Ice cream expeditions.

I went to Frostbites with Annie and Chan Park. I know it sounds odd, since Chan is Annie's lovely, junior friend. But he knew where it was, despite having never eaten at the place.

And let me tell you, their Italian ices are serious business.

Apart from that, my day was rather uneventful.

Young boy meets pretty girl.

Today was very hectic. I woke up at some ungodly hour of the morning to finish my economics and English homework. That was a treat. Then I missed third and sixth period today to give Computer Club presentations to ninth and seventh graders. And then during Club Rush, I ran around shoving cookies into people’s mouths and Computer Club flyers in their hands. Very effective.

After school, Matthew, Theresa and I dawdled for a while around campus while making fun of Mattie’s uncanny femininity. We eventually sat down near the sophomore lockers, where Grindlay meets Orange. Then all of a sudden, I see a certain kiddopie flailing his arms at me from across the street at the Cypress Library. I heard him shouting something about a ride, so I assumed he wanted me to drive him home and I just waved him over. When he had finally crossed the street, I saw that he had a girl in tow. Her name was Semi, and it turned out that he wanted me to drive them to the liquor store. I was very reluctant, because I was quite enjoying my conversation with the sophomores, but he kept whining and dancing up and down until finally I said yes out of exasperation.

On the way to my car, I heard Justin rattling on to Semi about how I would drive them so they didn’t have to walk. She seemed pretty shy, and kept talking to him in Korean. I was disappointed to hear that she wasn’t his girlfriend. Why on earth not, Justin? She’s cute as a button! Ask her out, for crying out loud. A young boy like you needs a pretty girl.

We had a bit of a detour in the parking lot, because Paul Koh started bothering Justin before we could reach my car. Justin responded by bragging about how I was driving him to the liquor store, and Paul came sauntering up to me and said something like, “Hello, new friend. Mind if I tag along?” He even stole Justin’s shotgun seat. I was very pleased with him. I had been waiting for a chance to introduce myself to Paul for weeks now, ever since I started talking to his friend Andrew. Mission accomplished. Cue applause.

Justin is going to make the cutest boyfriend. You could tell he was trying to impress her by pretending to pick something out from the alcohol section. Although to be honest, she looked quite bored throughout the whole ordeal. In the end, she ended up buying him ice cream. I should give them my blessing.

Once I got home, that annoying kid who kept bugging me to be his tutor instant messaged me again, and I finally got the information I wanted. Turns out that the brat doesn’t even go to Oxford. He’s a sophomore at Cypress who claimed to have heard of me through Andrew, which turned out to be a lie when I actually called up Andy to confirm. The kid wanted me to tutor him for five hours a day, in Pre-Calculus, no less. What a selfish and demanding child. Needless to say, I turned him down.

I am exhausted, and utterly screwed for my Calculus test. I guess I should go study, huh?

Awkward Conversations

Today after school I didn't really want to go home. So I contented myself by watching Justin and his crew of eighth graders throw coins at the lockers.

Turning to their friend Gloria, I say, "You know, I really don't understand the boys in your grade."

She rolls her eyes and says, "Yeah, I know. But some of them are really hot, so it's okay."

This intrigues me. I probe for names. Gloria grins.

"Oh, you know. Guys like Sean Lee."

Sean's older brother Nathan is in my grade. I give him a skeptical glance. "Him?" I ask doubtfully.

"Yeah," she says. "And Daniel Lee. He's super cute."

This I have no qualms over. I have a feeling that Daniel's going to be insanely attractive when he's older, granted he gets over his adorable shortness.

"And Justin. I think Justin's hot."

Said honey bunny is about four feet away, yet she makes no effort in lowering her voice. Luckily, Justin's too busy being his fabulous self to notice.

"Way to be subtle, Gloria."

She shrugs. "I liked him a lot last year. I still like him."

At that point, I really didn't know what to say. As much as I fawn over the kid, I had trouble agreeing with her.

Don't get me wrong. The fact that girls like him isn't surprising at all to me. He's got great charisma and he dresses well. He's smart and he plays guitar. But as far as looks go, I have my misgivings. Sure, he's tall and skinny and kind of effeminate, which seems to be the "hot" archetype these days. But to be quite honest, I've seen cuter.

Oftentimes, I forget that he's only a child, all extended vocabulary and feminine charm aside. In the plainest terms, he's just a young boy with a lot of endearing quirks, and normally it would stop there. But he's also little brother that I never had. He's my eighth grader, my kiddopie, my thirteen year old darling. He's a wonder child. As far as I'm concerned, Justin is Justin.

I did her a favor. "You want to know something, Gloria?"

"Yeah."

"By the time you're a senior, none of the guys in your grade will seem appealing anymore."

"What?!"

Her shocked reaction amused me. But the tragedy is that it's true.

In seventh and eighth grade, I had this massive crush on a guy in my class. I was an obsessed little freak; I had his schedule and ID number memorized and everything. But as a senior, I'll look back at him and think, "I liked you?"

It's not that they lost whatever physical qualities that made them attractive. In fact, I think a lot of guys in our grade became a lot better looking. Yet because I've known them all for so long, I can't imagine myself being attracted to any of them. Perhaps that's the trouble with Oxford being so small. When you run out of options, that's the end for you. But it's still embarrassing to think about.

Today’s conversation with Gloria made me feel slightly depressed. Because I know that when I go off to college and Justin enters ninth grade, he’s going to change. A lot.

A year of being doted on by a high school girl has already gone to his head, that much is apparent. But it’s going to be worse when he himself is in high school. With girls falling over themselves to ask him to Sadies and being one of the only freshmen in Algebra 2/Trig, it’s going to get messy. His ego will swell, and he’ll just be another victim of eighth-grade-to-ninth-grade transitional cruelty. High school has this horrible, unrelenting tendency of taking charming young boys and turning them into complete jerks. I’ve seen it happen. And it's never pretty.

I’m scared of losing the affectionate kid who once made puppy eyes at me when I wouldn’t buy him Toblerone. I don’t want him to change. I want him to stay thirteen forever.

<sub>"Certain things should stay the way they are. You ought to be able to stick them in one of those big glass cases and just leave them alone. I know that's impossible, but it's too bad anyway."

Holden Caulfield, you’ve never been more right.</sub>

Today in general was one big awkward silence.

I need something to fill it.

A tad bit eccentric.

But endearing, nevertheless.

[19:53] Juhsteeen xD: hey does cyan match with
[19:53] Juhsteeen xD: maroon?
[19:53] sardothienn: yes....?
[19:53] Juhsteeen xD: hmm.
[19:54] Juhsteeen xD: lets say i wore cyan flannel sky blue/cyan shirt and maroon shoes and pants.
[19:54] Juhsteeen xD: would they go?

Do I even want to know why he has maroon pants?

...

Probably not.

Oh, Justin.

You glamorous child, you.

Quite possibly never.

Yesterday was insanely eventful. I finished all my Government and English homework so I could go out with Yunji. That was neat in itself. Normally I'm not done with homework until Monday morning, 8:59. Aha.

We went to Downtown Disney to walk around and scout out any attractive people. Which somewhat failed. So afterwards, we tried the Gardenwalk, where we saw Kan and Dominique in the parking structure, looking for spaces. Then we finally decided on Olive Garden, which was all the way in Cypress.

In Olive Garden, we saw Marissa De Los Reyes. Third person that we saw from Oxford. At this time, I mentioned to Yunji, "Just watch. Now all we need is one of my underclassmen and we'll be set." I hadn't been serious.

But fate has a sense of humor, sometimes.

We had decided to go watch a movie at my work, so off we went to Regal.

And lo and behold. Juliet, Victoria, and Alex. Three eighth graders plus two other girls whose names I don't know.

I was in a good deal of shock. Yunji told me to go blog about this. So here I am, blogging. Earlier, I was talking to Austin. He's an eighth grade boy who supports Twilight (and Edward). My poor, little mind still can't comprehend how this can be possible.

And now I'm off to lunch.

_{This entry was brought to you by "Dull and uninteresting rambling," plaguing writers since 1642.}

Peace.

Because I go to Oxford.

You get the Sparknotes version of my first week at school.

1. New classes.
2. Jesse.
3. Getting out early.
4. Young boy.
5. Seniority.
6. Asian music?
7. Homework.
8. Job on the weekends.
9. Failed kidnapping attempt.
10. Guppy Tea House.
_{11. Awesome Friend Vaneda.}

That ought to do it.

Peace.