I wanted Annie to be proud of me. I was afraid that my ability to get in trouble would embarrass Annie. She was after all a prefect and had the best reputation at the school. I figured that it could not be so hard to avoid getting in trouble. One of the easiest ways to be liked at school was to be good friends with Billy. Everyone liked him and he was Annie's brother. I was jealous of him and found some of his ways a bit strange. This being said, it only made sense that If he was my friend, then I would have a better reputation at school. It never harmed anyone to have more friends.
I knew that Billy liked animals and farming. He talked one day about bees. I got the impression that he liked honey. This gave me an idea. I found a beehive and with great difficulty, I moved it into the school. This was painful as I was stung several times. I was determined to move the beehive. I was sure that Billy would appreciate it. This plan did not work. There was panic when people walked into the class. There were bees everywhere and most were stung. The school became like a field hospital with pupils in agony and pain from the bee stings. Of course, everyone looked at me and blamed me. I tried explaining that I just wanted to make Billy happy, but no one could understand this. The worse thing was when Annie gave me a disapproving look.
I tried being nice and making people like me. Everyone misunderstood my intentions. My hair was growing back and it was now pageboy style. I made up my mind that I could never be a saint. I could never look like the other boys. I had to be proud of who I was. If I did not love myself, then how could I expect others would love me? A part of my identity was to be girly in some ways. This could not be bad. I used all my savings and went to the hairdresser. I asked her to put pink highlights in my hair. She smiled and told me that I was very brave. When this was done, I looked in the mirror. I was delighted at my pinkish hair. This would show everyone who I was!
This was not the case. Everyone asked me what I was thinking. The only person that liked my hair was Annie. Despite this, she warned me that the teachers would not like it. This was true. Sarah told me I would get a tick for every day that I had pink hair. Madam P was not that happy either. She told me that I was one confused child and I could lead others astray. That old woman went as far as to threaten to cut my hair once again. I stood up to her this time. I shouted that my hair belonged to me and it was part of my identity. I would fight the system and anyone that wanted to cut my hair. The school could give me a million ticks, but this was a cause that I would fight to the last drop of blood I had… or the last strand of hair. I think everyone was shocked at my outburst. There was a deafening silence and after a few minutes, Madam P shook her head and told me to pick my fights carefully as standing up for pink hair was not a noble fight. I disagreed.
Madam P could sometimes say things that hurt. Once she criticised Annie. This was something big as no one ever said anything bad to Annie. It seemed as if Madam P was in a grumpy mood that day and Annie was her victim. At first, Annie was sad at the things that Madam P said. Then Annie got upset and ran to hide somewhere. Madam P told us others not to worry, as Annie would come back when she calmed down. I did not listen to Madam P and followed Annie. She was upset and sad and she needed a friend to help her. I found Annie sitting in some castle ruins and crying. We did not talk or say a lot. We just sat there. Annie told me she thought it was so unjust in what happened. I had to agree there. I told her that we could not hide. We had to go back to school and be brave. It took some time for Annie to agree with this. This suited me in a way. I could have stayed there forever with Annie. I just wished that it was under other circumstances. Annie finally agreed to go back and she even thanked me for listening to her. This made me feel happy. While others thought that I was a sissy and troublemaker, Annie could see something different and could see my good sides.
I think Annie liked romantic things like they did in the old days. This made me do things against the school rules, like sneak into the girl's dorm and put a rose on her bed. I invited her on a picnic a few times where we sat outside her house in some woods. This way her mom and Billy could keep an eye on me and make sure I was acting as a gentleman. I loved these picnics as Annie would open up and tell me her thoughts. She was so bright and could see some things no one else noticed. I think Annie wanted to just be happy, and have friends that were also happy. I do not think that she could ever hurt someone. This made her very special! One thing that I often did was stand outside her window and sing a song for her. It was like Romeo and Juliet. All in all, being romantic can be fun when you are rewarded with a huge smile.
Things started to get very bad at school. One day we were hanging out before class outside the school. While the others were talking, I noticed a snowmobile. It had keys inside it. I am sure that you would agree with me that the right thing to do was to test it out. So I sat on the snowmobile and decided I would drive it around in circles. The problem was that I did not know how to drive the thing. Everything went so fast that before I knew it, I was driving towards the students. I did my best to stop the snowmobile but it had a mind of its own. It ended when I drove straight into Billy. He screamed as he was thrown through the air. It ended up that he broke his leg. I was in big trouble. Everyone thought that I wanted to kill Billy.
Mom was called into a meeting at the school and it was agreed that I had to help Billy as much as I could. This was not that bad. I think the worse thing was that Annie was so disappointed. She wanted to know why I always tried to hurt his brother. It made her sad when her brother was hurting so much. I knew it was not intentional and I did not want to hurt Billy. However, Billy was convinced that I wanted to kill him. He went pale every time he had seen me. I tried to apologise to him several times, and I do think that he accepted my apologies. At the same time, he liked playing the martyr. He had his cast on for months! Every time he spoke with me, he would remind me about the snowmobile. I accepted this as part of my taking responsibility for something I have done. The worse thing is that Annie was so disappointed with me. It seemed as if she did not know what to say to me.
I had to do something fast. Madam P had a class where we had to take care of a tomato plant and a lizard. I thought that I could contribute. So I bought my ant farm for school. The problem was that I tripped and the glass in the ant farm broke. There were ants everywhere in the school. When we had a class that day, there was panic. Girls were screaming as ants were crawling up their legs. Sarah wanted to know who bought the ants to the school. I kept quiet, but I think everyone knew who it was. Annie looked at me when everyone was discussing who would have done such a thing as to take ants in school. She was not smiling at me.
It was a few days after that Annie had a serious talk with me. She told me at times it was hard being my girlfriend. It was especially hard for her as she was a prefect. She had to show a good example and be a model student. Annie explained that at times she felt split. She wanted to support me as much as she could, but at the same time, she wanted to do her job as a prefect. This was not easy when I did things that were against school rules. I tried to tell Annie that she had to do her job as a prefect. If she did not agree with some things that I have done, then that should be respected. Annie let out a huge sigh and told me that I did not understand how hard it was for her.
Our relationship was in a crisis. We did not say that much to each other after that and we did not even hold hands. To make things worse, Sarah told me that Annie no longer wanted to be my girlfriend. I of course believed Sarah. I was so sad and this made things worse. I was afraid to speak with Annie. I made a mess of everything and I upset and disappointed her so many times. Annie never told me that she was breaking up with me, and this confused me more. I did not know what to do. Maybe it was too late to do anything. Maybe Annie would be better off without me.
Sarah could see how confused and sad I was. She told me that I had a talent for getting into trouble. I could be obnoxious at times and never thought of the consequences. This meant that people could never see the true me. It meant that I was misunderstood. Sarah advised that I should try being more like a gentleman and a model student. This meant following the example of Annie and others. It meant stopping doing things that the teachers did not like. I had to stop getting ticks and breaking the rules. Then Sarah went quiet and admitted that this would be an impossible task. She never believed that I could be a gentleman!
Maybe I did not have to follow Sarah's advice. A few days after, Annie held my hands and told me that she still liked me. It was as if everything was OK again. We even started kissing each other on the cheek again. I considered this as a second chance. I decided to take Sarah's advice and start being a gentleman and a saint. I did not want to make Annie sad again or make her feel like she had to decide between me and the school. I also knew that Sarah thought this was an impossible task. She would find out that miracles do happen.
So I cut my hair and washed out the pink dye. I was polite to everyone at school and even listened during classes. I continued to hold Annies hand when I could and when she wanted to. I tried to still do romantic things like buying her a dress. Being good was not that hard. It did help that a new girl called Oakleigh started at the school and she got in more trouble than I ever did. The teachers now never complained about my hair and had no reason to give me ticks. It was strange that I now was one of the most behaved boys at the school. All this made Sarah speechless. She found it hard to believe that I was now reformed. I think she expects it to end at any time.
Who knows if I will go back to my old ways?
As I am writing this, Annie and I were just on two dates. One date was at a haunted castle. I know that this is not so romantic. However, we did go to a concert together. Who knows what the future will bring? We could end up getting married or we can end up not being boyfriend and girlfriend. I will not think about the future. I will just treat Annie the way any girl should be treated. I hope she will no longer be sad or disappointed with me. Married or not, I will always be the luckiest boy in the world. I will always love Annie and she will always be a friend.
The end... or the start
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