he was the luckiest man alive to get out of this place. I used to catch him trying to make eye contact with me, but would turn his head away the moment my eyes look back at him, or he notices the moment I turn my head around he faces the ground or elsewhere assuming I didn’t notice him checking me out. Perhaps
Or maybe I'm trying to get you to think like me, hee hee hee. Is it a little jeuvinille to write out laughter like that? I wonder if my editor is going to make me omit that? Anyway, it's the last day of school. Guru, Becky, Carlton, and I were sitting in the usual spot outside the cafeteria. A brick wall that's actually an elevated plot of grass, with a huge willow tree in the center to provide us with much needed shade during these notorious hot days, and considering this is Arizona, shade is almost considered a luxury around these parts. We were staring at the large clock at the north end of the campus, waiting for the little hand and to strike twelve. Last day of school was a half day mind you. Some of the students are already cramming themselves to the outer gates nearing the bus yards, the students who were "spoiled" enough to have cars, were already in them with engines revving and itching to gas it out of here. My friends were talking a little about what we plan on doing after this, we talked about how we will keep in touch, keep in mind in a small town like Yokeman we were about ten years behind the times so internet was this expensive new toy that needed a dial-up modem, before social media became the norm. Guru was already talking about going to college, already found a full time job doing construction work in his grandfather's employ. He laments it, as he believes he doesn't have the proper physique for manual labor, and considering the housing market was crashing fast he's nervous about how long it would last. Becky was fortunate enough to get a full scholarship the the community college thanks to her good grades and volunteer work at the nursing homes. At least the local paper acknowledged her hard work, unlike the faculty here at this school who