At the creek

Gayle and Morgan/age thirteen

     We were at the creek lying in the tall grass under the oak tree.  A couple of birds were chirping at each other in the tree.  I squinted looking up through the branches to try and find them.
     "Gayle did you see Keri and Brett making out against the lockers yesterday?" I asked.
     I rolled onto my side and propped myself up on my elbow looking at her.  Gayle was on her back playing with a blade of grass, tying knots in it like a chain.  I watched her bend the blade and loop it through and tie another one.

Listening to the words

     Mathew drove me to the park by my old elementary school.  The eight track player blasted out Led Zeppelin's Good Times, Bad Times; "In the days of my youth I was told what it was to be a man".  Mathew had taught me to listen to the words.  I couldn't listen to a song anymore without trying to figure out the story.

Summer/18 years old

     Moonlight was streaming through his window.  I could see his face in the dark.  I thought about the summer before as I lay my head on his shoulder.
     "Look at the moon," I said.
     He pushed my hair back.  I wrestled with what I wanted to say, how it should sound.
     "I'm here for ten days.  I hadn't planned on seeing you," I said.
     I was trying to choose my words carefully.
     "I figured you wouldn't even know I was in town.  I planned to avoid you.............

Thoughts

My kids eighteen year old friends are enjoying Boy in a Band--even the boys.  This was not a group I thought it would appeal to but it does.  I think some of it is the coming of age aspect of the book.