In tribute to

The start I guess.

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This story is one that starts quite some time back, when I was still naïve and young.

It might be a bit chaotic and sound dramatic, but being a teenager when it happened, tends to have its influence on the way I saw things.

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It was in my junior year of high school. (this is already starting good, it sounds like the beginning of a very bad chick-flick. Or maybe an ironic comedy... Anyways)

I, Marnix, was repeating the year, and had the habit of getting, well, on the teachers nerves.

This one time in particular I had gone too far, now sitting in the principal's office.

Misses Farmore had her hands folded, her chin placed on them as she scanned my face.

My own eyes scanned the room, one I had seen so many times before. Dirty blue walls, it had probably been bright blue once, but now it reminded me of the colour tangerines got when you leave them laying around for too long. That wool-like blue mould. It was a bit sad, that colour everywhere, and the furniture not helping since it was worn out. The whole room screamed old fashioned.

"Marnix? Are you even listening?" Looking up at Farmore I smiled reserved. "I'm sorry, my mind was wandering off, could you maybe repeat yourself?" Wandering off my ass, I wasn't interested in whatever the lecture contained this time. She grimaced, her face resembling her furniture. She was tired and done. I would be too, dealing with my own and many others' crap all day every day.

"I was saying, mister Roshnikov, that this time you have simply gone too far."

Simply, not even complicated, and here I thought I was difficult to handle.

She either ignored, or didn't see my slight smile, as I thought that I was being pretty funny.

"Changing the whiteboard markers to permanent ones was already bad, but we could fix that, what you did now, it is unacceptable."

Put her into a lemon costume and the whole thing would be a lot more amusing.

Nodding I looked at her. "I totally agree, I went too far this time."

Even though I had no idea what she was talking about. I had done enough things today that might have pushed her over the edge, as she never moved an inch away from it anyways.

"Do you young man? Then tell me, what was it that you think made it that bad?"

I was listening, and I had heard what she had said, but honestly the plant in her windowsill was a lot more interesting to me. How was it that a beautiful plant as that, its leafs big and green, and the flowers all upright and facing the little sun that got through the nearly closed blinds, could survive in this dense and humid little room. Talking about the blinds, they were gathering even more dust than Misses Farmore's sex-life.

"Marnix."

Blinking I returned my gaze back to her, her frown deeper now, if that was even possible, and her mouth crooked.

"Yes?"

"I asked you a question Marnix."

"Right. What was it that I had done again?"

Astonishment flashed over her face, soon changed to anger. At least I could still surprise her.

"Your behaviour in Miss Gregory's class." Her voice was unstable, clearly she was not pleased with me not knowing what she had been talking about all this time. I would be displeased too, but then again, I won't ever become a principal.