Dee Likes Marah

For Maguire

Ninth grade was getting to be a bit much. Especially after the incident with Crystal and my mother and all that junk that I had to deal with. Yeah, not the worst of situations, but also not fun. In high school, (or at least in mine,) no one beat you up, or tried to shove you into lockers and all that Hollywood crap. Here's what I had to learn throughout the first year, put in very blunt terms. I set myself some ground rules to get me through the first half unscathed. I think I'd done pretty well if I do say so myself.  I carried this shriveled up list in my purse for like, 6 months. And yes, if you couldn't tell by now, I'm absolutely pathetic. Hey, at least I own it. So, anyway. It was the second day of school, I think it was still a bit warm outside, and I wore some flannel and leggings, trying way too hard to fit in, as  usual. Little did I know, I was about to meet somebody so awesome. They were one of the people cooler than I could ever imagine. He had all the street cred and all of the love from the children, which was fairly hard to come by in those days. Especially if you didn't appeal to the kids ironically, meaning that they would hate you so much that they couldn't take you seriously for trying to be someone you weren't. You know, like the Emoji Movie. 

Okay, so a little backstory. I used to absolutely despise Photoshop or any other vector editing programs before I took this class freshman year. If you're anything like me, you know that you usually don't enjoy something when you suck at it, and you're aware that everyone else is better than you. 

I was literally shaking, and so many thoughts were going through my brain. You can only imagine the expression on my face when I found out that their were gonna be a bunch of upperclassmen and seniors that had to deal with my antics, because let's face it, they never went away. The funny thing is, they actually enjoyed my company instead of snickering at me like the evil freshman class would. Even though I was one of them. One of those peculiar things that I'll never understand about my brain, I'll think of a question and then immediately ask it without any consideration for my tone of voice or my delivery, etc. And Maguire was one of my only teachers to put up with that aspect of my personality. Well, also there was Mr. Daly, but he'll get his turn, don't you worry. 

I knew there was something different about Maguire from the first day of his class. He was one of those people that had this aura to them, they lit up a room every time they walked in one and they just had this positive energy that is unmatched. I think that's why we clicked so well. I was so deadpan with my "comic" delivery, and he was just so upbeat, and always laughing at me. 

"Hi guys. Okay, so.. welcome to MHS. It's gonna be a great year." He said nonchalantly as he pestered around the center of the room. It was like he was already so used to it and he wasn't trying to hard. He then went on about why Graphic Design was so important to human communication, and how visuals were a different language that almost anyone worldwide could understand. But I'll spare you all that, lecture-y stuff and we can get to the good bit. 

Maguire sent someone around to pass out these things he called "Identity Circles" . Her name was Sage. She had swirly, red hair with a faded pink streak in it. It gave her character  and even more coolness. Sage was one of those people that looked mature, but she looked like she could've been in my grade as well. She sat near this girl name Jenny. Jenny had long blond hair and like really deep blue eyes, and they were soft I noticed. Why do I know this? I'm very observant, leave me alone. 

"I like the pink streak in your hair. Did you put dye in it to make it look faded. It looks awesome!" I was way too excited about this. And I was well aware. Baby steps. 

"Thanks! I actually just dyed it too much in 6th grade or whatever and now it's just permanently damaged like that. Dude, my parents were so mad. But I didn't get grounded though." she said. She handed me a worksheet and then walked to the next person.