by the time i got to grade eight i had had enough of trying to be number one with my grades so i decided to get serious about slacking off and then my mum told me i had been chosen for valedictorian and thus had zero responsibilities for the rest of the school year outside of writing my speech and so i slacked on that until the very last nite and my mum asked to see it so i offered up a few pieces of crumply scrap paper with chicken scratch on ‘em and she was shocked.

i remember lying down on the basement couch, my dad in the rocking chair and my mum at the computer typing out my speech as i half-assedly dictated, it was maybe 1 in the morning by that point.

i cried at the end of saying it to the packed auditorium and i received a standing ovation.

and then i danced like the hugest slut ever with the dumbest boys in front of all of the teachers that were so fucking proud of me and my brains.

one said to my mother not to let me slack off, i could be a great big something if i tried.

heh.

i bumped into my highschool drama teacher at the canzine festival. she was sitting beside me. she said that my face had totally changed and i said what, you mean fatter? i had a beer in my hand. she looked exactly the same to me. i kind of rubbed her the wrong way in that class. i remember she had criticised something about my acting or whatever and i said a lot of shit back to her and she totally called me on being super defensive and it made me angrier, moreso cos she was right.

i met ward in that drama class. worst acting i ever saw.