Random High School Memory of the Day

I was thinking random things in the shower and my free-associating train of thought led me from peering at my legs (which have changed musculature very slightly since we bought an exercise bike) to remembering a comment repeatedly made by this one guy, M., who was in my pre-calculus class my junior year. M, on more than one occasion, told me "You have nice legs for a short person."

On multiple other occasions, M (who unfortunately sat right behind me) would chant mildly obscene rap songs right in my ear, with my name inserted at crucial junctures. He would also, once in a while, pinch me on the arm. I (who unfortunately had been given a seating assignment right at the front of the classroom) couldn't do anything about this mild harassment. If I chose to respond, the teacher would usually notice and direct a shushing in our direction. And teachers usually have little sympathy for explanations once you have been shushed.

The really funny (in hindsight) part about this is that, the previous year in Algebra II, I sat directly in front of M's older brother T, who did the exact same thing. I wonder--now--if they colluded on this. The incidents didn't seem related at the time, especially since T pushed me to the breaking point one day during P.E. and I had to tell him to Eff Off (as Lynne Truss puts it in her new book, Talk to the Hand) right there on the volleyball court. That was a major moment in my life, as I had never said that to anyone before. The main reason I said it was that "damn you" seemed only to goad him further.

After I told him what he could go do, he left me alone for the rest of that semester. I kind of felt bad, and then after the summer went by we were on perfectly civil terms. Of course, then the bit with the younger brother started. This all seems pretty hilarious to me now, but it was rather annoying at the time. I'll have to mine these sorts of incidents for inspiration, I guess.