Black Lotus

5 - Wonderful

June 6, 2016 | Monday

Today was the day I turned 18 years old.

I hadn't spoken or seen Max since the incident from the other day. I'm pretty sure he was fine. If something had happened I would've probably heard about it.

"You okay Oasis?" Ocean asked me as he drove.

"Yeah I'm fine. I'm just thinking."

"You excited for graduation tonight aren't you?"

"I am. It's gonna be a big change, that's all."

Ocean nodded. "Even though I don't say it that much, I'm proud of you sis. You gon' do some big things someday and give the Evans family a big name."

"As if you aren't doing it already trying to be the next Malcolm X." I laughed.

"Well, we're both gonna do it, but just in different ways. I'll speak through a microphone or bullhorn and you'll speak with a pen and a paper. Simple as that," he stated.

The conversation continued until we reached school.

"Bye Channel," I said goodbye to Ocean.

"Bye Gulf! And happy birthday."

I exited the car, shut the door, and waved goodbye as he drove off. I walked into school and went directly into my locker and started to clean it out. This didn't take too long either because I did it often. Most of the stuff I threw out was old assignments, tests, quizzes, and lots of loose leaf paper with doodles on it from when I got bored in class.

"Happy birthday Oasis," someone said.

"Thank you. How'd you know it was my birthday?" I hadn't actually looked to see who the person was but not many people knew when my birthday was. Wait, come to think of it, nobody in school knew when it was. That was just information I didn't share.

"I heard your brother wish you a happy birthday when he dropped you off."

I turned around and said, "Oh."

I was talking to Glenn. Have you ever had that one person you know who annoyed the hell out of you sometimes because they were always so damn proper all the time? Like they thought it was a sin to curse, or when they texted you, it had to be in all correct spelling and punctuation? Or they didn't even have any social media accounts? That was Glenn. Glenn was the conservative nice kid who was in my homeroom and he could hold a conversation at times but he was simply no fun. A person, in my opinion must have balance. It's not the best idea to be one way all of the time. The way I speak to my teachers and parents isn't the same way I speak to my friends. Glenn didn't grasp the concept of code switching.

He meant well, but I could feel the indirect arrogance.

"So are you ready for graduation tonight?" Glenn questioned.

"I am. Can't wait to finally be out of here."

"What college are you attending?"

"I'm not going to college. I don't think it's for me, you know? I am going to be interning at a magazine this year, though."