Cool Guy
“Hey, Iron Man, grab this,” I said, hurling the medicine ball at Harry’s sunken chest. I kept it up. We were the only ones in the gym. “So what’s Harry short for? Hairy hands? Look at all that knuckle hair. It’s disgusting. Least you could do is shave it off so you won’t keep scaring everyone. “You hear about the new school raffle? There’s about five IPods for the person who guesses how many hairs are growing out of your thumb.” I walked over to him and kicked his side before grabbing his lower arm, pulling him up, and pushing him against a window ledge. I walked about ten feet away, grabbed the ball again and slammed it into his bent midsection. He slumped to the floor. “Hey, I got it, Harry’s for Harvard. Your daddy thinks you’re going there, is that it?
“I think if he had had that in mind, he would have called me Harvey. He’s a pretty smart guy,” Harry panted.
“Shut it,” I said, directing my Addidas in his other side.
Later at the end of English class I was going out the door when the smartest girl in the class stopped me. “So,” she said, “How did you do?”
“An A. I’ll make it up to you,” I said.
“ You said you’d take me to the party.”
“Oh yeah. I thought I could at the time. It turns out that Annie and some other girls asked me first. It would be like starting a war if I took you. Some other time though.”
I looked up and there was Harry. He had heard everything. He said nothing. I tried for distraction.
“Hey, Iron man, ya know why I call you that? Caus I hear you can iron like nobody else. Like your underwear. I hear you iron that. You have a real talent like it’s something to put on your application to Harvard.
The last class of the day was chemistry. I’d completely forgotten we had a quiz.
It was understandable. I’d had the game the night before. Friends came. We went somewhere afterwards. I was too tired to do anything. Luckily, Harry was left-handed and next to me on my left. I could see what he was writing perfectly. “Somebody up there loves me, I thought.”
As I was leaving chemistry class, the principal, Mr. Scanning, stopped me in the hallway.
“Could you meet me in my office in about five minutes?” I nodded.
His assistant told me to go in and wait for him. I sat down and gave thought to what this could be all about. At first I thought that he was going to congratulate me on being MVP in the last game. But then my leg started twitching. Scanning had come in the room.
“So, superstar, it turns out that you are the saddest thing in the kingdom here, and I’m including today’s gray burgers. You’re beating the hell out of people, paying people to write your papers, and cheating on quizzes. Anything more lined up for the day?”
“It’s Harry, right? You believe everything he says?”
“Not Harry. I believe the video monitor we installed in the gym and classrooms.
Naturally, I called Harry in to ask him if he was all right and to tell me what happened.”
“What did the little creep say?”
“He said he was all right. He didn’t want to get you in trouble. He said you couldn’t help being a cool guy.”
“Hey, Iron Man, grab this,” I said, hurling the medicine ball at Harry’s sunken chest. I kept it up. We were the only ones in the gym. “So what’s Harry short for? Hairy hands? Look at all that knuckle hair. It’s disgusting. Least you could do is shave it off so you won’t keep scaring everyone. “You hear about the new school raffle? There’s about five IPods for the person who guesses how many hairs are growing out of your thumb.” I walked over to him and kicked his side before grabbing his lower arm, pulling him up, and pushing him against a window ledge. I walked about ten feet away, grabbed the ball again and slammed it into his bent midsection. He slumped to the floor. “Hey, I got it, Harry’s for Harvard. Your daddy thinks you’re going there, is that it?
“I think if he had had that in mind, he would have called me Harvey. He’s a pretty smart guy,” Harry panted.
“Shut it,” I said, directing my Addidas in his other side.
Later at the end of English class I was going out the door when the smartest girl in the class stopped me. “So,” she said, “How did you do?”
“An A. I’ll make it up to you,” I said.
“ You said you’d take me to the party.”
“Oh yeah. I thought I could at the time. It turns out that Annie and some other girls asked me first. It would be like starting a war if I took you. Some other time though.”
I looked up and there was Harry. He had heard everything. He said nothing. I tried for distraction.
“Hey, Iron man, ya know why I call you that? Caus I hear you can iron like nobody else. Like your underwear. I hear you iron that. You have a real talent like it’s something to put on your application to Harvard.
The last class of the day was chemistry. I’d completely forgotten we had a quiz.
It was understandable. I’d had the game the night before. Friends came. We went somewhere afterwards. I was too tired to do anything. Luckily, Harry was left-handed and next to me on my left. I could see what he was writing perfectly. “Somebody up there loves me, I thought.”
As I was leaving chemistry class, the principal, Mr. Scanning, stopped me in the hallway.
“Could you meet me in my office in about five minutes?” I nodded.
His assistant told me to go in and wait for him. I sat down and gave thought to what this could be all about. At first I thought that he was going to congratulate me on being MVP in the last game. But then my leg started twitching. Scanning had come in the room.
“So, superstar, it turns out that you are the saddest thing in the kingdom here, and I’m including today’s gray burgers. You’re beating the hell out of people, paying people to write your papers, and cheating on quizzes. Anything more lined up for the day?”
“It’s Harry, right? You believe everything he says?”
“Not Harry. I believe the video monitor we installed in the gym and classrooms.
Naturally, I called Harry in to ask him if he was all right and to tell me what happened.”
“What did the little creep say?”
“He said he was all right. He didn’t want to get you in trouble. He said you couldn’t help being a cool guy.”
Hey Devin
ReplyDeleteI liked how your story shows the difference between a cool kid and a not cool kid. I also liked how you portrayed him because people who are usually cool tend to bully people so that they can feel better about themselves and seem like the best person around.
Wait a minute...isn't this the story the class read when we were in the cemetery? If not then i like how, without really asking, portray the question "who is really the cool guy?" Because even though Harry sacrificed himself for this...jerk-off, only three people in the story knows about this. Everyone else will still think the main character is the cool guy while Harry is still hairy.
ReplyDeleteCappy:
ReplyDeleteHey, I recognize your story from when we went to the park and read some stories. I like how yours took one of the stereotypes of cool, and then completely warped who was the cool one in the story at the end.
Your story showed the idea that other people have about cool. While you weren't necessarily making fun of the idea of cool you did show someone who was not cool but was thought of as cool by his peers. You showed that the bully who was supposed to be cool in the end really wasn't that cool. Good job
ReplyDelete