It's Friday. The day everything starts to come together.
No night school.
No homework I cared to touch.
And best of all… Spring Fling.
While this upcoming dance didn't have the same kind of hype as homecoming or prom, it became a big deal for the island of misfits.
From the moment I got out of bed to the moment I made it into school, chaos was in full swing. Nerves and excitement tangled in my chest like live wires. Every step I took that morning felt charged. Even the air outside buzzed with anticipation, as if someone had spiked the oxygen with espresso.
Whatever this day had in store, I was welcoming everything with open arms.
Before school started, the library had turned into our usual hangout spot. The guys were locked into an intense stretch of their D&D campaign, their faces lit with wild concentration as the dice clattered like tiny thunder, and James stood at the end of the table, a malicious grin on his face, narrating their possible demise.
CC, Betty, and I sat at the table beside them, spectating their banter and being more animated than usual.
"I didn't think this game could get that engaging", CC murmured while chewing on her pen.
"Depends on who's the dungeon master." I chuckled, trying to return to working on my art commission. "James must have planned something good."
Betty leaned forward, eyebrows raised. "So… when does the game actually end?"
I shrugged. "Depends on the campaign. They've been playing the same one since the school year started."
"Ugh. I thought it was a new game every time," Betty shook her head. "I don't have that kind of attention."
CC had returned to tuning them out and writing in her notebook. Her pen flows and glides across the page, capturing her thoughts.
I bit my lip trying to take a peek at what she was writing. Betty shot me a glance as if to say that was inappropriate and rude.
We exchanged looks for a moment, quietly communicating with small gestures like a couple of spies.
I tilted my eyes towards CC's direction. (What about CC? Did you ask?)
Betty did a slight nod and raised her eyebrows. (Yes.)
I raised my eyebrows intensely. (Is she going to the dance?)
Betty tilted her head and did a slight shrug (I think so.)
I frowned in confusion. (What do you mean, you think so?)
Betty widened her eyes. (I mean, I think so!)
I mouthed the word "What?"
Betty exhaled, frustrated, and grabbed her notebook to scribble something in the corner.
"What?" CC asked, looking up at us, her pen still pressed to the page.
Betty froze like a deer in headlights and slammed her hand over the note, hoping CC didn't see what she wrote.
"Uhh…" I blurted out, scrambling for a distraction. "I was just wondering if you wanted to go to the convenience store for lunch."
"Ooh." CC nodded. "Yeah, I'm down."
"You guys go there a lot," Victor said, curiously glancing over from the D&D table. "What's so great about it?"
The rest of the group paused the game, and all their gazes were on us.
I was surprised Victor was even paying attention to us while engaged in D&D.
CC was ecstatic, eyes sparkling. "Only the best thing ever! It's like Nachos, but with Cheetos instead of tortilla chips."
Silence fell over the group.
Every player turned toward us, frozen, as the words sank in.
Cheetos. Nachos. The perfect combination of comfort foods.
James was the first to speak. "That's… genius."
And just like that, the legend of the Loaded Cheetos had spread.
Thanks to that distraction about going to the convenience store, Betty managed to sneak the note to me as everyone was walking out of the library.
- CC told me she was going to the dance when I asked. That's all I know-
A sigh of relief exited my mouth. Now I need to survive the rest of the day, and it's off to the dance.
---------
By lunchtime, that chaotic energy was at a new high. Instead of partaking in the subpar school lunch, we set out for the convenience store.
"Why does this sound like a stoner snack?" Bear asked, trudging beside us. It was his first time venturing off campus for lunch, let alone trekking the cracked asphalt and graffiti-stained alleyways. He wasn't sure what to expect.
"That's because it is." Sadie laughed, pushing her shades up. She would know. While she was part of our group, she sometimes went out with the stoners for a leisurely smoke.
"I'm thinking about adding jalapeños to mine", I said. My mouth was already watering.
"Good idea." Victor cracked his knuckles like a mad scientist about to start an experiment. "I'm going full hellfire! Mwahaha!"
"And the store just lets you do this?" Betty asked. "No questions asked?"
"Nope." CC's tone was pure mischief and had a bit of pep in her step. "They ring it up like a bag of chips and charge you for the side of cheese. That's the beauty of it."
Boss walked ahead like some chivalrous knight on patrol with his hands behind his back, chin high. Until he reached the convenience store, he gallantly opened the door for the girls. Then, with perfect comedic timing, let it slam in our faces.
Jackass!
Inside, the fluorescent lights buzzed like a bad hangover. The clerk glanced up, eyes narrowing the moment our pack of teens spilled in. I couldn't blame her; no one got paid enough to deal with the level of chaos we brought.
CC led the girls (Betty, Sadie, Chrissie, Dee, and Teressa) to the chip aisle to get theirs started. Meanwhile, the guys (Boss, Victor, Nate, Bear, James, and I) became easily distracted and amused by these bizarre new novelty keychains on a spinning rack.
CC led the girls to the chip aisle, their chatter echoing like birdsong, while the rest of us (Boss, Victor, Nate, Bear, James, and me)got immediately distracted by a spinning rack of novelty keychains near the counter.
"Hey. Is that Pikachu?" Victor reached for the little yellow fuzzball of a figure with a pull string attached to it, but was immediately disturbed by how hideous it was.
Whatever it was, it looked like a bootleg. Possibly a bootleg of a bootleg.
"Ugh. That's not Pikachu. Kill it." Nate reached for the pull string.
He tugged it, and the thing started to vibrate and let out a blood-curdling, robotic screech:
AaaAaaAAAAA—!
We froze, then burst into laughter.
"What the fuck is that?" Victor wheezed. "I want it!"
"AHA! Yo! Check this one out." Boss howled and dangled another one. "This one looks like a Furby on crack!"
CC rolled her eyes. "Are you boys going to get some food or act like a bunch of chucklefucks?"
Victor straightened, narrowed his eyes like Clint Eastwood in a standoff, and gave that pull-string another tug.
*AaaAaaAAAAA*
"Chucklefucks." He muttered with pride.
CC cracked and walked away, giggling too hard to keep up her act. "I can't with you."
"Aww. You found a little vibrator to have fun with." Sadie teased as she brushed by him, adding a playful hip-sway just daring Victor to say something.
Victor stayed silent and smirked, watching her walk away.
"Ugh." I shook my head and dragged Bear to get our chips.
Can those two seriously hook up already? Or do they get off on building up that tension? I'll never get them. One moment they're teasing and flirting with each other, and the next moment they hate each other's guts.
Down the aisle, CC and Betty were deep in conversation, laughing softly as they poured cheese into their Cheetos bags. For a second, I caught myself staring — at CC's focus, at Betty's smile — and felt something twist in my chest.
They noticed me. Both giggled. Whispered something I couldn't hear.
I looked away fast, pretending to study the chip rack with Bear.
Smooth, Alfie. Real smooth.
"You're still coming to the dance, right?" I whispered over to Bear.
"Yes. But what if she thinks I'm a dork?" Bear groaned.
"Dude. We're all dorks." I opened up my bag of Flamin' Hot Cheetos. "You got this. This is your night to shine."
A slight curl of a smile appeared at the corner of his lips. Bear opened a bag of regular Cheetos and followed me to the nachos station. "What about you? Are you nervous?"
"Me?! Fuck. I'm beyond nervous." I held up my jittery hand.
Maybe it was nerves, perhaps it was a nicotine withdrawal. Probably both.
"We're doing this together." I patted his broad shoulders. "I got your back."
Just then, Victor and Nate barged in, both grinning like lunatics. "Pffft. Move, wankers. You're taking forever," Victor said, scooping jalapeños by the handful.
"You guys up for a Fire challenge?" Nate asked.
"Nope." Boss said instantly spinning on his heels and abandoning us.
I nodded and held my bag open. Victor dropped a generous serving of the Jalapenos.
Bear didn't want to be dragged into it and folded his bag immediately after loading the cheese.
Nate then held up a bottle of black labeled Valentina hot sauce.
Victor and I nodded. Nate poured in plenty to the point that it puddled at the bottom of the bag.
"We're totally going to regret this?" Victor chuckled.
"No regrets." Nate cheered.
"I'm not going to regret anything", I smirked with confidence. "You haven't had my mom's cooking."
Bear, James, and Boss were smart enough to avoid our shenanigans.
We all crowded around the sun-bleached Patio tables outside the store, all of us getting lost in our own little bag of goodness, except for Boss. He wasn't a fan of cheese and opted for the Chilli dog special.
Teressa had everyone's attention as she was discussing an itinerary for tonight. "The dance starts at 7. We can meet up at my house for a few before we go. Sound good?"
"I think we'll meet you all at the dance", James said as he cozied up with Chrissy on the bench.
"Me too." I nodded, taking the first initial bites. I looked over to Bear, who nodded in agreement.
I looked over to see if any of the other guys would be coming. So far, it only looked like James, Bear, and me.
The first few mouthfuls were divine, then became deadly. My tongue went numb. My sinuses erupted. Tears streamed down my face like a busted faucet.
Nate remained silent, but his eyes were getting as red as his face.
Victor was panting and taking a big gulp from his Coke bottle.
"God. You guys are fuckin' idiots." Sadie chuckled.
"Why do we even take you out in public?" CC teased.
Betty looked horrified and fascinated at the same time. "Does it even taste good anymore?"
"It did," I rasped, continuing to eat my Cheetos slowly. "For about three seconds."
Teressa looked concerned. "Are you guys okay?"
"They'll live," Boss said without looking up. "They've done worse."
Bear hid behind his bag like he didn't know us.
We sat there, sweating, eyes watering, laughing through the pain. Every bad decision burning bright under the desert sun.
As expected, nobody wins in an infernal food challenge. We hit that point where we were completely numb, even our tongues.
On the plus side, that actually improved my accent during French class. I couldn't roll my R's like I always did when I spoke Spanish, so I sounded like I was raised in Marseille.
Très bien, Frédéric.
----
After school, the excitement for this dance had me running home, or at least 1/3 of the way. My backpack flailed from side to side, and the extra denim on my jeans flapped with every step.
When I got to my house, Mom's van wasn't in the driveway. I fished in my pockets but didn't have my key. I banged on the door in hopes my sister was there, but no answer.
I hit my head on the door and sighed. I sat around for about half an hour, smoking a cigarette, hoping someone would show up, but no one did.
It was days like these that gave me the skills I used from elementary school onward. I learned how to break into my own house.
I put my backpack down, grabbed my school ID card, and climbed over that jagged stone wall to get to my backyard. One of the windows had a slight warp, which I was able to rig open by sliding my ID card into it. It was a smaller window, and I was a chubby guy.
Remember that one scene in Ace Ventura 2 where Jim Carrey got stuck in a robotic rhino and had to climb out? Climbing through that window felt like that.
Once inside my house, I got something quick to eat and rummaged through my room trying to figure out what to wear. I wanted to look nice, not formal, not overly casual. Just presentable. My polo shirts were the first thing that came to mind, but they were in the dirty laundry bin.
Fuck!
I started to panic. There wasn't enough time to throw these clothes in the washer and have them dry by the time the dance began.
I looked around my closet and held up my lucky Emmet Smith jersey to a pair of cargo jeans. It was either this or my homecoming outfit, and I was not about to overdress for the occasion.
A quick shower, my teeth brushed and freshened, a spritz of Aspen cologne, my hair slicked back, and I added my zen bead bracelet for good luck. Whether those beads were actually lucky or a bunch of nonsense, I was going to need all the luck I could get.
I took one last look at myself in the mirror before venturing off. "Let's go dancing."