Writing Wednesdays: Sharing the Spotlight

August 23

Niki: Gonna stick with the '140 characters or less' theme here:

• 1st day of skool-high on my "Best Day Ever" list. I have an awesome bff, gorgeous bf, e z classes, & did I mention I'm a SENIOR? Life is gd!

Ren: I figured today would be like all the other first days of school I've had. I mean, why break the cycle, right? I wish! For the last 2 years, my first days of school went a little like this: Meet up with Ari, find lockers (usually next to or near each other) and compare schedules (usually the same or close). The rest of the day felt like I was on a cloud. Today went like this: Meet up with Ari, find lockers (mine in the senior hall, hers on the other side of the building), and compare schedules (number of classes together...one). The rest of the day felt like I was on a roller coaster.

The most embarrassing part of the day was first period, which is Spanish 3. FIRST PERIOD! My brain has a hard time functioning in English that early, much less another language. I made it through almost the whole period thinking it wouldn't be so bad. Then I had to mess it up.

• Senora Lopez: Senorita Blake?


• Me: Si, Senora?


• Senora Lopez: Como se dice, 'I can't find my comb' in espanol?


• Me, laughing inside at how easy this is: No puedo encontrar mi pene.


• Senora Lopez (double blink): Perdon?


• Me, thinking maybe she has problems of the mental variety: No puedo encontrar mi pene.

I couldn't, for the life of me, figure out why Senora Lopez had turned red. Why was everyone laughing? Ari leaned over and whispered, "Um, I think you just said, 'I can't find my penis.'" So, apparently, in Spanish, comb is 'peine' and penis is 'pene'. How was I to know? They sound so much alike.

Unfortunately, my fellow classmates didn't forget about my little slip up like I'd hoped they would. Instead, they blabbed it to their friends, who blabbed it to their friends. Even Senora Lopez couldn't resist telling other teachers, which explains the little smirks I got when they called my name. Even Niki couldn't resist. I think I've heard enough penis jokes to last me a lifetime. The only highlight of the day was volleyball, which I have for last period. Did I mention that coach made me team captain? Woohoo!

My day may have began crappy, but it ended on a high note. Will the rest of the year be like this?