Juicy Hallway Finds

The hallway corner by my classroom seems to be the place to be naughty. Yesterday, I caught a group of young men, none of whom attend my school, shooting dice. For profit.

It goes without saying that I now own three brightly-colored, number cubes (as they are called in the math world) - the kind which are sold only at dilapidated variety stores to unscrupulous boys yielding ill-gotten cash. A cheaper pair of dice could not be found.

In an unrelated incident, today I walked upon some sort of rare high school initiation ceremony where a boy’s kissing abilities were being publicly tested. A group of Freshmen surrounded the fateful couple, both of whom looked equally insecure with their relative positions in the ritual. As I approached to disperse the gathering, The Girl awkwardly leaned in to lock quivering lips with The Boy. The crowd went wild.

The kiss lasted just long enough for me to observe The Boy’s face twist with the hope that he might be branded “A Good Kisser.”

The kiss ends. Silence (me watching the whole time). The Girl, full of indignation for having kissed so unworthy a subject, proclaimed “That s@#% is whack!”

I could write an entire book about the look on The Boy’s face after his failed foray into urban youth society. His searching and fearful eyes belied his chest which puffed out to show the crowd he was above their jeers. It was so terribly tragic.

At this point the watching masses became aware of my presence and began to disperse. I didn’t think about it until right now, but both students were on their best behavior in my class today. Funny how that works. The whole thing just reminds me why teaching is the best therapy there is. I daily re-live the ackwardness of my teenage years only from the adult perspective.